The Terrible Truth | |
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Produced by | Sid Davis |
Starring | William B. McKesson |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Sidney Davis Productions |
Release date |
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Running time | 10 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
The Terrible Truth is a 1951 American anti-drug documentary film created by Sid Davis Productions.
The film contained messages such as "marijuana has similar properties to amphetamines" and "the Soviet Union was pushing drugs in America". [1] The film follows William B. McKesson (to become Los Angeles County District Attorney in 1956) who interviews a young woman about her use of marijuana as a gateway drug to intravenous use of heroin. [2] McKesson states at the end of the film "Some say that the Reds are promoting drug traffic in the United States to undermine national morale." [2]
The film has been called "faux documentary ... ironic, naïve, campy", [3] and according to Edward Brunner in Postmodern Culture , one of the "scandalous examples of how thoroughly the media environment has been penetrated by schemes for social engineering". [4] It can be found alongside famously bad movies like Reefer Madness on popular film lists, for example those found at thefix.com as one of the five worst anti-drug works of the past century, and The Atlantic where it is described as "hysterical" and "cartoonish". [5] [6]
The film is included in the Prelinger Archives, a scholarly collection of film related to U.S. history. [7]
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