***Trigger Warning: Heroin use and substance abuse
“A Day in the Death of Donny B” is a 1969 American short docudrama shot in cinéma-vérité style. Written and directed by Carl Fick, the film is considered an anti-drug PSA film that was made for the National Institute of Mental Health with the support of the US Department of Health, Education and Welfare, Public Health Service, and Health Services and Mental Health Administration. The film chronicles the life of protagonist Donny B, an African-American heroin addict. In the film, Donny roams the streets and ghettos of Harlem in search of anything he can steal and pander to make money to pay for his next high. The 14-minute film features an original soundtrack by blues musician Harry Holt which is intertwined with interviews of Donny B’s family and friends who are concerned about his future and well being.
Protagonist Donny B, an African American man who sports a 1970s Afro hairdo, runs down a street with a cigarette in his mouth (0:09). Depiction of life in New York metropolitan ghetto. Little boy blows up a balloon (0:20). Trash in alleyway (0:22). Dog barking out of window (0:24). Posters to elect Harlem judge Andrew R. Tyler (0:27). Graffiti calling for social justice (0:28). Exterminator company New York Board of Health & Building Department violation flyers with free information to landlords (0:32). Exterminator business (0:36). African American children playing on the street (0:40). Person passed out on a building stoop (0:41). Montage of liquor stores, pawn shops, and pharmacies (0:43). Title page and music begins (1:00). Donny B stands in front of Lynns Jazz Records store looking at radios and early-model cassette players (1:07). Interviews with people warning about the dangers of drugs intertwined with Donny B panhandling and stealing (2:00). Donny B attempts to steal tire rims off of what may be a 1969 Plymouth Runner (2:21). Sign calling for all black, white, and Puerto Rican “dope peddlers and gangsters” to get out of New York City (2:24). Interviews resume (2:27). Poster reporting deaths from drug use (2:36). New York Police Department officer gives a tour of a prison cell (2:44). Interviews continue (2:58). Perhaps 1969 Cadillac Hearse with casket inside (3:07). Kids play pick-up football game on the street (3:09). Donny B panders outside of subway station (3:41). Donny B follows someone into entrance for the New York City subway (3:56). Donny B lights a cigarette (4:07) and then stealing and pickpocketing (4:33). Donny B investigates the contents of a stolen handbag (5:09). Donny B shares a cigarette with a young woman (6:18). Donny B trying to steal what is perhaps a 1969 Cadillac hardtop sedan (7:41). Donny B steals from the passed out homeless man on the stoop (9:33). Donny B gambling with dice, with other addicts (9:47). Donny B enters a dark alley to buy drugs (10:52). Donny B returns to his gambling friends and they prepare to shoot up heroin (11:14). Close-up of heroin getting cooked (12:24). A high Donny B stumbles through the city streets (12:59). Closing credits (13:07).
A WWII veteran, director Carl Fick served as a staff writer for Collier’s magazine. He wrote novels including The Danziger Transcript (1971 — later turned into a play) and A Disturbance in Paris (1982). He also co-authored and ghost wrote From Mexico with Death (1977) with Jose Luis Guzman.
America’s history with drug abuse and heroin addiction dates back to the Civil War. Injured soldiers
became addicted to morphine which began to affect civil society long after the war ended. Opium, from which both heroin and morphine are derived, became the first drug that the U.S. government legislated against in 1890. In 1969, President Nixon declared drug abuse America’s public enemy number one and laid out a 10-point plan for reducing illegal substance abuse of which New York City and heroin were at the forefront. By the late 1960s, New York City was reportedly home to 40,000 heroin addicts, a number that was rising at an average of 7,000-9,000 users each year.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
