American Institute of The History of Pharmacy Pharmacy in History

Drugs and Alcohol Go to Hollywood
Author(s): Michael C. Gerald

Source: Pharmacy in History, Vol. 48, No. 3 (2006), pp. 116-138
Published by: American Institute of the History of Pharmacy
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/41112318
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Drugs and Alcohol Go to Hollywood
By Michael C. Gerald*
Lxrugs represent a common motif in films. street marketplace demands for illicit drugs and
They play a leading role in some films,1 or a sup- alcoholic beverages.
porting role in others, often having a negative
influence on a central character in the story.
This article surveys four basic drug themes
The Discovery of Drugs
in English-language movies: Discovery of Drugs,
Potions and Poisons, Narcotics and Substances The Lone Scientist
of Abuse, and Alcohol and Alcoholics.2 First, With the explosion of scientific knowledge,
there are examples of the discovery of drugs in- few individuals possess the breadth and depth
tended to be used as medicines. The often tortu- of knowledge or the time required to solve ma-
ous path to drug discovery propels such stories jor scientific problems. Drug discovery now re-
forward, but it is the discoverer, a lone scientist quires the concerted efforts of teams of scien-
obsessed by a dream, who captivates our atten- tists, each contributing specialized expertise to
tion. Not all drug discoveries benefit humanity, solve complex puzzles. In earlier years, however,
with some having unanticipated and even disas- highly gifted scientists working in isolation often
trous consequences. Potions and poisons, drugs served as the primary and even exclusive driving
intended to inflict harm or further a nefarious force behind a novel concept, including develop-
deed, appear in the second section. ing and testing that idea, overseeing production
The large majority of drug-oriented films of the end product, as well as commercializing
involve the abuse of narcotics, cocaine, and and popularizing it.
other mind-altering substances and the exces- Successful film biographies of scientists
sive use of alcohol; these are considered in the go far beyond tracing the steps in the discovery
final two sections of this paper. Common cin- process.3 To heighten viewer interest, they incor-
ematic themes emerge: a rise from obscurity, a porate issues of human conflict with which we
drug- or alcohol-propelled downfall and, finally, can all readily identify. The lone scientist typi-
attempted rehabilitation. This article will also cally battles an entrenched establishment that
examine the activities of entrepreneurs meeting has a vested interest in preserving the status
quo and that resists adopting a novel concept
or new approach to the treatment of disease. In
*School of Pharmacy, University of Connecticut, 69 North Eagleville other instances, professional or personal rivalry,
Road, Storrs, CT 06268-3092 michael.gerald@uconn.edu. jealousy, or prejudice cloud the objective think-
Ho Pharmacy in History
ing of lesser, more traditional-thinking minds, side care of patients. Earlier in his career, he
resulting in resistance. Many of these scientists developed a stain to see the tuberculosis-caus-
and scientific challenges involve the treatment ing microbe (tubercle bacillus) and also worked
of infectious diseases. to develop a serum to treat diphtheria. In 1908,
Humans and microbes have been engaged Ehrlich received the Nobel Prize for his "side-
in a struggle for hundreds of thousands of years; chain theory," which led to a better understand-
only relatively recently have we gained the upper ing of antigens and antibodies, the foundation of
hand. History is replete with accounts of millions immunology.
of victims succumbing to infectious diseases Syphilis has been a scourge since the time
caused by microbes. In 1900, one of four deaths of Columbus. Medicines available at the turn
in the United States and four of the ten leading of the twentieth century provided questionable
causes of death were attributed to infectious dis- benefits for the patient but caused serious ad-
eases. During the 1930s and 1940s, a time when verse effects. The film spotlights Ehrlich's search
sulfa drugs had recently arrived on pharmacists' for a "magic bullet," a drug that would be selec-
shelves and penicillin was still a laboratory cu- tively toxic to microbes, while still safe for the
riosity, the public was keenly interested in and patient. The first 605 chemicals synthesized in
concerned about infectious diseases and their his laboratory and tested in animals prove to be
treatment. The fight against microbial diseases either ineffective, too toxic, or both. Compound
captured the public's attention, and these stories 6065 (Salvarsan) effectively cured syphilis but
were the subject of a number of films.4 was no "magic bullet." It did not cure syphilis af-
Louis Pasteur and Paul Ehrlich had a tre- ter a single injection, as hoped, and was respon-
mendous impact on the early treatment of in- sible for causing the death of thirty-eight treated
fectious diseases, and each was portrayed in patients. In the film's denouement, an inquiry
noteworthy films by leading actors of their era.seeks to attribute these deaths to Salvarsan and
Pasteur (1822-95), a French chemist and bac-its discoverer. However, he is not only exoner-
teriologist, was among the primary originators ated but lionized for his drug discovery and its
of the germ concept of disease. Pasteur laterlife-saving benefits.
focused his attention on the practical applica- In addition to its attempt to achieve sci-
tions of science. These included the study of theentific accuracy, this pre- World War II film is
factors responsible for fermentation and spoil- noteworthy in several respects: In an era in
age in the beer and wine industries and identi- which both anti-Semitic and rising anti-German
fication of the microbes responsible for killing sentiment were prevalent in the United States,
silkworms, a finding which saved the French the film focuses upon a German-Jewish hero
silk industry. The Story of Louis Pasteur (1936), whose research efforts and accomplishments are
starring Academy Award-winner Paul Muni, fo- thwarted by an anti-Semitic German intellectual
cuses upon the challenges Pasteur encountered community. Ehrlich's genius was recognized by
gaining medical acceptance for his vaccines, his contemporaries, but as a Jew in Germany he
when he was "only a mere chemist." One vaccinewas unable to secure a university appointment.
was intended to cure anthrax, an otherwise fatal Magic Bullet encountered censorship chal-
disease in cattle and sheep (more recently of in- lenges in both Germany and the United States. It
terest as a potential biological warfare weapon), was banned in Nazi Germany because it glorified
and another intended to treat rabies, which is a Jew and starred a Jew (Robinson). During the
invariably fatal in humans within days after the1930s and 1940s, the Motion Picture Production
first appearance of symptoms. Code censured the depiction of sexually-oriented
Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet (1940) chroni-topics and venereal disease, which are very much
cles the professional life of Paul Ehrlich (1854- at the center of The Magic Bullet. The American
1915), an outstanding German chemist, bac- censors were ultimately persuaded that these
teriologist, pathologist, and the "Father of were but small components of a much larger
Chemotherapy." Ehrlich (Edward G. Robinson)tableau. The movie also illustrates public reluc-
was medically educated but found it far more tance to support funding research for a socially
fascinating to develop stains that selectivelystigmatized disease. This same problem existed
visualize tissues than attend to the direct bed- with respect to AIDS,6 and was exemplified in
Vol. 48 (2006) No. 3 117
the film And the Band Played On (1993). for which Morton (Joel McCrea) obtains a patent
While Ehrlich was recognized for his med- and wins public adulation. Other ether discover-
ical contributions during his lifetime, Semmel- er-claimants, Crawford Long and the widow of
weis was not. Two foreign-made, low-visibility Horace Wells, engage Morton in a vicious pat-
movies bearing the same simple title Semmel- ent dispute over the priority for this discovery.
weis (1940; 1980) depict the title character's The legal battle takes its toll on Morton's physi-
discovery of a simple chemical approach to cal and mental health, leading to depression
preventing childbed (puerperal) fever, a condi- and exhaustion of his financial resources. By the
tion caused by a microbe. Prior to the 1860s, time of his death, he has descended from inter-
childbed fever was a common cause of death in national acclaim to the depths of obscurity and
women after delivery in hospitals, particularlypoverty. Written, directed, and produced by the
those hospitals teaching medical students; manygreat Preston Sturges,9 this film is not memo-
women believed it safer to deliver their babies at rable, nor does it represent Sturges at his best,
home. In the films, the Hungarian-born obstetri- but students of the history of drugs will find the
cian Ignaz Phillip Semmelweis (1818-65) shows depiction fascinating.
that childbed fever is a contagious disease. He From Boston, we travel to the Brazil-
observes medical students travelling directly ian Amazon rain forest, the setting of Medicine
from dissections in their pathology laboratory to Man (1992). The fictional Dr. Robert Campbell
wards, where they perform vaginal examinations (Sean Connery), the archetypal lone scientist, is
on women in labor without pausing to wash their seeking to discover a cancer cure from a flower
hands. The incidence of childbirth fever precipi- extract. Campbell is faced with the multiple
tously declines after he insists that his students challenges of isolating the active chemical and
and assistants disinfect their hands with a chlo- administering an untested serum to a child near
rine antiseptic solution prior to examining their death, while simultaneously thwarting the ef-
expectant patients. Notwithstanding the demon- forts of loggers, whose deforestation threatens
strated success of hand-washing, he encounters to destroy the plant source of his cure and his
fierce resistance to this practice and professional jungle laboratory.
rejection by the medical establishment. These Not all drugs are discovered by profession-
professional factors and financial pressures lead ally trained scientists or clinicians. Nick Nolte
to mental illness, and he is committed to an asy- and Susan Sarandon star in Lorenzo's Oil (1992),
lum. During a violent episode shortly after his the true story of Augusto and Michaela Odone.
commitment, he is beaten by asylum personnel These devoted parents tenaciously search for a
and, weeks later, dies.7 treatment for their young son Lorenzo, a victim
The Great Moment combines a significant of adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD).10 The Odones
medical discovery with another tormented dis- are unwilling to accept expert opinion that an ef-
coverer. The finding that ether was an effective fective drug treatment does not exist nor can be
surgical anesthetic in 1846 was among the great- developed, or that ALD is invariably fatal within
est contributions of drugs to humanity.8 Prior to two to three years after its onset. In 1984, to gain
this time, a good surgeon was one capable of am- a greater understanding of the disease, they be-
putating a leg within 90 seconds. Operations of gin studying the medical and scientific literature
longer duration might be a surgical success- but and visit and interview doctors around the world.
the conscious patient not infrequently died of Utilizing this newly acquired background, they
shock resulting from the trauma of surgery. The devise their own ALD treatment, "Lorenzo's Oil,"
discovery of surgical anesthetics relegated speed prepared from fats extracted from olive and rape-
to a subordinate priority. Surgeons could con- seed oils. The film concludes with a postscript
centrate their attention on performing the oper- showing Lorenzo, still alive in his early teenage
ation, perfecting their technique, and expanding years and communicating by sign language, and
the scope of possible operative procedures. several children with ALD, who were treated with
The movie The Great Moment (1944) tells Lorenzo's Oil, and have remained symptom-free.
the story of Boston dentist William Morton In 2006, Lorenzo celebrated his twenty-eighth
(1819-68) and his first public demonstration of birthday. Augusto was awarded an honorary
ether's effectiveness as a surgical anesthetic and medical degree for his drug discovery.11
118 Pharmacy in History
Mad Scientists: Drug Discoveries Gone Awry beyond their wildest expectations, transforming
Not all experiments go well, nor do all sci- themselves into Buddy Love, a loud, crude, Lo-
entists triumph as the film ending credits roll. thario. Kelp is now out going and self-confident,
As typified by Drs. Frankenstein, Jekyll, and and Klump is svelte and handsome. In the tra-
Strangelove, films have not always depicted sci- dition of Hyde, Buddy Love is the antithesis of
entists in the most favorable light.12 There is an their professor-creators, but unlike Hyde, far
more irresistible to women.
implicit and even explicit message in such mov-
ies that disastrous consequences may result From visible changes in appearance, we
when good-intentioned scientists "meddle in proceed to the ultimate appearance change, in-
things that man should leave alone." This warn- visibility. The original adaptation of The Invisible
ing is dramatically depicted when two of these Man was brought to the screen in 1933 by James
scientists secretly conduct drug-related experi-
Whale13 and was based on an 1897 H. G. Wells
ments that take a turn for the worst. Their sto- science fiction novel of the same name. Working
ries are science fiction classics adapted to the sil- with an Indian plant, the brilliant chemist Jack
ver screen in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and The Griffin secretly develops the drug monocane,
Invisible Man. which draws color from the skin rendering the
Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange subject invisible. Griffin does not foresee the ir-
Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886) has ap- reversibility of the transformation to viewless-
ness, notwithstanding his best efforts to discover
peared on the screen as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
in no fewer than six renditions. Both titled roles an antidote. Moreover, and of far greater im-
have starred such film giants as John Barrymore port, is monocane-induced insanity, character-
(1920, silent film), Frederic March (in a 1931 ized by an overwhelming desire to demonstrate
Academy Award- winning performance), and power over lesser humans by causing havoc and
Spencer Tracy (1941). Dr. Henry Jekyll, a highly
committing murder. The title character (Claude
Raines) has a memorable voice and is not seen
admired physician, believes that evil impulses
in the flesh until the film's closing minutes. The
exist even within good, decent, and respectable
individuals- attributes that he amply possesses. original story and numerous serious and comic
Wishing to separate and study this duality of hu-
variations have been brought to the screen over
man nature, he develops a chemical potion that the years, including The Hollow Man (2000).
exposes his evil inner nature, personified by the
lycanthropic homicidal maniac Mr. Hyde. After Bad Effects From Good Drugs
taking repeated doses of the potion and unable Paul Ehrlich's notion of a "magic bullet"
to secure the antidote to reverse the transforma- proposed almost one hundred years ago contin-
tion, Dr. Jekyll loses control and Hyde becomes ues to be paramount in the contemporary search
the dominant persona. Only upon his death does for new medicines. Research scientists seek
the good Dr. Jekyll belatedly return. medicines that are effective for the treatment
The many variations on the Jekyll-Hyde of disease without causing unreasonable harm
theme include two versions of the comedy The to the patient. The use of all medicines involves
Nutty Professor. The title character was first por- weighing their relative benefits versus their po-
trayed in 1963 by Jerry Lewis as Dr. Julius Kelp tential for causing adverse effects or other risks.
and remade in 1996 with Eddie Murphy playing Two excellent movies, Awakenings and A Beau-
Dr. Sherman Klump (and six other roles). The tiful Mind, are based on true stories. They depict
story lines are similar in both renditions: Kelp the beneficial effects of drugs used for the treat-
is an absent-minded, introverted chemistry pro- ment of Parkinson's disease and schizophrenia,
fessor, while Klump is a 400-pound morbidly respectively, benefits that are offset to a large
obese, but sweet and gentle biochemistry profes- measure by their undesirable side effects.
sor. To become more attractive to females, each Set in a Bronx psychiatric hospital in
resorts to altering his façade. Kelp takes a chem- 1969, Awakenings (1990) is adapted from a
ical potion. In keeping with advances in molecu- story penned by the neurologist-author Oliver
lar biology three decades later, Klump uses a se- Sacks. The socially inept, lone clinical scientist,
rum to alter his genetic structure. Both succeed Dr. Malcolm Sayer (Robin Williams), is charged
Vol. 48 (2006) No. 3 119
with managing stone-silent catatonic patients ing disease? Is the use of an inactive medication
with postencephalic Parkinson's disease, a very (a placebo) ever justified for the treatment of
late-appearing complication of viral encephalitis. disease? Can we morally justify harming an evil
Dr. Sayer is cognizant of recent clinical reports individual to benefit society? Should the success
demonstrating the effectiveness of levodopa in of the team take precedence over the welfare of
managing Parkinson's disease. He uses this drug its individual players? Does a corporation have
to successfully treat Leonard Lowe (Robert De an obligation to publicly reveal the potential
Niro), a patient unable to communicate since hazards of its products?
becoming catatonic as a youth decades earlier. Imagine that an effective and established
Similar favorable results are obtained in other drug is available, but is purposely withheld for
patients, but their benefits are not long lasting. the treatment of a disease known to cause severe
Moreover, at the doses required to reverse theand irreversible illness and even death. Is it ap-
catatonia, levodopa causes highly disturbing and propriate to enroll patients in a clinical experi-
bizarre facial tics, bodily twitches, and behavior-ment that provides no direct benefit to them,
al disturbances. After patients discontinue their without having first securing their willing and
drug therapy, they inevitably return to their pre- informed consent to participate? These issues
drug catatonic state. are raised in Miss Evers' Boys (1997), an Emmy
John Nash (1928-) is a brilliant AmericanAward-winning television movie, and adapted
mathematician who was awarded the 1994 No-from James H. Jones's book Bad Blood: The
bel Prize for his pioneering studies conducted on Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment (1993). The mov-
"game theory" four decades earlier. In A Beauti- ie is fictionalized, but is based on unconscionable
ful Mind (2001), Nash (played by Russell CroweUnited States Public Health Service experiments
in an Oscar-winning performance) is a chronicconducted between 1932 and 1972.14 At the time
schizophrenic. He periodically experiences se-of the study's inception, untreated syphilis was
vere delusions, imagining himself to have beenknown to cause heart disease, paralysis, blind-
recruited by a CIA agent to solve a code of keyness, insanity, and death. The Tuskegee studies
were intended to determine the medical conse-
military significance during the post- World War
II "cold war" period. Insulin shock therapy and quences of untreated syphilis as it specifically
antipsychotic drugs successfully control his affected black men. The subjects, 399 Alabama
schizophrenia but at the cost of suppressing his sharecroppers, most of whom are illiterate, are
innovative mathematical genius. The drug alsonever specifically told they have syphilis nor
severely impairs his sexual function, therebythat they are subjects in an experiment. Rather
threatening his marriage. He is unwilling to ac- they believe that they are being treated for "bad
cept clinical improvement at this high price and blood," a local term generally referring to such
stops taking his medication. As might be antici- illnesses as anemia and fatigue, and for which
pated, his delusions return. With advancing age, they would be given free, life-long medical care.
and even without medication, Nash adjusts to During the early years of the Tuskegee
periodic "visits" by his CIA contact. study, subjects were given very low and inef-
fective doses of the standard medications of the
Ethics of Treatment, No Treatment, and day.15 These "treatments" were replaced in time
Placebos with pink aspirin tablets, which was intended to
Thus far, we have considered movies that serve as a placebo. One decade after inception
trace the development of new medicines in-of the study, penicillin, an authentic syphilis
tended to benefit humankind. In this section, cure, became readily available. Nevertheless, the
study
we shall consider several provocative films that directors aggressively prevented their sub-
raise a number of ethical questions regarding jects from receiving this antibiotic. At the time
the study was concluded in 1972, 128 men died
the use of drugs for the treatment of disease or
to modify behavior. In this regard, we will con- of syphilis or its complications, 40 of their wives
sider the following issues: Is it ever appropriatehad been infected, and 19 children were born
to withhold an effective medication for subjects with congenital syphilis. The title role of the film
who are unknowing participants in an experi- is based on Eunice Evers, a black nurse, who
devotedly
ment, in order to better understand a devastat- cared for the subjects as they became
progressively debilitated and eventually died. tion for integrity, placing the public's health and
In Miss Evers' Boys, a placebo is given as welfare above profits, has been undermined by
an experimental control, while in Matchstick some recent disclosures that drug trials relating
Men the placebo is intended to be the drug to drug safety and effectiveness have been selec-
treatment. In both instances, the subjects are tively released or even suppressed.
unaware that their medication is inherently in- In both The Fugitive and The Constant
active.16 In Matchstick Men (2003), Roy (Nich- Gardener, the wives of the title characters are
olas Cage) is a highly successful con man who murdered when they uncover the life-threaten-
suffers from an extreme case of obsessive-coming toxicity of new drugs with blockbuster sales
pulsive disorder (OCD). He belatedly discovers potential. Based on the 1960s television series
that the "potent" medication he has been tak- of the same name, The Fugitive (1993) finds
ing to effectively control his OCD is, in reality, Dr. Richard Kimble (Harrison Ford) searching
a nonprescription soy supplement intended for for his wife's murderer. The villain is the chief
postmenopausal women. Formula 51 (2002) executive of "Devlin-McGreggor Pharmaceuti-
denotes the recipe for the perfect mind-altering cals," and he is attempting to conceal evidence
street drug that has been developed by a Los An- of severe liver toxicity caused by the company's
geles chemist (Samuel L. Jackson). It combines new $7.5 billion megablockbuster drug claimed
the most desirable attributes of existing psycho- to be devoid of side effects. In a 2005 film based
active drugs, is many times more powerful, and on the novel The Constant Gardener by John le
yet is devoid of their undesirable effects. Such a Carré, a career British diplomat (Ralph Fiennes)
perfect drug is too good to be real. seeks the motive underlying the brutal murder of
his activist wife (Oscar-winner Rachel Weisz) in
Is a government ever ethically justified in
destroying an individual's free will to engage a remote area of Kenya. She had been investigat-
in extreme antisocial activities for the better- ing suppressed evidence of the deaths of impov-
ment of society? To accomplish this end, drugs erished villagers who were unsuspecting subjects
are used in conjunction with behavioral modi- in clinical trials of Dypraxa, an anti-tuberculosis
fication in Clockwork Orange (1971), Stanleydrug. The multinational pharmaceutical compa-
Kubrick's classic film, adapted from a novel byny's cover-up of these poorly conducted studies
Anthony Burgess. At some future time, gangs is aided and abetted by governmental officials.
of youths freely rampage the streets of an Eng-The greed and corruption of the pharmaceutical
lish city, committing acts of gross, sadistic vio- industry is also depicted in the made-for-televi-
lence. Rather than imprisoning the miscreants sion movie Strong Medicine (1986), based on
for deserved extended periods, the government Arthur Hailey's 1984 novel of the same name.
adopts a program of rehabilitation based on the On the lighter side, in Kids in the Hall:
Brain Candy (1996), "Roritor Pharmaceuticals"
"Ludovico Treatment." The first test subject is
Alex (Malcolm McDowell), the gang leader whodiscovers and hastily brings to market Gleemon-
is committed to both the love of violence and ex, an antidepressant drug that enables users to
classical music. In this aversion therapy, Alexendlessly relive their happiest memories. The
is exposed to visual images of violence that are
drug is a smashing world-wide commercial suc-
paired with the administration of emetic drugscess until, belatedly, it is found to produce cata-
and the music of Beethoven and Handel. The tonia, a devastating adverse side effect.
images and nausea become inextricably coupled The tobacco industry has been extremely
persuasive extolling the pleasures derived from
in his mind, so that even subtle thoughts of an-
smoking their cigarettes. The Insider (1999) is
tisocial behavior elicit feelings of extreme nau-
sea. The treatment proves so effective that, upon
the true story of whistleblower Jeffrey Wigand
Alex's release, he cannot defend himself even (Russell Crowe), a research scientist formerly
when being victimized. employed by Brown and Williamson, a ma-
A different set of ethical issues are posedjor tobacco company. Working with television
in films in which major pharmaceutical and producer
to- Lowell Bergman (Al Pacino), Wigand
bacco companies purposely conceal the harmful is scheduled to appear on the CBS newsmaga-
zine program 60 Minutes to publicly expose the
effects of their products to protect their profits.
The pharmaceutical research industry's reputa- health hazards of tobacco smoking.17 At that
Vol. 48 (2006) No. 3 121
time (1993), the tobacco industry vehemently ed characters who were purportedly victims of
denied any such dangers, notwithstanding their intentional poisoning. Some using sleeping po-
ample confidential files documenting informa- tions and poisons derive their inspiration from
tion to the contrary. Threatened by a potentially fairy tale classics and the works of Shakespeare.
ruinous lawsuit, CBS News cancels the Wigand There is great similarity between the sto-
interview shortly before airtime. The full story lines of the highly successful and critically
ry is subsequently reported by The New York acclaimed Walt Disney animated films Snow
Times. Themes explored in The Insider include White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), based on a
corporate integrity, the responsibility of the in- nineteenth-century Grimm Brothers fairy tale,
vestigative media to disclose the truth, and an and Sleeping Beauty (1959), which originally
individual's desire to serve the common good at appeared in Mother Goose Tales, edited in 1698
a tremendous personal cost. This powerful film by Charles Perrault. An evil woman (queen and
was nominated for seven Academy Awards. witch, respectively) poisons a beautiful teen-
Drugs are used by athletes to enhance age girl with a poisoned apple or poison-tainted
their performance or for therapeutic purposes spindle, causing the innocent and lovely victim
to treat a medical problem. North Dallas Forty to fall into a deep sleep from which she can only
(1979) deals with drug use by players who are be awakened by the kiss of a handsome prince.
not thirsting for record-breaking achievements The identity of these sleep-inducing substances
but only to control their pain, continue playing, remains a mystery.
and survive on their professional football team.
The film was adapted from a 1973 semi-auto- Shakespeare on the Screen
biographical novel of the same name by Peter William Shakespeare's plays have been
Gent, a Dallas Cowboy from 1964 to 1968. In a rich source of material for the cinema. Some
this dark comedy, considered by many critics have taken the Bard's script verbatim, while
to be among the finest football movies, Phil El- others have adapted his plays for the screen by
liott (Nick Nolte) is a receiver in the last quarter abridging or by contemporizing the language or
of a long and successful career. The cumulative setting. Characters in some of his tragedies em-
damage his body has sustained over the years ploy poisons and sleep-inducing drugs to further
has taken its toll. He now struggles just to play their nefarious objectives. Simpson notes that:
but to do so requires steroids and analgesics to
dull the pain. The film highlights the use of such Shakespeare is cautious and correct in his use of drugs and
poisons, whereas his contemporaries appear recklessly
drugs by hurt players, drugs readily available in
anxious to include such references, probably well aware
the North Dallas locker room from trainers who
of the popular appeal to an audience of any medical topic,
encourage their use. Compliant incapacitated especially if there was any suggestion of the miraculous
players take these pain-killers to support their about it. The medicines of Shakespeare's day were derived
largely, though not exclusively, from herbs, and throughout
team, but face the risk of worsening an existing
the plays Shakespeare mentions 36 varieties of these herbs
injury or even sustaining a career-ending crip- so used. But Shakespeare was aware that medicines were
pling injury. Independent, noncompliant, and also derived from metals and minerals.19
over-the-hill players like Phil are cut from the
team because, as the film makes clear, football The best-known examples appear in Ham-
is no longer a game, but rather a money-making let and Romeo and Juliet, although other trag-
business, and he is now an obsolete and expend- edies and a comedy20 also utilize drugs. Poisons
able piece of equipment. Notwithstanding great are used most liberally in Hamlet. Claudius poi-
public interest in performance-enhancing drugs, sons his brother, who is also Hamlet's father, by
it is surprising that this potentially fertile theme pouring drops of the "juice of cursed hebona"
has not been the central focus of other notewor- ("hebenon") in his ear. Gertrude inadvertently
thy films. drinks from a goblet containing poisoned wine,
which was intended for her son, Hamlet. During
the course of a duel with Laertes, Hamlet dies
Potions and Poisons
from a scratch inflicted by his opponent's rapi-
Not all drugs or potions18 are intended totip of which is coated with a poisonous
er, the
"unction" (ointment). Of the more than a score
treat disease. Several excellent films have depict-
of silent and talkie versions of Hamlet that have ium that will kill him within hours.23 This very
appeared on the screen, only two will be not- suspenseful film traces the steps Bigelow takes
ed:21 Arguably the finest was the 1948 Academy to determine the identity of his murderer. The
Award-winning film, an abbreviated adaptation film has been remade twice, as Color Me Dead
produced, directed, and starring Laurence Ol- (1969) and D. O. A. (1988), in both instances
ivier. Kenneth Branagh directed and starred in also using slow- acting poisons.
a 1996 version that was unique in that it utilized
the original entire text. Inheritances and Jealousy
In Romeo and Juliet, Juliet seeks to avoid When contemplating a premeditated mur-
marriage to Paris by taking a "distilled liquor" der, the perpetrator is faced with the dilemma
that will cause her to fall into a deep, death- of selecting the most appropriate murder weap-
simulating sleep that will persist for 42 hours. on. Killing with a gun, knife, or club is read-
Although Friar Lawrence provides a detailed de- ily accomplished but even superficial exami-
scription of the effects she will experience after nation of the victim reveals that a murder has
taking this potion, he neither shares its identity been committed. With the victim as an obvious
with the audience nor provides clues as to how starting point in the investigation, a suspect is
it will produce these effects.22 Unaware of the sought and (ideally) identified, apprehended,
scheme, Romeo arrives at Juliet's tomb and be- and convicted. If, however, the drug-induced
lieves that his beloved is dead. In utter despair, death is subtle and the death attributed to "nat-
he poisons himself with a drug obtained from a ural causes," there is no reason to either sus-
poor apothecary. Upon awakening and finding pect that a crime has been committed or even
Romeo dead, Juliet completes the cycle by stab- consider a suspect, and the perpetrator escapes
bing herself. Franco Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet undetected.24 We shall now consider several
(1968) is generally acknowledged to be the finest films in which drugs are purportedly used as
of the many adaptations brought to the screen, poisons, with inheritances and jealousy as the
and in which he casts teenage actors to play the motive.25
part of the teenage leads. Martha "Sunny" Crawford was a beautiful,
Drugs and poisons also play a role in mur- recently divorced woman, the beneficiary of an
der and suicide in Macbeth and Antony and inheritance conservatively estimated to be $75
Cleopatra. In Roman Polanski's Macbeth (1971), million. In 1966, she married Claus von Bulow,
Lady Macbeth drugs the drinks she gives to the a suave Danish law graduate; by 1979, the mar-
bodyguards of Duncan, King of Scotland, en- riage was on the rocks, with Claus romantically
abling her husband to have the uninterrupted involved with another woman, a former soap
opportunity to stab Duncan. Faced with defeat opera star. Sunny mysteriously experienced a
by the army of Julius Caesar and the suicide coma of several days duration, which was vari-
death of her lover Antony, the Egyptian queen ously attributed to low blood sugar caused by
Cleopatra seeks a rapid and painless death for an overindulgence in sweets and alcohol or
herself. From among many possibilities, she se- from an injection of insulin. The following year,
lects the bite of the asp to deliver its poisonous, she once again fell into a coma; its cause was
rapid-acting venom. Numerous film versions of ascribed to an injection of insulin, which was
Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra have been rather puzzling, since Sunny was not a diabetic.
made, often simply entitled Cleopatra. Two Suspicion focused upon Claus when his black
noteworthy adaptations are the 1934 Cecil B. bag was found to contain a vial of insulin and a
DeMille version, starring Claudette Colbert, and hypodermic syringe. In his first trial in 1982, he
the 1963 Joseph Mankiewicz extravaganza, star- was convicted of attempting to murder his so-
ring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton as the cialite wife by injecting her with an overdose of
lovers and Rex Harrison as Caesar. insulin. The primary motive was a $12 million
The use of poisons is not limited to clas- inheritance. These essentially uncontested facts
sical tales. In the film noir gem D. O. A. (1949),are summarized in the film Reversal of Fortune
Frank Bigelow (Edmund O'Brien) informs view-(1990).
ers at the film's outset that he is a "walking dead Adapted from Harvard Law School profes-
man," the victim of the slow-acting poison irid- sor Alan Dershowitz's book, this dark comedy
Vol. 48 (2006) No. 3 123
film involves the author's 1985 success in win- Mozart by slowly poisoning him.27
ning a reversal of the conviction of Claus (Os-
car-winner Jeremy Irons). On appeal, questions Narcotics, Cocaine, and other
are raised concerning the true contents of the Substances of Abuse
black bag, whether Sunny (Glenn Close) actually
received an injection of insulin, and whether her When high-school and college-age students
coma was the result of an insulin overdose. As are asked to identify drug-related films, their
the curtain falls and the credits roll, many ques-list is invariably and often almost exclusively
tions remain unanswered, and viewers of this restricted to those with an explicit substance
critically-acclaimed courtroom drama can rea-abuse theme. This should not be surprising con-
sonably disagree as to whether a just verdict has sidering the popularity this genre has enjoyed in
been rendered. recent years.28 This was not always the case. Rel-
Reversal of Fortune and Arsenic and Old atively few such films appeared from the 1930s
Lace share a common premise: a successful poi- to the 1960s, when the Motion Picture Produc-
soning can yield a significant inheritance. On tion Code was in effect, which was intended to
its surface, poisonings and serial killings for an protect the film-going public from corrupting
inheritance are not a suitable foundation upon influences, including those that glamorized the
which to build a wild comedy. Arsenic and Old abuse of drugs.
Lace (1944) effectively dispels this assumption.
The Motion Picture Production Code
Adapted from Joseph Kesselring's stage play of
the same name, in Frank Capra's film, the lov- There was no shortage of sex, crime, vio-
able old spinster Brewster sisters invite twelve lence, and immoral behavior in silent films. With
bachelors to dinner and then fatally poison each the appearance of the "talkies" in the late 1920s,
of them by adding arsenic to their elderberry many good souls vocally expressed the fear that
wine. Leading a very strong cast of performers is the silent images and their "socially repugnant"
Cary Grant as their nephew Mortimer, who un- messages would be far more blatant when am-
covers their secret. plified by sound. The Hollywood studios, more
Jealousy can be a strong motive to commit formally the Motion Picture Association of
murder. Amadeus (1984) is arguably the finest America (MPAA), recognized such actions as
film with a famous poisoned victim. This Milos threats to their independence as film makers. In
Forman film is an adaptation of the same-named 1930, to preempt the increasing influence of lo-
Broadway play by Peter Shaffer, with the addi- cal censorship boards, each imposing distinctive
tion of the glorious music of the subject, Wolf- codes regarding the suitability of cinematic sub-
gang Amadeus Mozart (1756-91). The extraordi- ject material appropriate for their community,
nary talent of the young Mozart (Tom Hulce) is and to forestall the potential imposition of even
best recognized and appreciated by Antonio Sa- harsher censorship by the federal government,
lieri (Academy Award-winner F. Murray Abra- the MPAA adopted a system for self-regulation
ham), a court composer for the Austrian emper- of their films. The studios largely ignored this
or and a self-described "mediocre" composer at so-called Hays Code until 1934, when all films
that.26 were required to obtain a certificate of approval
The story is narrated in a series of flash- prior to their release.
backs by Salieri, now a resident of an insane The preamble to the Production Code sum-
asylum, after attempting to commit suicide by marized its fundamental precept: "No picture
slashing his throat. Salieri relates that prior to shall be produced which will lower the moral
meeting Mozart, he led an ascetic life, dedicating standards of those who see it. Hence the sympa-
his music to the glorification of God. He is mor- thy of the audience shall never be thrown to the
tified to find that Amadeus ("beloved of God"), side of crime, wrong-doing, evil or sin."29
whose music is apparently divinely inspired, is Restrictions were set forth in specific Code
a blasphemous womanizer who drinks to excess, provisions regarding the use of profanity and
and is socially inept and crude. Determined to obscenity and the depiction of sexually-oriented
seek his revenge with God who created such a topics, such as scenes of passion, rape or seduc-
preeminent musical genius, he decides to kill tion, nudity, childbirth, venereal disease, or sug-
gestive dances. With respect to drugs, "the ille- pain, relieve stress, to relax, fall asleep, and stay
gal drug traffic must not be portrayed in such a asleep after an exhilarating performance, or to
way as to stimulate curiosity concerning the use nullify the activating effects of a stimulant. Not
of, or traffic in, such drugs; nor shall scenes be infrequently, multiple drugs and alcohol are tak-
approved which show the use of illegal drugs, or en. LSD, marijuana, and similar mind-altering
their effects, in detail." Moreover, "the use of li- substances are used to escape reality, gain inspi-
quor in American life, when not required by the ration, or enhance creativity.
plot or for proper characterization, will not be
shown."30 Celebrity and Less Illustrious Drug Users in
Films
The 1950s found Hollywood under siege
by new threats that were having a negative im- Biographies based on the lives of celebri-
pact on domestic films and on movie house at- ties, their rise to stardom, drug-precipitated fall,
tendance. These were the twin menaces of for- and sometimes return to fame, are a common
eign films and the new medium of television, film subjects. Perhaps the most entertaining
neither of which were subject to Production such films involve musicians because even if the
Code restrictions. In response, the iconoclas- movie is not great, their music is.
tic director Otto Preminger led the rebellion to Bird (1988), directed by actor-jazz pianist
eliminate censorship. Without prior approval,Clint Eastwood, is based on the life of Charlie
he released The Man with the Golden Arm in "Bird" Parker (1920-55), acknowledged to be
1955, a film dealing explicitly with drug addic-among the greatest jazz saxophonists. "Bird"
tion, a subject explicitly forbidden by the Code.
(Forest Whitaker) is introduced to drugs while
During the 1960s, Code enforcement became still a teenager and becomes addicted to heroin
increasingly lax, and in 1968, all restrictions as
onan adult. Heroin, coupled with excessive alco-
subject matter or their depiction in films was fi-
hol consumption, are responsible for his death
nally abandoned. An MPAA film rating system at the age of 34. Arguably the most famous of all
was instituted, with the designation of a film jazz singers, Billie Holiday (1915-59) sang with
self-assigned by the movie maker.31 the greatest bands of her day. Lady Sings the
Blues (1972), starring Diana Ross, traces Holi-
Why Use Drugs? day's sad childhood and her challenges achieving
Because of their far greater box office ap-nationwide fame as an African-American enter-
peal, particularly to action-oriented younger tainer in a white world. "Lady Day" attempts to
audiences, films have focused upon the recre- suppress her personal and professional demons
ational use and abuse of "narcotics"32 and other with heroin and, by the late 1940s, is addicted
behaviorally active substances rather than drug and jailed on a narcotics possession charge. As
use for medicinal purposes. The protagonists in her world begins to crumble, use of heroin and
many of these substance abuse films are celebri- alcohol increase, leading to her death at age 44.
ties whose trials and tribulations fascinate. Such The very passionate, tempestuous and vio-
individuals not infrequently take multiple illicit lent relationship of English punk musician Sid
substances, including alcohol, to satisfy their Vicious (Gary Oldman) and Philadelphia-born
recreational, behavioral, and emotional needs Nancy Spungen (Chloe Webb), fueled by heavy
and desires. When drug-taking assumes compul- doses of heroin and alcohol, is the subject of Sid
sive proportions, its illicit procurement and use and Nancy (1986). Sid, born John Simon Ritchie
assumes the primary driving force in their lives, (i957-79)> was bass player for the "Sex Pistols"
relegating careers, families, health, and welfare during the late 1970s. After leaving the band
to subordinate roles. and during a drunken stupor, Sid stabs Nancy to
To cope with their pressures, public figures death with a hunting knife. Several months later,
may use amphetamines, cocaine, or other stimu- he dies of a heroin overdose at 21.
lants to enhance self-confidence; to act, feel, and Actress Jean Seberg (1938-79) appeared in
look younger and be in top mental and physical her first movie at the age of 17 and had billings in
form; to suppress feelings of boredom; or to lose over three dozen films in Hollywood and France.
weight. Narcotics (usually heroin), sedatives, Two 1995 documentaries, From the Journals of
other depressants, and alcohol are taken to ease Jean Seberg and Jean Seberg, American Ac-
Vol. 48 (2006) No. 3 125
•
tress, trace her rise to fame in film and her later death. The Basketball Diaries (1995) is loosel
very public support for the Black Panther Party based on the autobiography of author-actor Jim
and left-leaning social causes during the early Carroll. Jimmy (Leonardo DiCaprio) washes o
1970s. With these political activities, she incurs on the basketball court, where he starred, drop
the wrath of J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI who out of school, where he had been a good stu
seek to publicly discredit her by questioning the dent, and turns to robbery and drug dealing
paternity of a baby she is carrying. Their harass- support his heroin and cocaine habits. The d
ment precipitates a miscarriage, leading to her integration of movie and television screenwrite
severe depression, alcoholism, and drug addic- Jerry Stahl's career and personal life, parallelin
tion, culminating with a fatal overdose of barbi- his increasing heroin addiction, is depicted
turates. Permanent Midnight (1998, starring Ben Stiller
Singers Ray Charles (1930-2004) and and was based on a 1995 autobiography of t
Johnny Cash (1932-2003), both of whom grew same name.
up poor in the rural South, are traumatically The Mike Nichols-directed comed
scarred by the loss of brothers during theirPostcards from the Edge (1990) wa
youth, become addicted to drugs as rising stars,from a semi-autobiographical nove
become drug-free, and achieve internationalWars-series actress and author Carrie Fisher.
In the movie, Suzanne Vale's (Meryl Streep) ex-
fame. The critically acclaimed Ray (2004) traces
Charles's untreated glaucoma causing blind- cessive use of cocaine impairs her memory and
ness at seven. Heroin addiction for many yearsability to function on a movie set. A drug over-
threatens his successful career, and he facesdose necessitates life-saving emergency room
treatment. Having bottomed out, she is admit-
the real prospect of jail time for narcotics pos-
session. Unlike many other entertainers withted a to a drug treatment program and is success-
heroin problem, Ray (Academy Award-winner fully rehabilitated.
Jamie Foxx) lives for many decades after kicking Drug addiction in fictional characters has
the habit, achieves unique preeminence in the been the subject of a number of powerful mov-
entertainment world, and dies at the age of 73.ies. Among the first pictures to vividly depict the
Johnny Cash grew up a sharecropper's sonagonies of heroin addiction was Otto Preminger's
picking cotton in rural Arkansas. To relieve the The Man with the Golden Arm (1955), released
without the prior approval of the Motion Picture
pressures of a grueling tour schedule in the early
1960s and difficulties adjusting to his newly ac-Production Code. Frankie Machine (Frank Sina-
quired fame as a rising country music star, tra)
he is a professional card dealer ("golden arm"),
turns to barbiturates, amphetamines, and heavywho has returned from prison after serving time
drinking. In Walk the Line (2005), his singingfor narcotics possession. Notwithstanding his
partner June Carter helps him turn off drugs best efforts to restart his life as a "clean" musi-
and alcohol and find religion. Johnny (Joaquincian, he soon returns to his old ways as a suc-
Phoenix) and June (Academy Award-winner cessful dealer and is once again hooked on hero-
Reese Witherspoon) spend the next 35 years in. ofThe most memorable scenes are those of his
going "cold turkey" and the "rush" in Frankie's
their lives as a devoted married couple and die
within months of each other in 2003. face when he is "shooting up." Contemporary
Author-actors are the subject of a num- movies would likely focus the camera on a nee-
ber of film biographies, at times portrayed dleas in the addict's arm. At film's end, he success-
semi-fictional characters. The Nuyorican poet-fully completes a drug rehabilitation program.
playwright-actor, Miguel Pifiero (1946-88), is Sherlock Holmes was the most illustri-
ous rehabilitated cocaine user. The movie title,
the subject of Pifiero (2001), starring Benjamin
The Seven-Percent Solution (1976), refers to
Bratt. Incarceration in Sing-Sing for drug deal-
ing and theft provides Pifiero with a first-hand the concentration of cocaine solution Holmes
(Nicol Williamson) injects into his veins to "es-
look at prison life, which he depicts in his criti-
cape from the commonplaces of existence" as
cally acclaimed 1974 play "Short Eyes." His use
described in A Study in Scarlet (1887) by Arthur
of drugs to ease the pressure of increasing suc-
cess leads to intensification of his long-term
Conan Doyle. Dr. Watson's description of his co-
caine use is also recounted in The Sign of Four
addiction and is ultimately responsible for his
(1890) and "A Scandal in Bohemia" (1891). The and box office successful Easy Rider (1969) is
storyline of the film, neglected in Conan Doyle's awash in drugs, sex, and the rock music of the
original "canon," describes Holmes's treatment period, the antithesis of the Movie Production
and rehabilitation by the eminent Dr. Sigmund Code. Its appearance was contemporaneous with
Freud (Alan Arkin). the Woodstock festival in upstate New York,
The film Porgy and Bess (1959) is an ad- which attracted 400,000 and spawned a series
aptation of the 1935 classic American folk opera of counterculture films for years thereafter. Easy
by George and Ira Gershwin, prepared in col- Rider opens with two marijuana-using buddies,
laboration with DuBose Heyward. Set in early Captain America (producer Peter Fonda) and
twentieth-century Catfish Row (South Carolina), Billy (director Dennis Hopper), completing a
we find the cripple Porgy (Sidney Poitier) hope- major cocaine sale. With their newly acquired
lessly in love with the beautiful but fickle Bess cash stashed in the gas tank of a motorcycle,
(Dorothy Dandridge). Bess has a history of ad- they travel cross-country from Los Angeles via
diction to "happy dust" (cocaine) provided by a Mardi Gras celebration in New Orleans to
local drug pusher Sportin' Life (Sammy Davis, Florida. Along the open road these independent
Jr.). At film's end, Bess travels to New York freedom-lovers challenge the establishment,
with Sportin' Life in search of bright lights and adopt alcoholic lawyer George (Jack Nicholson
excitement- conspicuously absent in Catfish in a role that catapulted his career), who they in-
Row, with the exception of several murders. troduce to smoking marijuana, and they sample
Based upon her thrill-seeking personality and LSD with prostitutes in a New Orleans cemetery.
past drug-using history, the negative influence In the film's penultimate scene, prior to its blaz-
of Sportin' Life, and the powerful psychoactive ing finale, Captain America notes that "we blew
properties of cocaine, odds favoring her reha- it." This cryptic comment has been subject to
bilitation from "happy dust" appear extremely various interpretations including a commentary
remote. This pessimistic assessment was not on their drug-imbued, wasted existence.
shared by Porgy, who follows in hot pursuit of The best known novels by Hunter S.
his woman on a goat cart.33 Thompson (1937-2005) and William S Bur-
The 1960s witnessed a sharp escalation roughs (1914-97), highly nontraditional writers,
in societal interest in and use and general ac- were based on and inspired by their own drug-
ceptance of such mind-altering substances as using experiences. In the tradition of Easy Rid-
LSD and marijuana. This was coupled with the er, the comedy Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
demise of the Motion Picture Production Code's (1998), an adaptation of Thompson's 1971 classic
restrictions on subject matter deemed unsuit- novel, is another road film based on experiences
able for movies. With these changes came aof the author, and that introduced Thompson to
number of movies positively depicting the use of a new generation of readers. Two pals (Johnny
such drugs to escape the boredom of traditionalDepp and Benicio Del Toro) drive from Los An-
living and to relieve workplace pressures and geles to Las Vegas in a red convertible causing
the tension between the establishment and the havoc. Using LSD, marijuana,34 cocaine, stimu-
counterculture. lants, and alcohol at every opportunity, they ex-
The Trip (1967), directed by Roger Cor- perience vivid drug-induced hallucinations and
man and screenwritten by Jack Nicholson was flashbacks.
among the first such films. Television commer- The Naked Lunch (1959) was a semiauto-
cial executive Paul (Peter Fonda) takes LSD to biographical novel by Burroughs,35 famed au-
escape from life and work, experiences wild hal- thor of the beat generation. David Cronenberg's
lucinations (both enjoyable and frightening), humorous 1991 film of the same name, loosely
and passionate love making. After the "trip" has based on this novel, features William Lee (Peter
dissipated, he perceives himself better capable Weiler) as an aspiring author and on-again, off-
of handling his challenges. Neither the general again drug addict. While holding down a day job
subject of the film nor the beneficial effects of an as an insect exterminator, he and his wife be-
illicit mind-altering drug would have been think- come addicted to his bug powder. During an al-
able when the Code was in effect. cohol-intoxicated state, Lee accidentally kills his
From start to finish, the critically acclaimed wife (as did Burroughs). The subsequent convo-
Vol. 48 (2006) No. 3 127
luted plot revolves about his travels abroad and mind Bob (Matt Dillon), his rather dysfunct
features substance abuse-induced hallucinationsfamily consists of his wife Diane (Kelly L
involving spies, secret agents, and typewritersand a younger couple of drug addicts the
transformed into talking bugs. adopted as their "children." Bob's life is
driven by experiencing drug "highs" and
Anti-Drug Films: Winning the Hearts and ceiving new and novel plans for robbing
Minds macies. Pursuing the life of the junkie mak
Movies with an anti-substance abuse mes- immediate future predictable- all he has to
sage typically have a common storyline: early use "read the labels on the bottles." Bob shoo
of recreational drugs brings pleasure, but withnarcotics and experiences euphoria. His life
their continued and heavier involvement, the revolves about the present, and drugs ma
mental and physical life of the abuser inevitably life pleasurable for now.
deteriorates, often with a fatal outcome. Family After one of his young charges succu
and friends are commonly secondary victims. to a drug overdose, Bob walks out on the fa
The earliest anti-drug film was Human joins a methadone maintenance program,
Wreckage (1923). This silent movie was pro-earning an honest (albeit very modest) l
duced by the actress Dorothy Davenport, afterand kicks the habit. Diane leaves him to contin-
heroin addiction caused the death of her famous ue her drug-taking ways. At the film's end, de-
actor-husband, Wallace Reid.36 In the film, an spite his best intentions, it appears that Bob will
exhausted attorney gets hooked on narcotics to likely return to the world of the junkie. Unlike
the detriment of his practice and private life. other anti-drug movies, Drugstore Cowboy does
With the support of his loving wife, the lawyer not moralize about drug use. Rather, it presents
straightens out, and is instrumental in mounting a relatively objective picture of the day-to-day
anti-drug campaigns. life, both good and bad, of drug addicts. In the
At the time of its appearance, A Hatful of final analysis, its message is clear.
Rain (1957), adapted from a stage play by Mi- Darren Aronofsky's intense, dark, and de-
chael Gazzo, was among the first movies to re- pressing Requiem for a Dream (2000), is one
alistically explore the devastating effects of drug of the most memorable and hard-hitting anti-
addiction on family dynamics. Korean War vet- drug films brought to the screen. This film de-
eran Johnny Pope (Don Murray) returns home picts characters whose aspirations are ravaged
after becoming narcotic addicted during a pe- by heroin and amphetamine addiction, and for
riod of hospitalization. Members of his family whom drugs assume a primal driving force in
recognize that a problem exists but are at a loss their wasted lives. Each of the younger princi-
of determine its nature and provide Johnny pal characters has a dream that is realistic and
support he requires. Complicating the situation attainable, namely, opening a business and a
is a vicious drug pusher who is willing to sup- clothing boutique. Their savings and hopes dis-
ply Johnny's drug needs but who demands his sipate as they continue to purchase and use of
money. The family conflict is resolved when he smack (heroin) to sustain their addiction. The
shares the secret of his addiction with his loved mother (Ellen Burstyn) also has a dream, name-
ones. ly, that she will lose 30 pounds to fit into an at-
tractive(1989)
Gus Van Sant's Drugstore Cowboy red dress and appear on a live television
game show.
is about a very different family, a family of Her use of amphetamines for weight
nar-
reduction
cotic addicts, aimlessly drifting about escalates to a habit and, ultimately,
the Pacific
into a major
Northwest in 1971 in search of drugs. Thoughdependency. As with the younger
they break the law, they are not necessarily bad have foreclosed the hopes of
characters, drugs
people. This forceful, graphically satisfying
realistic,a dream.
and
The lives of
critically acclaimed movie traces the escapades ofheroin addicts are presented in
three 1971 anti-drug films. Their daily existence
junkies who procure their pharmaceutical-grade
supplies of morphine and the potentrevolves around making street drug buys, expe-
morphine-
riencing heroin
like drug Dilaudid by robbing pharmacies. overdoses and the agony of drug
Drug
supplies over and above family needs withdrawal,
are committing
sold crimes for drug money,
and evading
as a source of income. Led by anti-hero the police. In The Panic in Needle
master-
Park, a couple (Al Pacino in his first major role, be reaching forth next for your son or daugh-
and Kitty Winn) experience all manners of drug- ter." The origins of this film and its true objec-
related problems that cause their ultimate de- tives have been the subject of controversy. Some
mise. The hard life of Los Angeles drug users sources claim that its production was financed
and pushers is depicted in Dusty and Sweets by a church, the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, or
McGee. Born to Win (also released as Born to other interest groups seeking to demonize mari-
Lose) deals with an addict (George Segal), who juana. Alternatively, it has been characterized
turns informer to avoid prison. The high-energy, as a thinly veiled exploitation film intended to
dark comedy Trainspotting (1996) finds four circumvent the Movie Production Code's restric-
Scottish lads seeking to emotionally escape from tions depicting illicit drug use and sexually pro-
their bleak present and unchanging future pros- vocative scenes.
pects in Edinburgh. They turn to and ultimately Not all marijuana movies are anti-drug.
become addicted to heroin, a habit they cannot One-half century later, two pro-marijuana docu-
beat. mentary films, The Hemp Revolution (1996) and
Cocaine addiction, and its negative impact Grass (1999), were released. The Hemp Revolu-
on the minority community, is depicted in Mario tion promotes the legalization of marijuana and
Van Peeples's New Jack City (1991). Nino Brown the rebirth of a once vibrant hemp industry. The
(Wesley Snipes) is an exceedingly violent, ruth- unabashedly pro-drug film Grass, narrated by
less, and highly successful Harlem drug kingpin Woody Harrelson, examines the history of mari-
not adverse to building his fortune by exploiting juana in the United States, modern trends in its
his "brothers" who are wasting their lives and use, and public opinions about this substance.
meager financial resources maintaining their The propagandistic efforts of the motion picture
dependence on his crack cocaine. The anti-drug industry to mobilize public opinion to support
message delivered by this high-energy movie is anti-marijuana laws are discussed.
anything but subtle.
Sensational news stories during the 1920s Illicit Drug Trade
and 1930s primarily focused on marijuana, not The illicit sale of drugs- whether the prod-
heroin and cocaine. Several forgettable films uct line is heroin, cocaine, or bootlegged alco-
released during the 1930s depicting the evils of hol-can be a highly profitable business endeav-
marijuana were presented to support the gov- or for individuals who are both enterprising and
ernment's campaign to enact national laws to ruthless. For those persons barely subsisting at
outlaw the "devil's weed." Marijuana's devastat- the bottom end of the socioeconomic ladder with
ing effects on behavior and its addiction liability, no future legitimate prospects for employment,
as depicted in these films, was not based on fact, drug dealing can be a highly tempting career
which would have undermined their impact on choice, certainly far more gainful than a mini-
pending legislation. With teenagers and anxious mum wage job in a fast-food restaurant. High
parents the target audience, such films included profits are accompanied by high risks. As seen
Assassin of Youth (1935) and Marihuana (1936), in typical action-packed, violence-laden films of
also entitled Marijuana- The Devil's Weed. this genre, the drug dealer faces many threats
The most memorable film of this ilk was to survival and success: the law enforcement
Reefer Madness (1938), originally released as
community attempting to interdict drug ship-
Tell Your Children, and which now enjoys a cult ments and shut down the operation; the brutal
following among college students. To set the rival drug dealers competing for their share of
stage, the film's prologue states that "Something the market; and aspiring subordinates, seeking
must be done to wipe out this ghastly [marijua- more money or greater power, who are plotting
na] menace." As the story unfolds, after smokingto forcibly ascend to the leadership role.
a joint, a clean-cut, innocent high school couple Among the earlier films examining the
finds themselves involved in acts of homicide,narcotic drug trade was The Poppy Is Also a
violence, depravity, and insanity, with thoughts Flower (1966), a made-for-television movie with
of suicide. To reinforce this film's less-than- a strong anti-drug message. Based on a story
subtle message, the adult viewer is warnedwritten at by Ian Fleming, and featuring a number
its conclusion that "The dread marijuana may of star-status actors appearing in cameo roles, it
Vol. 48 (2006) No. 3 129
deals with American undercover agents who are (i995)> based on Richard Price's bestseller, a 19-
working in Iran to stop a heroin trafficking ring. year-old "docker" (a low-level cocaine pusher)
Films depicting the extremely lucrative faces the option of either going straight or mur-
drug trade in heroin and cocaine have been a dering a fellow docker and moving up in the
Hollywood staple since the 1970s. Among the organization. Maria (Catalina Sandino Marino),
first, most exciting, and finest of this genre in the critically acclaimed Maria Full of Grace
is William Friedkin's The French Connection (2003), is an unmarried, pregnant 17-year-old
(1971), the winner of five Academy Awards, in- who supports her family on the meager wages
she earns removing thorns from roses in a flo-
cluding Best Picture. Based on a true story, it fol-
lows New York City narcotic detectives "Popeye"
rist shop. Having few options at home, she seeks
to escape from poverty in Columbia by signing
Doyle37 (Gene Hackman, Best Actor Oscar) and
his partner Buddy Russo (Roy Scheider), who
on as a "mule," smuggling heroin by commercial
airline into the United States. This "mule" must
are seeking to interdict a major heroin shipment
smuggled from Marseille. The film portrays theswallow 62 condom-containing packets of hero-
operation of the "French connection," then in in Columbia and eliminate them in New York
the
primary source of pure heroin coming to after
the clearing customs. The job, while seemingly
United States. Having failed to capture the elu-
easy work for very high pay, is also potentially
hazardous. If even a single packet ruptures while
sive French drug kingpin at the film's end, Doyle
in her body, a lethal dose of heroin will be re-
continues the pursuit in Marseille in The French
Connection II (1975). leased.
The Latin American cocaine drug trade The illicit drug trade does not always in-
has served as the impetus for a number of volve
ac- substances of abuse. Carol Reed's The
Third Man (1949), written by Graham Greene,
tion films. Tony Montana (Al Pacino), a highly
is considered by many to be among the finest of
ambitious Cuban criminal, is adopted by a major
Miami cocaine dealer, who teaches him the busi-
the film noir genre.38 The Western pulp novelist
ness in Scarface (1983). After greed overtakes Holly Martins (Joseph Cotton) arrives in post-
loyalty, Tony murders his benefactor and gains World War II Vienna to accept a job offer from
control of his business, much to the consterna- his old school chum Harry Lime (Orson Welles).
tion of competing Cuban drug dealers. George Holly's job evaporates when he learns that Harry
has been killed in a traffic accident immediately
Jung's (Johnny Depp) real-life rise and fall from
the 1960s to 1980s is the subject of Ted Demme'sprior to his arrival. As the story unfolds, we find
Blow (2001). Starting as a small-time marijuana Harry very much alive, a successful dealer in
dealer, Jung's marketshare continues to expand the black market sale of adulterated and diluted
until he is apprehended and convicted. His time penicillin, a drug in short supply at the time in
Vienna. Motivated solely by pure avarice, Harry
in jail proves to be a valuable educational expe-
rience, when he learns that cocaine is a far more
is responsible for the death of countless children
lucrative product line than marijuana. Upon whosere- lives might have been saved had they re-
lease, Jung travels to Columbia to meet Pablo ceived full, unadulterated doses of the antibi-
Escobar, South America's leading drug lord.otic. He
becomes Escobar's leading cocaine distributor
Corrupt Cops
in the United States, capturing 85 percent of the
business, some of which he allocates for private In exchange for inattention or protection,
use. Adapted from the Tom Clancy novel Clear drug dealers sometimes share their drugs or a
and Present Danger (1994), CIA Deputy Direc- small fraction of their ill-gained profits with cor-
tor of Intelligence Jack Ryan (Harrison Ford) rupt police. Sidney Lumet explored this theme
masterminds a team of special forces dispatched in two powerful films based on the true stories
to Columbia to depose a cocaine kingpin and of de-police officers who publicly expose pervasive
stroy his operation. New York City police corruption and win the en-
While Montana and Jung are mature, mity of even their honest colleagues for violating
adult, big-time drug operators, other films the de-unwritten code of secrecy.
pict struggling teenagers at the opposite end of Serpico (1973), adapted from Peter Maas's
book of the same name, is the true story of
the chain of distribution. In Spike Lee's Clockers
Frank Serpico (Al Pacino). Disguised as a beard- may be a celebrity or an "ordinary" individual
ed street person, he is an undercover cop who, whose career or life has followed a progressive
unlike many of his colleagues, does not accept downhill trajectory. Disastrous consequences
payoffs for casting a blind eye when drug deal- result for the drinker, which often reverberate
ers, gambling operators, and other miscreants to the family or other close relationships. Still
are plying their trade. At the 1971 Knapp Com- other films continue by retracing the alcoholic's
mission Investigation of Police Corruption, he path back to recovery and even redemption.
offers public testimony about widespread cor- The Prohibition era in the United States led to
ruption among New York's "finest," including a a thriving bootlegging business, which has been
cover-up by the Mayor's chief of staff. Serpico's the subject of a number of movies.
less scrupulous fellow cops set him up during a
The Comédie Alcoholic
drug bust, leaving him shot in the face and deaf
in one ear. He resigns from the force and goes Excessive alcohol consumption can dis-
into self-exile in Europe under an alias as the re- rupt locomotion and locution, seen as stumbling
sult of these injuries after learning that he is the steps and slurred speech, and is sometimes de-
subject of a Mafia contract. picted in comédie fashion on the screen. Few
In Prince of the City (1981), Manhattan could better portray this than Charlie Chaplin
detective Daniel Ciello (Treat Williams) works in the opening scene of Limelight (1952), where
with the Department of Justice as they build a he plays the aged Calvero, a former comedy star
case against corrupt members of the New York of the pre-World War I British music hall stage
Police Department. Ciello obtains evidence that or Walter Brennan as Eddie, Humphrey Bogart's
some bribe-taking police are paying off street charter boat gofer, in To Have and Have Not
informants with narcotics as well as using these (1944). Off screen, W. C. Field (1880-1946) was
drugs themselves. Like Serpico, he is ostracized a heavy drinker; on screen, in a series of films, he
by even honest cops. was a lovable drunk. The Bank Dick (1940) may
Steven Soderbergh's critically acclaimed be his finest movie. Through a series of highly
Traffic (2000) shows the far-reaching negative improbable but very fortuitous circumstances,
impact of drugs, in particular, cocaine, in sev- Egbert Souse (Fields) succeeds beyond his wild-
eral separate threads of storylines that do not est expectations without missing a drink.
converge at the denouement. Subplots include Drinking is a primary driving force in the
the illicit trade of cocaine with corrupt police chronic alcoholic's life, competing favorably with
and government officials working in close coop- food, air, and water. This prioritization works
eration with drug dealers. Honest Mexican and particularly well when earning a living is not a
American police are working to apprehend drug strong motivating factor. Nick Charles (William
dealers. A San Diego wife is oblivious to the true Powell) is a private detective who, with his very
source of her husband's considerable income, wealthy wife Nora (Myrna Loy), appeared in
namely, the cocaine drug trade. Cocaine's per- a series of six films over a 14-year period. The
nicious effects on the street user is particularly first and most successful of these, The Thin Man
poignant when the teenage daughter of the new- (i934)> is taken directly from a novel of the same
ly appointed national drug czar in the United name by Dashiell Hammett, no stranger himself
States steals and prostitutes herself to support to alcohol. Set in the immediate post-Prohibition
her addiction. period, Nick and Nora rarely appear in a scene
without smoking and imbibing multiple drinks
at a single sitting. No one criticizes their exces-
Alcoholics and Alcoholism
sive boozing, least of all their friends and guests
The use of alcohol in excess is a famil-
who readily accept Nick's offer to join them in a
drink
iar film theme, which is not surprising since it or two. In spite of their high alcohol intake,
mirrors American society's involvement withNick and Nora never show signs of intoxication,
booze. This section, examines films that take
and their investigative skills, wit, and charm re-
main unimpaired, if not enhanced, when lubri-
the alcoholic protagonist along different paths:
cated by alcohol. Fortunately for viewers, this
The drinker may engage in regular heavy drink-
film appears to have eluded the eye of the Movie
ing leading to humorous situations. The drinker
Vol. 48 (2006) No. 3 131
Production Code. After remaining sober for ten days, he engages
In Arthur (1981), the title character (Dud- in a four-day bender searching for a hidden bot-
ley Moore) is a lovable alcoholic whose millions tle of booze in his brother's apartment and later
permit him to pursue any whim he desires, but for an open pawn shop to hock his typewriter
money fails to buy genuine enjoyment of life. In for money to buy a bottle. As Don's bartender
Harvey (1950), Elwood P. Dowd (James Stew- tells him, "one's too many and a thousand's not
art) is also wealthy, single, and an inebriate. Un- enough." At the film's conclusion, Don has bot-
like Arthur, he is eternally upbeat, sees the best tomed out and appears ready, once again, to try
in all humans, and has the endearing habit of to remain sober, although his prospects for suc-
inviting strangers he meets at the bar home for cess seem problematic.
dinner. His devoted and inseparable best friend Days of Wine and Roses (1962) is among
is Harvey, a 6'3" rabbit visible only to Elwood, the most realistic portrayals of the impact of
but whose presence creates significant social alcohol on the family. Upon returning home
problems for Elwood's elderly sisters and an each night, Joe Clay (Jack Lemmon) relieves
unmarried niece. Late in the movie, the sisters the pressures of his advertising career with li-
have an opportunity to have him treated with quor. He is soon joined by his wife Kirsten (Lee
an unidentified drug that will cause Harvey to Remick) and, in time, each become alcoholics.
disappear forever. The cost paid will be a sober With the support of Alcoholics Anonymous, Joe
Elwood, but who will have lost his loveable na- recovers. The bottle continues to retain its ir-
ture. resistible attraction for Kirsten and she leaves
Joe and their child for a life on the street. Roles
Relationships on the Rocks are reversed in Elia Kazan's A Tree Grows in
The profound negative impact of chronic Brooklyn (1945), set at the turn of the twenti-
heavy drinking on careers and relationships with eth century. The wife (Dorothy McGuire) is the
family and friends represent a central theme ex- steady force holding the family together. She is
plored in detail in a number of memorable films. unable to depend upon her warm and lovable
Not surprisingly, these films are generally som- husband (James Dunn), whose dreams and best
ber and downbeat. intentions to improve his family's impoverished
In A Star is Born, alcoholism has reduced situation remain unfulfilled because of his alco-
Norman Maine to a shell of his former greatness holism. In such films as The Subject Was Roses
as a cinema star and affects his dependability (1968), Once Were Warriors (1994), and Afflic-
to get to and perform on the set. He discovers, tion (1998), the alcoholic husbands and fathers
nurtures, and marries the aspiring young Esther are not so loving and even abusive.
Blodgett who, billed as Vicki Lester, emerges as Tennessee Williams, one of America's
an Academy Award winner in her film debut in greatest playwrights, had a history of depression
true Hollywood tradition. Unable to maintain and periods of his life when he was addicted to
sobriety and recognizing himself to be an alba- alcohol and prescription drugs. Several of Wil-
tross to Vicki's career, Norman commits suicide. liams's plays involving the destructive impact of
This film was remade three times, twice (1937, alcohol on the family have been adapted for the
1954) with noteworthy results. The earlier ver- screen. Alcoholism as well as a mother's mor-
sion with Janet Gaynor and Frederic March was phine addiction, contribute to the dissolution of
later remade as a musical with Judy Garland the Tyrone family in Sidney Lumet's adaptation
and James Mason. of Long Day's Journey into Night (1962). When
Hollywood's serious look at alcoholism Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) opens, we learn
as a social problem was first approached in that Brick (Paul Newman, in his first success-
Billy Wilder's Oscar winner The Lost Weekend ful major role) has spent the past year drinking
(1945)· Don Birnam (Ray Milland in an Academyrather than attending to the sexual needs of his
Award-winning performance) is a talented but wife Maggie (Elizabeth Taylor). Mike Nichols
failed writer whose drinking causes him to steal adapted Edward Albee's play Who's Afraid of
from his family, spend time in the local drunkVirginia Woolf? into a 1966 film. Bouts of heavy
tank, and lie about the severity of his drinking drinking spark mutually devastating personal
problem to those he loves, as well as to himself. attacks by spouses George (Richard Burton) and
Martha (Elizabeth Taylor), who resurrect family implied permanent return to sobriety. In real-
stories better left undisturbed. ity, this was not always the case. Lillian Roth's
The primary protagonists in Your Cheatiri (Susan Hayward) rise to fame as a Broadway
Heart and Leaving Las Vegas are unable or un- and Hollywood singing star, her fall, and sub-
willing to give up drinking with deadly conse- sequent recovery with AA support is related in
quences. An authentic superstar at 25 and dead Til Cry Tomorrow (1954), a film based on her
four years later, Hank Williams (1923-53), was autobiography. The title character in Jim Thor-
perhaps the greatest country singer-song writer. pe-All American (1951), played by Burt Lan-
Hank (George Hamilton), the subject of Your caster, was a Sac and Fox Native American, who
Cheatin' Heart (1964), was not adverse to drink many consider the greatest American athlete of
as a teenager. As his fame increases, so does the the twentieth century. The movie traces his life
frequency and intensity of his drinking, ceasing (1887-1953) as an All-American college football
only when he sleeps. His personal and profes- player and track star at Carlisle Indian Industrial
sional life spin out of control, leading to divorce School, a 1912 Stockholm Olympic gold medal-
and failed concert appearances. Re-injuring his ist in the pentathlon and decathlon competition,
spine which causes constant, intense pain, he and as a professional baseball and football play-
is prescribed and quickly becomes addicted to er. Thorpe descends into alcoholism after being
morphine. He dies from an overdose of mor- unjustly stripped of his Olympic medals and fol-
phine and alcohol enroute to a performance. lowing the death of his young son. His movie re-
A similar unhappy ending is in store for covery is aided by his former college coach Pop
the characters and viewers of Leaving Las Ve- Warner (Charles Bickford). Young Man with a
gas (1995). Unsuccessful as a screenwriter, Ben Horn (1950) is based on the life of one of the
Sanderson (Oscar winner Nicholas Cage) is quite great musicians of the 1920s, jazz cornet player
successful at drinking himself into a stupor. He Bix Beiderbecke (1903-31), here pseudonymous-
travels to Las Vegas determined to drink himself ly Rick Martin (Kirk Douglas). The film depicts
to death. Prior to satisfying his ultimate goal, the his struggle with alcoholism and recovery. This
negative consequences of Ben's alcoholism are happy movie ending was not to be in real life;
depicted, including his vomiting, seizures, and Beiderbecke died during an alcohol-related sei-
public outbursts. zure at the age of 28.
A basic theme in literature is transforma-
Road to Recovery and Redemption tion or redemption of a lost character. In films
The tortuous path from alcoholism to re- we are also inspired to find the bottomed-out al-
covery is rarely simple and direct and is often coholic not merely regaining sobriety but being
interrupted by repeated backsliding.39 Alcoholics transformed to an authentic hero, the stuff of
Anonymous (AA) is the nation's most success- which Academy Award winners (or at least nom-
ful alcohol treatment program, with some two inees) are often made. A life-and-death wartime
million members. My Name is Bill W (1989), setting, with bullets and bombs flying about
a made-for-television movie, tells of the evolu- them, provides the necessary stimulus for some.
tion of AA during the early 1930s. Its founders Howard Hawks's Sergeant York (1941) is
were recovering alcoholics Bill Wilson (James among the finest biographies portrayed on the
Woods), a Depression-ruined stockbroker, and silver screen and served to inspire American
physician Dr. Bob Smith (James Garner). In patriotism in the run-up to World War II. Alvin
Come Back, Little Sheba (1952), Doc Delaney, York (1887-1964), portrayed in an Oscar-win-
facing the challenge of remaining sober, is sup- ning performance by Gary Cooper, is a hell-rais-
ported by his fellow recovering alcoholics in AA. ing, dirt-poor, heavy drinking, sharp-shooting
Doc (Burt Lancaster) is professionally frustrat- Tennessee farm boy who, after being struck by
ed, stifled in an unhappy marriage to his simple lightning, stops drinking, finds God, and be-
and unattractive wife Lola (Oscar winner Shirley comes a volunteer Bible teacher and commit-
Booth), and tempted by a seductive coed house ted pacifist. He unsuccessfully attempts to gain
boarder (Terry Moore). exemption from World War I military service as
Hollywood endings often portray a real- a conscientious objector, is drafted, and sent to
life celebrity's recovery from alcoholism with an the front lines in France. To save his buddies,
Vol. 48 (2006) No. 3 133
who are being killed by enemy machine gun fire, right path to sobriety, enables him to success-
he responds by single-handedly killing 28 Ger- fully return to the Texas stage, and provides her
man soldiers and capturing 132 others in one young son with a much needed father figure.
day's combat. York emerges from the Great War Alcoholics and recovering alcoholics who
as its most decorated American soldier. Return- redeem themselves are not infrequently found in
ing to a hero's welcome in New York, he declines the nineteenth-century Wild West. Jane Fonda,
lucrative endorsement offers and returns to the playing the title character in the musical com-
farm.40 edy Cat Bailou (1965), hires the legendary gun
Two films of fiction, focusing more on ro- fighter Kid Shelleen (Lee Marvin, Oscar winner),
mance than world wars around them, portray sight-unseen to avenge the murder of her father.
reformed alcoholics as rescuers of women. John He arrives on the job a slovenly, dissipated al-
Huston's The African Queen (1951) was adapted coholic, but rises to the challenge, sobers up,
from a C. S. Forester novel. It finds dissipated cleans up, and earns his money. John Wayne
boat steamer captain Charlie Allnut (Humphrey plays leading roles in which his supporting ac-
Bogart in his only Oscar-winning performance), tors portray alcoholics. Doc Boone (Thomas
reluctantly rescuing Rose Sayer (Katharine Hep- Mitchell, Oscar winner), a formerly licensed
burn), the prim spinster sister of a missionary, physician, sobers up long enough to deliver
from advancing German troops during World Lucy's baby in John Ford's classic Stagecoach
War I. During their voyage down the Ulanga (1939); this film propelled Wayne to a "leading
River in Central Africa, they fight the heat, man" status. Assisting the Duke as a Texas sher-
bugs, leeches, Germans, and each other. Along iff is his sobered deputy Dude (Dean Martin) in
the way, Charlie becomes sober, and they be- the Howard Hawks film Rio Bravo (1959).
come beautiful to the viewers and to each other,
and fall in love. In Father Goose (1964), Walter Prohibition Era Bootlegging
Eckland's (Cary Grant) quiescent life and heavy The Eighteenth Amendment to the United
drinking in solitude is disrupted when a school States Constitution prohibited the manufacture,
teacher (Leslie Caron) and her students arrive sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors.
on his Pacific island just ahead of invading Japa- In an attempt to enforce this amendment, Con-
nese forces during World War II. gress passed the National Prohibition Act, better
The careers of two distinguished fictitious known as the Volstead Act, which remained the
newspaper reporters are ruined when alcohol law of the land from 1920-1933, when it was in-
takes precedence over printer's ink. After achiev- validated by the Twenty-first Amendment.41
ing sobriety, in Appointment with a Shadow The Prohibition era inspired films depict-
(1958) and Come Fill the Cup (1951), these news- ing gangsters and organized crime, their lucra-
men redeem themselves and then successfully tive bootlegging and speakeasy activities, and
subdue miscreants. In Sidney Lumet's critically- their battles with rival gangs and the Treasury
acclaimed The Verdict (1982), the ambulance- Department. Gangland violence during the Pro-
chasing alcoholic attorney Frank Galvin (Paul hibition era is conspicuously featured in Wil-
Newman) rejects the offer of a fast, personally liam Wellman's classic gangster flick The Pub-
lucrative settlement. Instead, he opts to profes- lic Enemy (1931), starring James Cagney in his
sionally redeem himself by taking a problematic first leading role. The most notorious gangster
medical malpractice case to trial. of the period was Chicagoland's Al "Scarface"
Shock radio disc jockey Jack Lucas (Jeff Capone (1899-1947), the subject of a number
of films. These included Al Capone (i959)> star-
Bridges) descends into a multiyear period of bit-
ring Rod Steiger in the title role, and Scarface:
terness, depression and drinking after his on-air
remarks lead to a mass murder in The Fisher The Shame of the Nation (1932) with Paul Muni
King (1991) and can only redeem himself by playing Tony Camonte, a fictionalized Capone.
saving homeless Parry (Robin Williams). Mac Brian DePalma's critically and financially suc-
Sledge's better days as a country song writer- cessful The Untouchables (1987), relates the sto-
singing star are long past in Tender Mercies ry of Capone (Robert DeNiro), a green Treasury
(1983). Finding a good woman sets drink-dissi- Department agent, Eliot Ness (Kevin Kostner),
pated Mac (Oscar-winner Robert Duvall) on the and his veteran street-wise mentor (Oscar win-
ner Sean Connery). Ness secures Capone's 1931 progressively increasing self-perceived omnipo-
conviction and imprisonment based on income tence or loss of self-control impels them to use
tax evasion rather than violation of prohibition their discoveries to violate the laws of nature
laws. The title The Untouchables was also used or to dominate, rather than serve, humankind.
in a television series (1959-63) starring Robert Rules are only intended for ordinary individu-
Stack as Ness. als, not for the brilliant scientist on the verge of
The infamous St. Valentine's Day Massa- changing the course of humankind! The cinema
cre in 1929 was ordered by Capone to eliminate scientist is sorely in need of a makeover.
members of a rival gang of bootleggers headed What kind of drug-related movies are be-
by Bugs Moran. This episode was featured in The ing produced and why? While there are relative-
St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967) starring Ja- ly few movies dealing with scientists and drug
son Robards, Jr., and Ralph Meeker as the op- discovery, there is no shortage of those featur-
posing gang leaders. In Billy Wilder's hilarious ing the abuse of drugs and its illicit trafficking.
comedy Some Like It Hot (1959), two musicians When teenagers and young adults are asked to
(Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon) are unwittingly provide examples of drug-theme movies, they
present at the massacre. To elude gangsters in- overwhelming list those that are rich in violence
tent upon eliminating these witnesses, they dis- and massive body counts after drug gang wars.
guise themselves as women and join an "all-girl" Since this demographic represents the high-
orchestra. est proportion of active theater attendees, it is
likely that such action films will remain the most
widely produced.42
Conclusion
Hardly a day passes without the appear- ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

ance of a drug-related story in the news media.
In spite of avid public interest in health, and the
integral role that medicines play in health Allcare,
Movie Guide, www.allmovie.com. The most
relatively few films have sought to inform audi- comprehensive listing of movies with plot
ences about scientists and their discovery of new summaries, reviews, ratings, with hotlinked
medicines. The reasons for the dearth of such keywords, themes, cast, production credits,
movies are many and diverse: authentic science awards, and similar movies.
may be too complex or obtuse for the general
viewer; the scientist may lack charisma or an
engaging personal story; or the speed of discov- American Film Institute, www.filmsite.org and
ery may be too slow to satisfy an audience ac- www.greatestfilms.org. Compilation of AFI-
customed to car chases, blazing guns, and torrid nominated 400 greatest English-language films
love scenes. To be successful at the box office, from 1912 to 1996; detailed and excellent plot
screenwriters must often balance or even sac- summaries, including dialog and background
rifice some degree of scientific and historic ac- materials, are provided for the top 200; links
curacy at the expense of a strong element of en- are provided to other sites listing their "great-
tertainment. This has been the case in even the est" or "top" films in various categories.
best bio-pics, such as those of Curie, Pasteur,
and Ehrlich, that have been depicted protago-
nists as heroes. Ebert, Roger.(http://rogerebert.suntimes.com).
By contrast, when fictional scientists are Compilation of movie critic Roger Ebert's
portrayed in films, it is generally not in the most reviews of about 5,500 movies released since
favorable light. They are most often seen as hav- 1967, in addition to 216 "great movies."
ing an extraordinary intellect and compulsively
single-minded in their scientific quests, but with
distinctively deviant personalities. From the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) www.us.imdb.
first scene, many are mad, evil or both. Others com/search. Very extensive listing of movies
may be well-intentioned at the outset but their with rather brief plot summaries, cast, produc-
Vol. 48 (2006) No. 3 135
tion credits, viewer comments and ratings; classics and several are not of American origin.
3. Films of the 1930s and 1940s presented a rich as-
search capability for actors and character
sortment of inspiring biographies of great statesmen,
names.
such as Abraham Lincoln and Alexander Hamilton;
explorers Marco Polo and Christopher Columbus;
figures in the arts and music, Rembrandt and Johann
Strauss; and scientist- technologists Thomas Edison,
Movie Mirrors Index (http://san.beck.org/MM/
Alexander Graham Bell, and Madame Curie.
MMindex.html). Comprehensive and well-writ-
4 . Prior to such films were books, among the first and best
ten plot summaries by Sanderson Beck knownof films
of which was Paul de Kruif s Microbe Hunters
released from 1930 to 1942; ethical implications
(New York: Harcourt, Brace) published in pre-talkie
of movies set apart from summaries; 1926. assigned
This classic work was written for readers of all
ratings based on educational andages and introduced generations
entertain- of younger readers to
the world of microbes, microscopes, and microbiolo-
ment value.
gists and, most importantly, to an interest in science
and discovery.
5. The film was originally to be titled Test 606.
Reelviews (www.movie-reviews.colossus.net). 6. AIDS was a mysterious disease that initially affected
only male homosexuals, a population for which there
Very comprehensive reviews by amateur film was general indifference and, in some circles, even
reviewer James Berardinelli of almost 3,000 open hostility. The search for its cause and treatment
movies released since 1993, in addition to a during the first five years of the AIDS epidemic (1980-
limited number of film classics released prior 85) is the subject of And the Band Played On (i993)>
a film based on Randy Shilts's eponymous 1988 book.
to 1993; more limited information on actors
This made-for-television movie depicts efforts by civic-
and major production credits. minded individuals and gay males to attract public
and government attention to this disease and the
financial support required for AIDS-focused research
Rollins, Peter C. ed., The Columbia Companion to and the HIV virus. Although this movie does not deal
with drugs per se, effective anti-AIDS drugs have been
American History on Film New York: Columbia discovered after gaining a better understanding of the
University Press, 2003. Eighty essays provide life cycle of this virus.
historical context for the depiction in films of 7. (http://www.whonamedit.com/doctor.cfm/354.
American eras, wars, personages, social groups, html) (accessed February 11, 2005).
8. The years around the centennial of the 1846 discovery
institutions and movements, places, myths,
of ether's utility for surgical anesthesia was com-
and themes. These essays include Jennifer memorated with an outpouring of books including:
Tebbe-Grossman, "Drugs of Abuse, Tobacco, Thomas E. Keys, The History of Surgical Anesthesia,
and Alcohol," pp. 518-26. (New York: Schuman's, 1945); Howard R. Raper, Man
Against Pain. The Epic of Anesthesia (New York: Pren-
tice-Hall, 1945); René Fulog-Miller, Triumph Over
Pain (New York: Literary Guild, 1938). This last work
Rotten Tomatoes (www.rottentomatoes.com/ served as the basis for the film The Great Moment.
movies). An excellent compilation of film re- 9. http://www.prestonsturges.com/biography.html (ac-
views drawn from a broad spectrum of sources, cessed February 15, 2005) contains a biosketch of his
fascinating life.
including viewers; also includes summaries, 10. Adrenoleukodystrophy is a rare inherited metabolic
cast, miscellaneous movie facts, photos, and disorder that affects adolescent boys and is associated
trailers. with a breakdown of the myelin covers on nerves. As
the disease progresses, the patient's mental and physi-
cal state deteriorates. Spasticity and blindness occur
and, in time, death.
Notes 11. Lorenzo's Oil has not been approved by the Food and
Drug Administration for the treatment of ALD and
is only available as an experimental drug for use by
patients enrolled in clinical trials.
1. "Drug" is used in this paper as an all-inclusive term
12. "For most of the twentieth century, popular films
referring to a medicine employed for the treatment
of disease; a substance that alters behavior orhave
ap-tended to present scientists (usually medical
researchers,
pearance; a recreational or abused substance; and a physicists, biologists or psychoanalysts)
Doison. as impossibly mad or impossibly saintly- and the mad
2 . Not all drug-related films are cited here, an impossibil- scientists (the fictional ones) have outnumbered the
ity since their numbers are measured in the hundreds. saintly scientists (the real-life ones) by a very wide
Moreover, not all the films cited represent cinematic margin indeed." Frayling, Christopher (2005). Mad,
Bad and Dangerous. The Scientist and the Cinema likely because of the mystique it infers. We shall use
(London: Reaktion Books), p. 40. this term in its traditional meaning, namely, to refer
13. In addition to The Invisible Man, James Whale also to liquids or liquid mixtures that possess medicinal,
directed such science fiction classics as the original poisonous, or magical properties.
Frankenstein (1931) and The Bride of Frankenstein 19. R. R. Simpson, Shakespeare and Medicine (Edin-
(1935). Frankenstein, an early talkie, was a smashing burgh: Ε & S Livingstone, 1959), p. 174.
box-office success and, in less than two years, spawned 20. On a far lighter note, drugs are used to facilitate ro-
a series of mad scientist movies including Dr. X, The mance in A Mid Summer's Night Dream. Oberon, King
Mask of Fu Manchu, Murders in the Rue Morgue, of the Fairies, squeezes a love potion-flower into the
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and Island of Lost Souls (all eye of the Fairy Queen, Titania, with successful results.
1932), and The Invisible Man (1933). Film adaptations of this comedy has been remade on
14. A series of 13 post- World War II trials were convened numerous occasions, with two of the most successful
in Nuremberg, Germany, starting in 1946, at which directed by William Dieterle and Max Reinhardt in
members of the Nazi regime were charged with 1935 and Peter Hall in 1968.
crimes against humanity. Stanley Kramer's criti- 21. No attempt will be made to catalog each of Shake-
cally acclaimed Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) is a speare's plays adapted for film. The dates used here
dramatized account of the third such war crime trial, denote those films that are particularly noteworthy.
conducted in 1948. Another trial in this series, referred 22. References are made to the sleep-producing effects of
to as "The Medical Case" or "Doctors Trial" (1946-47), mandragora in Othello (1952), directed by and starring
involved 23 defendants accused of conducting "harm- Orson Welles.
ful or fatal" medical experiments on civilians and 23. Iridium is a platinum-related metal that has limited
prisoners of war without their consent. Among the 12 toxicological potential.
categories of war crimes were five drug-related medical 24. In talented hands, a poison can prove to be an ideal
experiments designed to study drug treatments, war murder weapon meeting these criteria. In over one-
gases, poisons, and experimentally-induced diseases. half of Agatha Christie's 66 novels, at least one or
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, The more of the corpses are the victims of overdoses of
Doctors Trial, http//: wwwi.ushmm.org/ research/ medicines, poisons, or other chemicals. It should be
doctors. noted, however, that all of Christie's poisoners are
Among the most fundamental human rights estab- identified by Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple, and other
lished by the court in the "Doctors Trial" was the Christie crime detectors. Michael C. Gerald, The Poi-
doctrine of informed consent. Namely, that prior to sonous Pen of Agatha Christie (Austin: University of
starting a medical experiment, subjects must freely and Texas Press, 1993).
voluntarily consent to participate in the experiment. Rather than committing a murder with a drug, why
In addition, they must be apprised, in understand- not use a drug as a tool to determine the identity of the
able terms (not medical jargon), of the purpose of the murderer? That's the general premise of Unforgettable
experiment and of its potential dangers to them as (1996) and From Hell (2001).
subjects. Although the Nuremberg trials and the in- 25 . Revenge is a classic motivating factor for murder. Most
formed consent doctrine were not explicitly discussed of Agatha Christie's victims are fatally poisoned but oc-
in the Miss Evers' film, there is every reason to believe casionally victims are "drugged" prior to the commis-
that the Public Health Service investigators were fully sion of a crime, including their own murder. The most
aware of the outcome and implications of this trial. infamous of such victims is Samuel Ratchett (Richard
In 1997, on behalf of the government, President Bill Widmark), a passenger on the Simplon-Orient Express
Clinton formally apologized to the subject survivors traveling from Istanbul to Calais. Ratchett is drugged
and their families for conducting this experiment. with a "sleeping draught" enabling revenge-seeking
15. Drugs used to treat syphilis in the pre-penicillin fellow train passengers to inflict multiple stab wounds
era were bismuth, mercury, and Neoarsphenamine, in his sleeping body. Christie's 1934 novel Murder in
Ehrlich's improvement of his Salvarsan. the Calais Coach was adapted for film in 1974 with
16. Opera lovers will recall the successful use of a "magic" its American title Murder on the Orient Express.
love potion, in reality, cheap Bordeaux wine, in This British prize-winning film featured an all-star
Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore, which has been filmed international cast lead by Albert Finney as the famed
on several occasions under the English title Elixir of Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. Orient Express is
Love. a fictionalized spin-off based on the 1932 Lindbergh
17. Although the United States Congress has specifically babv kidnapping and murder.
prevented the Food and Drug Administration from26. While not the sharpest note in the score, Antonio Sal-
regulating the tobacco industry, nicotine is capable ieri (1750-1825) was a highly respected and successful
of altering behavior and thereby falls within our musician of the period who played a prominent role
definition of a drug. Among the most effective of all in the music of Vienna and in the operas of Paris and
drug-delivery systems is the cigarette, capable of trans- Italy. He was a highly prolific composer and teacher,
porting a dose of nicotine, the chemical responsible for with 45 operas among his many credits, and pupils
maintaining the cigarette habit, to the brain within 10 who included Beethoven, Schubert, and Liszt.
seconds after a normal Duff. 27. The winner of eight Academy Awards, Amadeus is not
18 . The term "potion" has devolved in recent years and has a documentary biography of either Mozart or Salieri
been affixed to a diverse array of commercial products, or their relationship, which was generally believed to
Vol. 48 (2006) No. 3 137
be satisfactory and professional. The story was loosely tempt to shoot a wine glass offner head, the morphine-
based on a rumor circulated in Vienna in 1824 that addicted Burroughs spent the next quarter century
Salieri had poisoned Mozart, a story dismissed as abroad, where drugs were both more available and
being false within a year. The best available evidence affordable. There he wrote several nonconventional
suggests that Mozart succumbed to a fever associated books typically revolving about narcotics and addicts.
with an infectious disorder epidemic in Vienna in hrtp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_S._BunOughs
1791. (accessed April 5, 2005).
28. The pervasiveness of illicit drugs and their abuse in 36. Wallace Reid (1891-1923) was the most popular movie
popular movies is revealed in a study sponsored by star in the United States in 1919 and 1920. During the
the Office of National Drug Control Policy of the De- 1919 filming of Valley of the Giants, Reid was severely
partment of Health and Human Services. Roberts et injured in a train wreck. To dull the pain, and keep
al (1999) examined the 200 most popular home video him working on the film, the studio physician pumped
rentals in 1996 and 1997 to determine their content Reid with excessive doses of morphine to which he
with respect to the frequency and nature of substance quickly became addicted. Repeated attempts to treat
abuse. Only five of the 200 films (2.5 percent) were his addiction in hospitals and sanitoriums proved un-
completely substance free, while substance use was successful. Morphine addiction coupled with chronic
considered to be an important theme in 6 percent. alcoholism were responsible for his death in 1923.
Alcohol appeared in 93 percent of these 200 movies http://artfuljesus.ocatch.com/artists/reid.html (ac-
and illicit substances in 22 percent (43 films). Of these cessed April 5, 2005).
43 movies, approximately one-quarter contained the 37. Popeye Doyle s extralegal approach to law enforcement
explicit depiction of the preparation or use of these likely served as a role model for cops in the Lethal
substances. These illicit drugs included: marijuana in Weapon and Starsky & Hutch series.
51 percent; powdered cocaine in 33 percent; halluci- 38. The Third Man, filmed on location in a very dreary
nogens and heroin or other opiates, each 12 percent; Vienna shortly after World War II, was the British
and crack cocaine in 2 percent. Donald F. Roberts, Film Institute's selection as the best British film of the
Lisa Henriksen, Peter G. Christenson, Marcy Kelly, twentieth century.
1999. Substance use in popular movies and music, 39. In a departure from other films with a similar theme,
http://mediacampaign.com/publications/movies/ 28 Days (2000) is a comedy portraying a court-or-
movie_parts I-V.html. dered, 28-day period of alcohol rehabilitation spent
29. http://www.artsreformation.com/aooi/hays-code. by Gwen (Sandra Bullock).
html (accessed January 25, 2005). 40. http://www.lib.byu.edu/-rdh/wwi/bio/xyz/york.
30. Ibid. html.
31. The current system uses the following labels: G, 41. The repeal of Prohibition created major hardships
general audiences; PG, parental guidance; PG-13, for some bootleggers. In the comedy A Slight Case of
parents strongly cautioned that some material may Murder (1938), Remy Marco's (Edward G. Robinson)
be inappropriate for children under 13; R, restricted, inferior tasting home-grown beer cannot compete with
with admission for children under 17 requiring accom- legal brews that have returned to the marketplace.
paniment by a parent or adult guardian; and NC-17, 42. A generational gap exists with respect to differences
with no admission for children under 17. in taste in and knowledge of films, and profound
32. When health-care purists use the term "narcotic," ignorance exists at both ends of the age spectrum for
they are referring to opiates [opioids], drugs with the preferences of the other. The author is continu-
morphine-like properties, including heroin. Movie ally astounded by the lack of familiarity his otherwise
makers and popular writers are rarely accused of being well-informed college-age students have recognizing
such purists. They frequently use the terms "narcotic" the names of many of the greatest classics, of any
and "dope" indiscriminately as catch-alls to refer to genre, that are more than a decade old. Conversely,
morphine-like drugs, barbiturates and other nervous his students are likewise bewildered by his profound
system depressants, cocaine, and marijuana. The incognizance of many of the most recent box office
author has attempted to be more explicit, although smashes.
has often been obliged to resort to such nonspecific
designations.
33 . Other films with less memorable characters, but retain-
ing the cocaine theme, include Clean and Sober (1988)
and Bright Lights, Big City (1988).
34. A number of other light comic films have appeared
about marijuana, its use, and sales, including Cheech
and Chong: Up in Smoke (1978), Dazed and Confused
(1993), Half-Baked (1998), Super Troopers (2001),
and How High (2001).
35. William S. Burroughs (1914-97), a Harvard graduate,
was fortunate to have his writing income supple-
mented by royalties derived from his grandfather's
invention, the adding machine. After accidentally
killing his amphetamine-abusing wife in a failed at-

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Drugs and Alcohol Go to Hollywood

Author(s): Michael C. Gerald

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Hardly a day passes without the appear- ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

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