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Hemp for Victory

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Hemp For Victory
Directed byRaymond Evans
Written byBrittain B. Robinson
Produced byU.S. Department of Agriculture
StarringLee D. Vickers(Narrator)
Music byReuben Ford(Monaural)
Release date
  • 1942(1942)
Running time
14 minutes
LanguageEnglish
Hemp for Victory,full film

Hemp for Victoryis ablack-and-whiteUnited Statesgovernment filmmade duringWorld War IIand released in 1942, explaining the uses ofhemp,encouraging farmers to grow as much as possible. During World War II, theMarihuana Tax Act of 1937was lifted briefly to allow for hemp fiber production to create ropes for the U.S. Navy but after the war hemp reverted to itsde factoillegal status.[1]

History

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The film was made to encourage farmers to grow hemp for the war effort because other industrial fibers, often imported from overseas, were in short supply. The film shows a history of hemp and hemp products, how hemp is grown, and how hemp is processed intorope,cloth,cordage and other products.

Before 1989, the film was relatively unknown. The United States government denied ever having made such a film.[2]TheUnited States Department of Agriculture[3]library and theLibrary of Congresstold all interested parties that no such movie was made by the USDA or any branch of the U.S. government. TwoVHScopies were recovered and donated to the Library of Congress on 19 May 1989 byMaria Farrow,Carl Packard,andJack Herer.

The only known copy in 1976 was a 3/4 "broadcast quality copy of the film that was originally obtained byWilliam Condein 1976 from a reporter for theMiami Heraldand theEthiopian Zion Coptic Churchof Jamaica. It was given in trust that it would be made available to as many as possible. It was put into the hands of Jack Herer by William Conde during the 1984 Oregon Marijuana Initiative. The film is now available in numerous locations on the Internet.

The 1990 case that the filmHemp For Victorywas delivered in

In July 1989, Jack Herer together withChris Wright,of theGrassroots Party,attempted to obtain a copy from the National Archives where it was listed, but the curators were unable to locate the film. Subsequently, in May 1990, the founder of The Institute for Hemp,John Birrenbach,recovered a copy of the film from the National Archives. [4]The film was a two part film the first section being 6:46 the second being 7:16 long. Together the approx 15 minute film detailed the cultivation of cannabis for fiber. This was the first recovery of the film from a government source. This film can now be downloaded from the National Archives.[5]

Hemp for Victorywas produced by the US Department of Agriculture, and contained scenes from the 1926 silent filmOld Ironsides.It ispublic domainand is freely available for download from theInternet Archive.

The film, as well as clips shown, was referenced to in an episode of10 Things You Don't Know Abouton marijuana and its history.

Book

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Hemp for Victoryis also the title of a book about hemp, published 2006 in London by Whitaker Press (ISBN0-9549939-0-X). It is the work of several authors active in the hemp world, including Kenyon Gibson, Nick and Cindy Mackintosh, Woody Harrelson, Mina Hegaard and Sam Heslop.

Sequel

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In 2006, efforts were made to make a sequel of the film,Hemp For Victory II: The Sequelby the UK-based production house Necessary Productions. StarringDavid Hayman,Howard Marks andJack Herer,the funds for post production were not raised and the project was shelved.

It was then developed as a three film series of 60 minutes each. The second part released at the 2009 Seattle HempFest hadSteve Levineand Andrea Hermann on the speaker panel.[6]The movie did not have a full official release. It was released as a 2012 remake at select locations.[7]The conceptualisation of the film was based on inputs fromSmithsonian Institution,Greenpeace,MardiGrass,Robert West,Dr Tapan Kumar Pradhan,Howard Marks,Vote Hemp, John Hobson (Hemcore),Hilary Benn,Marc Deeley and other research institutes.[8]

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See also

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References

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  1. ^"Legal Marijuana's Big Moment".Politico. April 24, 2018.
  2. ^Robinson, Rowan(1996).The Great Book of Hemp: The Complete Guide to the Environmental, Commercial and Medicinal Uses of the World's Most Extraordinary Plant.Park Street Press.ISBN978-089281541-8.
  3. ^"Hemp For Victory The True Story - The Institute for Cannabis".theinstituteforcannabis.org.Archived fromthe originalon 2017-03-03.Retrieved2017-03-02.
  4. ^"Archived copy".Archived fromthe originalon 2017-03-04.Retrieved2017-03-04.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. ^Department of Agriculture. Office of Public Affairs. 1990-1995 (25 April 2018).HEMP FOR VICTORY.Series: Public Information and Training Motion Picture and Television Productions, 1794 - ca. 2003 – via US National Archives Research Catalog.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  6. ^"2009 Seattle Hempfest -" Hemp For Victory "(2 of 3)".Archivedfrom the original on 2021-12-21 – via youtube.
  7. ^"Hemp for Victory - 2012 Remake".Archived fromthe originalon 2015-08-14.Retrieved2013-07-07.
  8. ^"Public Domain Movie - Hemp for Victory".
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