Marihuana Original Vintage US One Sheet Movie Poster, 1930s

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Description

Claiming to be a "Daring Drug Expose!", this early exploitation film evaded strict censorship of its lurid content ("Weird Orgies, … Read more Claiming to be a "Daring Drug Expose!", this early exploitation film evaded strict censorship of its lurid content ("Weird Orgies, Wild Parties, Unleashed Passions!") by claiming to be educational, a cautionary tale about the alleged dangers of premarital sexual intercourse and the use of recreational drugs. Directed by Dwain Esper, and written by Esper's wife, Hildagarde Stadie, the plot followed a teenage girl who succumbs to "the weed with roots in hell" at a beach party and ends up pregnant, peddling Heroin, and planning a kidnapping, implying that one puff of the devil's weed would lead to Heroin addiction and ruin. With its scenes of wild parties, playful nudity and illicit drug-taking, Marihuana has become one of the cult classics of the 1930s for its laughable campness. Naturally, the rare original posters for the film, with their camp, colorful artwork and sensational slogans, have become very desirable to collectors. Following the first release of the movie in 1936, Marihuana toured the country in roadshow presentations through the 1930s and 1940s, making it difficult to precisely date the surviving posters, which can be found with various minor design variations. The blank portion at the top of the poster was designed for each theater to advertise their screening details.

Conservation backed on linen. Backing and light colour touching have smoothed and diminished one vertical and three horizontal folds, minor splits to fold edges, small perpendicular splits across folds in places and minor edge wear. This piece is attributed to the mentioned designer/maker. It has no attribution mark and no
official proof of authenticity,
however it is well documented in design history. I take full responsibility for any authenticity



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