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Showtime CEO joins campus 'Reefer Madness' premiere
Remake of 1936 cult classic stars Neve Campbell; film director addresses audience at the Bridge
Maureen Long | The Daily Pennsylvanian | 03/23/2005

Reefer Madness struck campus last night.

The film, Showtime's first movie musical, premiered in front of 150 students at the Bridge: Cinema de Lux.

Reefer Madness is the screen version of the award-winning stage production. The film stars Neve Campbell, Alan Cumming, Kristen Bell and John Kassir.

The movie had its world premiere at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival and is now being screened at 10 college campuses across the country.

According to 1972 Wharton alumnus Matthew Blank, chief executive officer of Showtime, Penn was chosen as one of these campuses because "I thought it would be fun and I wanted to get a cheesesteak," he said.

His daughter Meredith, who is a College sophomore, also attended the free preview screening.

The film is inspired by the notorious 1936 anti-marijuana propaganda film, Tell Your Children. The play, a parody of the film, became one of the longest-running shows in Los Angeles history. It has been described as a cross between Grease and The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

The original film was made by a church group to scare Americans out of trying marijuana. The film has been repeatedly ridiculed for its exaggerations and silliness.

One puff of marijuana in the film leads to manic energy, insanity, rape and murder.

The remake utilized 1930s speech and fashion to maintain the satire of the piece. While performing research, the filmmakers discovered that the reasons for making marijuana illegal had more to do with big business than with the dangers of smoking the drug.

At the time, hemp was poised to be the next material for the printing of paper. Newspaper baron William Randolph Hearst and his colleagues had an interest in maintaining the value of his timberland and paper mills and therefore began the anti-marijuana campaign.

"The message of the film was about questioning authority," said Andy Fickman, the film's director.

For eight years he had offers to sell the screen rights to the show, but only Showtime would let Fickman make the film that he wanted to.

"Half of the cast was originally from the play, which was important to me," Fickman said.

After the screening, Fickman, along with actor John Kassir, led a question-and-answer session.

Kassir is most known as the voice of the Crypt Keeper from Tales from the Crypt and was also one of the original cast members of the stage production.

"I do small shows because I love the material and was privileged to do the movie since I had been playing the character for so long," Kassir said.

The screening was sponsored by the Social Planning and Events Committee Film Society.

"The Bridge was chosen as the location because it would be more formal and comfortable," College junior and organizer Faye Ibars said.

Reefer Madness will premiere on Showtime on Saturday, April 16 at 8 p.m.

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Hansje

Apropos madness, I am anxious to find out the Supreme Court's decsion on the Raich + case concerning MMJ. The right-to-lifers are for keeping Terri Schiavo alive. It's all over the news. The Supremes are supposed to announce their decision this month. With Rehnquist undergoing chemotherapy for his thyroid condition and being vulnerable to weighing the benefits within himself and then also the leak about G.W. having used Mary Jane, the climate is right for the left-right-whatever to affirm ALSO the right of patients to use Mary Jane to sustain their meaningful existence.

I want to know how this country, in its current pro-life DC dog & pony show, can continue to make illegal the thing (Mary Jane) that causes people to get life-improving, life-prolonging results and thereby in the disallowing hasten their ultimate demise, while at the same time also these people who claim to be pro-life can decide not to have illegal something that also hastens someone in a coma to their ultimate demise.

I mean, what is this? It's like, you have to die, keeping pot completely illegal is worth more than human life.

I'll keep my expletives offline.

smotpoker

That sounds kind of cool, a musical based on reefer madness, better get stoned before you see it.