Hop, the Devil's Brew
Cast & Crew
Lois Weber
Phillips Smalley
Lois Weber
Marie Walcamp
Charles Hammond
Juan De La Cruz
Film Details
Synopsis
While customs official Ward Jansen works in the Orient investigating opium smuggling, his wife Lydia, alone in San Francisco and despondent over the death of her child, becomes addicted to the drug. When Ward returns, he notices Lydia's strange behavior, but does not attribute it to opium. Then, Ward cracks down on a local gang of opium smugglers led by Lee Gow, who, with the help of Lydia's maid Jane, smuggles opium inside a fish from a ocean liner offshore. The opium is then hidden in playing cards and distributed to men in Chinatown who pay money for the cards. When Ward raids Lee Gow's opium den, he finds Lydia among the addicts, and learns that her father, William Waters, a respected city councilman, is the head of the smuggling operation. When William discovers that he has contributed to his own daughter's dependence on drugs, he kills himself, after which, with Ward's support, Lydia successfully rehabilitates herself.
Cast
Phillips Smalley
Lois Weber
Marie Walcamp
Charles Hammond
Juan De La Cruz
Ethel Weber
Crew
Film Details
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The film was made with the assistance of the United States Customs Service, and was shot primarily in San Francisco. According to an announcement in the copyright descriptions, "every episode of smuggling and distributing opium shown in this picture is based upon actual happenings since the law of 1909 went into effect." On February 9, 1909, Congress passed an act prohibiting importation of opium.
