MovieChat Forums > The Skull (1965) Discussion > What was Marco snorting?

What was Marco snorting?

posted 14 years ago by WarpedRecord
3 replies | jump to latest

Can anyone explain what the sleazy antiquities dealer is snorting repeatedly throughout the film? I suspect it's a drug like cocaine or opium, though it could be something as comparatively benign as tobacco (which I knew as "coke snuff" in the '70s when it was legally sold in head shops).

Obviously the purpose of the constant snorting was to develop his character as an addict, and he was probably selling Marquis de Sade's items to support his habit.

Can anyone explain what someone like him would be snorting during the era in which this film takes place? And in what era does this film take place, anyway? I gathered it was the early 1900s, but I may be wrong.

And while I'm at it, R.I.P. Patrick Wymark, who died of a heart attack at the young age of 50 (hopefully not from causes related to his character's habit in this film).

[–] matrix29 13 years ago

He was snorting lemon Jell-O.
It was all the rage back then.
There's always room for Jell-O.

[–] FightingWesterner 12 years ago

I think it was simply tobacco. Old-timers used to carry snuff in little clamshell containers, pull out a pinch and snort it right out of their fingers, hence the title. It wasn't until fairly recently that people began to pack their cheek with it.

[–] WarpedRecord 12 years ago

Thanks for the reply. That's what I thought it was.