Cocaine (film)
| Cocaine | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Graham Cutts |
| Produced by | Harry B. Parkinson |
| Written by | Frank Miller |
| Starring |
Hilda Bayley Flora Le Breton Ward McAllister |
| Distributed by | Astra Films |
Release dates | June 1922 |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Cocaine is a 1922 British crime film directed by Graham Cutts and starring Hilda Bayley, Flora Le Breton, Ward McAllister and Cyril Raymond. A melodrama – it depicts the distribution of cocaine by gangsters through a series of London nightclubs and the revenge sought by a man after the death of his daughter.
Because of its depiction of drug use, it was the most controversial British film of the 1920s.[1] It was feared by the authorities that it might encourage the spread of narcotics.[2] However, as the film had a clear message about the dangers of using drugs, it was eventually passed by the censors in June 1922 and released in some cinemas under the alternative title While London Sleeps.[3]
The Chinese gangster Min Fu was reportedly based on a real-life criminal Brilliant Chang.[4]
Cast
- Hilda Bayley as Jenny
- Flora Le Breton as Madge Webster
- Ward McAllister as Min Fu
- Cyril Raymond as Stanley
- Tony Fraser as Loki
- Teddy Arundell as Montagu Webster
References
Bibliography
- Robertson, James Crighton. The Hidden Cinema: British Film Censorship in Action, 1913–1975. Routledge, 1993.
- Sweet, Matthew. Shepperton Babylon: The Lost Worlds of British Cinema. Faber and Faber, 2005.
External links
- Cocaine at the Internet Movie Database