“Have Another Drink, Ese? ” 1960s Hispanic Anti-Alcohol & Alcoholism Awareness Film

VIDEO HERE  (15:14 minutes)

This 1960s educational film presented by the Los Angeles Department of Health Services warns of the dangers of alcohol addiction, especially within the Hispanic community. The film shows vignettes of various Hispanic people and their struggles with alcohol addiction and excessive drinking. The film begins with narration by a Hispanic man, Ese (Johnny Hernandez) as a group of men drink and smoke at a bar. The bartender pours drinks; the bar’s neon lights are shown (1:15). 

Ese, sitting on a green couch, describes how drinking made him lose control and get involved in a car accident (1:27). Other former alcohol addicts are interviewed: a Hispanic woman and a young man sitting in front of a barbell (1:50). Ese drinks a Budweiser with his family at a picnic table in a park (2:17); he says his wife left him because of his drinking. Dr. Antonio Alcocer from California State Northridge and Susan Arellano from the East L.A. Alcoholism Coalition talk about how alcohol is a serious problem in the Hispanic community (2:43). A group of men play guitars and sing in Spanish at a park gathering; people dance and children watch (3:18). Ese says he would drink at weddings and baptisms. Ese works on his car, a red Mustang, while drinking a beer propped on the hood (4:16); a group of friends sit on the curb and drink Budweiser with him. A man drinks from a Miller can while holding a cigarette (4:36). People are interviewed about why they started drinking; one man with a mustache says he started drinking at age 13 in the barrio (4:46). Homeless people stand outside Union Rescue Mission in Los Angeles (5:25); Ese says he thought alcoholics were “Skid Row bums.” Several people are interviewed about why they didn’t think they were alcoholics (5:48). Scenes from the Hispanic community flash by: a woman walking down the street, a child running at a park, a girl in a white dress with roses dancing, young boys in baseball uniforms (6:33), a young boy with a popsicle, a piñata in a car. A Pueblo liquor store sigh with a Schlitz sign below (6:47); a Star Wars sign on top of a newspaper rack (6:53) and Budweiser and Black Velvet signs in the window. Ese says his drinking got worse after his wife left. A photographer takes photos of a couple getting married in a park (7:03). Alcohol signs in a montage: “Cerveza Schlitz” (7:17), Coors & Pepsi signs (7:18); Republic Liquor; Coors (7:20); Busch Bavarian Beers (7:21); “una gran cerveza” sign (7:30). A Chicano man talks about the belief that to be macho, one must drink. Susan Arellano talks about how machismo and drinking intersect in the Hispanic community (8:27); Dr. Alcocer says machismo can also help with alcohol recovery since machismo implies strength. People dance and drink at a bar (9:06). Ese is shown in a detox ward at the hospital (10:09). Chicano men and a woman talk about their symptoms of alcohol withdrawal (11:10); a young man lifts weights with a barbell (11:42). Dr. Alcocer says alcohol recovery services need to be bilingual and bicultural for the Chicano community. Young Chicanos play volleyball (12:42); children play at a park. The film ends with Dr. Alcocer saying the family plays an important role in alcohol addiction recovery and talking about the importance of getting help for addiction.