Human Wreckage

1923

Brief Synopsis

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Ethel McFarland presents her attorney husband, Alan, with the case of a dope addict named Jimmy Brown. With the help of Alan's impassioned defense, Jimmy gets aquitted. Alan feels the pressures of his job and is introduced to a doctor at his club. When he becomes addicted, he is blackmailed by his peddlers to represent their friends in court. Jimmy, now off the smack and a taxi driver, hears of these goings on. When he discovers that his passenger is the leader of the dope ring, he resolvs to aide the war on narcotics by crashing the vehicle head-on into an oncoming train, killing them both. Alan gets treated for his addiction and begins to fight the pushers in court, all the while, pushing for stronger laws against addictive substances. At the film's close, the film's producer, Dorothy Davenport, who also plays Ethel, and who's husband Wallace Reid died of a drug overdose, adresses the audience, imploring them to support her in her crusade to wipe out the narcotic menace in the United States forevermore.

Cast & Crew

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John Griffith Wray

Director

Mrs. Wallace Reid

Ethel MacFarland

James Kirkwood

Alan MacFarland

Bessie Love

Mary Finnegan

George Hackathorne

Jimmy Brown

Claire Mcdowell

Mrs. Brown

Film Details

Release Date
Jun 17, 1923
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Thomas H. Ince Corp.
Distribution Company
Film Booking Offices of America
Country
United States

Technical Specs

Sound
Silent
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.33 : 1
Film Length
7,215ft (8 reels)

Synopsis

"Treats the evils of drugs, pointing out the disasters which visit several figures in general and the MacFarlands in particular. The husband is an attorney who suffers a nervous breakdown. Becomes addicted to morphine and his efforts to shake off the habit are fruitless until he realizes that his wife is encouraged to take up the habit because of his weakness and the futility of trying to cope with it." ( Motion Picture News , 14 Jul 1923.)

Director

John Griffith Wray

Director

Cast

Mrs. Wallace Reid

Ethel MacFarland

James Kirkwood

Alan MacFarland

Bessie Love

Mary Finnegan

George Hackathorne

Jimmy Brown

Claire Mcdowell

Mrs. Brown

Robert Mckim

Dr. Hillman

Harry Northrup

Steve Stone

Victory Bateman

Mrs. Finnegan

Eric Mayne

Dr. Blake

Otto Hoffman

Harris

Philip Sleeman

Dunn

George Clark

The Baby

Lucille Ricksen

Ginger Smith

George E. Cryer

A city official

Dr. R. B. Von Kleinsmid

An educator

Benjamin Bledsoe

A jurist

Louis D. Oaks

A police official

Martha Nelson Mccan

A civic leader

Mrs. Chester Ashley

A civic leader

John P. Carter

A civic leader

Mrs. Charles F. Gray

A civic leader

Dr. L. M. Powers

A health authority

Brig. C. R. Boyd

Salvation Army worker

Crew

Henry Sharp

Director of Photography

C. Gardner Sullivan

Story

Film Details

Release Date
Jun 17, 1923
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Thomas H. Ince Corp.
Distribution Company
Film Booking Offices of America
Country
United States

Technical Specs

Sound
Silent
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.33 : 1
Film Length
7,215ft (8 reels)

Quotes

Trivia

This movie was produced by actress Dorothy Davenport (AKA "Mrs. Wallace Reid") as a drug prevention film after the death of her husband, silent superstar Wallace Reid, from morphine addiction. No print of the film is known to exist.

Notes

According to contemporary sources, this film was made with the cooperation of the Los Angeles Anti-Narcotic League.

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