THE DEVIL'S SLEEP (1949)

Another anti-drug vehicle, this one courtesy of George Weiss and Screen Classics (Glen Or Glenda?, et al). With the anti-pot message having been done to death, THE DEVIL'S SLEEP instead focuses on teen-aged pill-poppers. Since rock 'n' roll didn't exist yet, the movie blames newspapers--with their “blaring headlines” about war and earthquakes and famine and stuff--for young people getting hooked on “bennies, goofies, and phenos.” It seems taking these pills causes them to commit all manner of horrible crimes. At least, that's what the film claims. But really, the teens here do nothing worse than play Blind Man's Bluff at a pool party.

Another character is Umberto Scalli (Timothy Farrell), the crooked owner of a health club who uses the spa as a front for his pill racket. If you’ve seen as many of these B movies as I have, you’re fully aware that Timothy Farrell basically played the same character in every film he did.

The movie also boasts George Eifermen, “Mr. America of 1948.” As an actor, he was a great bodybuilder.