Movie Night! Victory for Hemp

To mark the occasion of California's January 1 "Victory for Hemp," the projectionist will screen the following: "Hemp for Victory" –– 14 minutes / 1942 This film was made to encourage farmers to grow hemp for the war effort because other industrial fibers, often imported from overseas, were in short supply. The film shows a history of hemp and hemp products, how hemp is grown, and how hemp is processed rope, cloth, and other products. Before 1989, the film was relatively unknown. The United States government denied ever having made such a film. The United States Department of Agriculture library and the Library of Congress told all interested parties that no such movie was made by the USDA or any branch of the US government. Well, whaddya know? Two VHS copies were recovered and donated to the Library of Congress in 1989, and it is now part of the Blue Tavern film library. "Reefer Madness" –– 68 minutes / 1936 What could be the most varied title of any movie – it was riginally made as Tell Your Children and sometimes titled as The Burning Question, Dope Addict, Doped Youth, and Love Madness) is an American propaganda film revolving around the melodramatic events that ensue when high school students are lured by pushers to try marijuana — from a hit and run accident, to manslaughter, suicide, attempted rape, hallucinations, and descent into madness due to marijuana addiction. The film was directed by Louis Gasnier and featured a cast of mainly little-known actors. Originally financed by a church group under the title Tell Your Children, the film was intended to be shown to parents as a morality tale attempting to teach them about the dangers of cannabis use. However, soon after the film was shot, it was purchased by producer Dwain Esper, who re-cut the film for distribution on the exploitation film circuit beginning in 1938–1939 through the 1940s and 1950s. The film was "rediscovered" in the early 1970s and gained new life as an unintentional satire among advocates of cannabis policy reform. Critics, however, have panned it as one of the worst films ever made. I challenge you to decide whether it's any worse than "Santa Claus Conquers the Martians." FREE – one drink minimum requested