Black Marketing

Black Marketing is a 1943 dramatic propaganda short produced by the Office of War Information and directed by William Castle. It is an educational film warning American civilians against buying unrationed foodstuffs and materials.

The film opens in a courtroom with the prosecutor laying the government's case against a syndicate of racketeers with names like Joseph B, Sam E, etc. Once the prosecutor starts to go into the time line of the case, the film dissolves into short segments showing the racketeers at work, how they organized themselves, bought up steers at inflated prices and forced butchers to distribute the illicit beef. They are caught, however, when one housewife is told that she can't buy a steak with her ration cards, but a woman after her does without them.