Assassin of youth

Joan is a good-natured teenager who, along with her sister, is set to receive her grandmother’s inheritance. When her grandmother is run over by a driver under the influence of marijuana, a reporter is sent to investigate. Meanwhile Joan’s scheming cousin Linda, intent on receiving the money herself, determines to have Joan dis-inherited by ruining her clean-cut reputation. The reporter on the case, who has fallen for Joan, discovers that Linda is a drug peddler and that Joan’s sister has become addicted to marijuana. “Assassin of youth” is an anti-drug teen propaganda movie typical of the 1930s. A fairly stilted and straightforward morality drama, this film has an almost transparent agenda, is patriarchal, traditionalist and simplistic in its politics. Nevertheless the film is a curiosity that is telling about the values of the era and perceived threat that teenagers under the influence posed to the status quo. Cast includes Luana Walters, Arthur Gardner, Fay McKenzie, Michael Owen, Dorothy Short, Dorothy Vaughan, Earl Dwire.