This 1956 color film, produced by Stark-Films for the Federal Bureau of Narcotics in collaboration with Winthrop-Stearns Inc. pharmaceutical company, takes a cautionary look at the issue of drug addiction among doctors, using documentary interviews in combination with staged dramatizations to highlight the dangers of opioid use among members of the medical profession who have access to addictive drugs (TRT: 29:14).
A man in a grey suit representing the Winthrop-Stearns pharmaceutical company speaks from a desk in an office (0:06). In closeup, Dr. Louis Krause provides an introduction (1:01). POV: A car approaches the gates of a medical building (1:57). Opening titles: “The Federal Bureau of Narcotics and the University of Maryland School of Medicine Present Drug Addiction, A Medical Hazard, Script by Dr. John C. Krantz, Jr., Narration by The Honorable Harry J. Anslinger, U.S. Commissioner of Narcotics. Narration by Dr. Louis A.M. Krause, Produced by Stark-Films” (2:25). A jackhammer. A window cleaner on a high rise building. Welding. A tag: “Danger, Radiation Hazard” (3:14). A sign: “Isolation.” A doctor puts on a surgical mask. A nuse opens a locked cabinet (3:41). A military hospital. A patient suffering withdrawal symptoms (4:08). The United States Capitol. The campus of the University of Maryland (4:29). Medical students in a lecture hall. Exterior: “Frank C. Bressler Research Laboratory” (4:51). Dr. John C. Kranz, Jr. speaks to the medical students, introducing Harry J. Anslinger. Anslinger speaks in closeup (5:30). Pickers work in poppy fields. Illustrations of poppies. Asian laborers. An opium pipe is prepared, smoked (6:37). Customs workers at a naval port open a cargo hold, removing wooden crates. A New York armored car: “United States Trucking Corp.” (7:23). A hunk of crude opium. A prescription for Morphine. A sachet weighed on a precision scale. An excerpt from a book: “Central Nervous System Depressants” (8:05). A chart shows “Comparative Addiction Liability,” listing analgesics including morphine, demerol, methadone, codeine. A list, labeled syringes: “Tolerance, Habituation, Physical Dependence” (8:46). “This could happen to you.” Anslinger introduces a dramatic reenactment. “Dr. Smith” carries a stethoscope. A montage of medical training. Clinics, residencies, a child is delivered in a surgical theater. Smith looks into a microscope (9:44). Smith meets with his fiance on a college campus. Cutting a flesh sample from the leg of a rotting corpse. Graduation in mortarboard hats (11:23). A clay sculpt of Hippocrates. Dr. Smith receives a diploma. A woman’s hand receives a ring. A car drives away, “Just Married” (12:08). A sign: “George Smith, M.D.” A receptionist greets the doctor. He puts on a tie, lights a cigarette. A montage of progress. Bandaged legs. The doctor’s wife and children sit alone at home (13:07). Smith drinks alone at a bar, from a desk drawer (14:10). A green on a golf course. Scenes of gossip. A park bench, a barber, a hairdresser (14:31). Smith prepares for vacation, but a phone call stalls him, disappointing a sad young boy (15:01). Feet climb a steep staircase. A question mark and a dollar sign (16:09). Smith in turmoil, his vision spinning in bed (16:54). The sleepless doctor’s bag tempts him. He administers a shot of morphine to his knee (18:30). The spine of a book, “Confessions of an English Opium Eater, an illustration of vice (20:49). The syringes reappear with Smith’s weary face. A colorful optical effect represents euphoria (21:20). Anslinger reappears (22:14). Smith’s life crumbles at work, home. His wife discovers him, he responds with violence. An F.B.I agent with a badge pays a visit to the doctor (22:35). Smith is arrested (24:03). A sign: “United States Public Health Service Hospital.” Smith goes through rehab. “Occupational Therapy.” Smith weaves at a loom, hammers metal (24:36). “M.D.” blurs. Smith, “cured” walks in tatters, pumps gas, wipes a windshield (25:32). Stop motion animation of a tightening vise. Smith makes a drug deal in an alleyway. He is caught stealing a doctor’s bag (26:31). Screaming in a jail cell (27:12). Anslinger (28:05). “The End” (28:56).
