Narcotic, Gooey-Mooey and Opium

Opium gummies!  How backwards they were back in 1933, the year this film was made.  Today we're so much smarter, we would never put a narcotic in a gummy bear.  Perish the thought. Of course, marijuana is harmless, as was opium back in the day. Warning, our feature today is grim, gory, and ominous.  The portrayals are graphic, over-the-top, and do not present our human condition in a pleasant ight. If you can survive the gore of the first 10 minutes, hang in there, for a much more sobering account of addiction and drug carnage than Nancy Reagan and Michael Jackson ever told us about. Today we look at "Narcotic," directed by Dwain Esper.

This is the biography of carnival sideshow huckster Dr. William G. Davies.  Before he was a huckster, heroin pusher, he was an altruistic and brilliant MD. He ran a free clinic and married his beautiful nurse, Vivian (Joan Dix). Then a former medical school classmate, Gee Woo (J. Stuart Blackton, Jr.) from China, introduces him to opium dens as a form of relaxation.  The stress in William's life is intense and soon is addicted to opium.  This addiction lands him in rehab and his Vivian is by his side. A car accident later will addict the poor soul to opiates. Now he is fast going down an abyss of addiction and ruination.

William will prove a marvelous huckster and will be granted a booth at the carnival where he sells heroin, opium, marijuana, and morphine wrapped in his elixir called "Tiger Fat."  He'll throw drug orgies and the loose dames that show up will begin the night sultry and end the night as pathetic drug whores.  William, who used to save lives, now ruins them.  How low can he go?  You can probably hazard a guess or two.

Warning, the medical miracle performed by Dr. William Davies at the beginning of this film, where he saves a baby from the womb of the dead mother, is actual footage of this surgical procedure.  The bacchanal and gratuitous effects of the drugs is sobering and frightening.  This is not the feel good film of 1933, and a look into our headlines in 2025 reveals we've learned nothing. Oh, and don't worry that CBD smoke shops are opening up in your neighborhood like crazy and family owned restaurants are closing. No, nothing to see here! Go ahead, go to your CBD shop, buy a few gummies, and pop them with a Mountain Dew...but do that at your own peril.  See "Narcotic" and consider yourself warned.