Judge William B. McKesson is concerned about the drug problem running rampant in our country. He visits the home of a young woman named Phyllis Howard. Phyllis has just returned home from overcoming her addition to drugs. Phyllis tells the judge that she started off smoking pot (that’s jive talk for marihuana) with her friends. Eventually she met and married the local drug dealer, Chuck. Chuck is hooked on heroin and gets Phyllis to try it. Phyllis then becomes hooked on the drug herself. Chuck gets arrested by the police. Without Chuck to provide her with drugs Phyllis becomes a pusher herself. It’s not until Phyllis gets arrested that she gets help for her addition. By then her health is compromised and her hair looks bad.
“The Terrible Truth” was released in 1951 and was produced by Sid Davis Productions. The director is unknown. The short ten-minute film is an American anti-drug documentary film and pure propaganda.
The reason this film is interesting is because you get a double dose of propaganda here. Not only are you told that pot is a gateway to intravenous drugs, but it is also because of the Russians that we have a drug problem.
There is actually a real Judge McKesson. He was a judge in the Los Angeles juvenile court. The judge did another public service film in 1951 called “Name Unknown”. He went on to become the Los Angeles District Attorney.