Just Say 'No'?

How does an actress deal with being convicted of marijuana possession? She uses the story of being set up, exaggerates it, and turns it into a B-film of course! Such is the movie know by many names: She Shoulda Said 'No'!, Wild Weed, Marijuana The Devil's Weed, The Story of Lila Leeds and Her Exposé of the Marijuana Racket and The Devil's Weed. For the sake of space, I will refer to his film by its most popular name She Shoulda Said 'No'! The 1949 film followed in the trend of marijuana exploitation films such as Marihuana and Reefer Madness.

The story was loosely based on lead actress Lila Leeds and Robert Mitchum's arrest for possession as part of a Hollywood wide sting. Most were tipped off before the cops came, but such wasn't the case for Leeds and Mitchum. In fact, Leeds was cast in the film because of her widely known arrest for being involved with drugs and it was suggested the film could be a way for her to tell "her side" of the story.

The story is of Anne Lester (Leeds) who goes to work for a drug dealer named Markey in order to help pay her brother's college tuition. Lester gets sucked into the world of drugs very quickly and then unbelievable and unrealistic portrays of marijuana addicts and drug users ending up in psych wards after a few puffs cause her to reform her ways and help the police. Its your basic story of good girl goes bad and then gets redemption at the last second.

This movie is the reason why marijuana is refered to as the "gateway drug", since the movie introduces the theory, though little of the "facts" in the movie are actually correct. The film was shot in eight days and the producer Kroger Babb knew the quality was so bad that he tried to cash in on it as quickly as possible and then distance himself from the film.

If you want to know more about the film, you can check out a few of these sources. The Cult Movie Review blog has an entry about the film, which can be read here. The homepage for the cult hit Reefer Madness talks about this film and others used for drug propaganda on the propaganda section of its site and the article about She Shoulda Said 'No'! is here. Also, the site somethingweird.com has done a nice piece on She Shoulda Said 'No'! and has the trailer for the film, which those of you who want can watch below:

"If you're trying to create an impression, I'm unimpressed."

Titled after the song by Jerry Lee Lewis and featuring a cameo of him singing the song, 1958's High School Confidential! is a campy teen drug exploitation film where any good intentions are completely skewed by the film itself. The film is pretty horrible, using teen slang that was dated even when the movie came out, naivete about drug use, bad beat poetry, and a camptastic morality play only the Fifties could produce.

Not even the big names of the cast could save this movie. A drug epidemic has hit Santa Bellow High just as troublemaker transfer student Tony Baker (Russ Tamblyn) after being kicked out of his last school. English teacher Arlene Williams (Jan Sterling) hopes to be the positive influence that will calm Baker’s wild ways. Tony becomes a member of local the local teenage drug ring, known as the Wheeler-Dealers, making friends such as J.I. Coleridge (John Drew Barrymore) and marijuana addict – yes addict – Joan Staples (Diane Jergens) who he ends up stealing from J.I. Baker lives with his nymphomaniac aunt (Mamie Van Doren) who wants him badly. Tony gradually works his way up to the top of the drug supply chain, but his true intentions aren’t revealed until the supposed to be climactic end of the film. Michael Landon and Charlie Chaplin, Jr. also have roles in this film.

The idiocy and naivete that went in to making this film is entirely apparent. Drugs and drug dealers are the ultimate villains, worse than any murderer or rapist, while as the DEA agents are the ultimate heroes. Parents are completely stupid when it comes to drugs and the message that even good kids can get into drugs misses its mark. The overall message though is that if "you flake around with the weed and you're gonna end up using the harder stuff". The "teenagers" are in their mid-twenties at the earliest and the plot is not only unrealistic but completely implausible.

For more on this film, if you really want to know more, I have two sites for you to check out. The first is a series of reviews and opinions other viewers have about the film which you can find here, courtesy of filmfanatic.org. Also, the blog Desukomoviespot has further exploration and does an amazing job of poking fun at the film here, for those of you who want to check it out. As it is, High School Confidential probably should have remained that way.

Propaganda, Exploitation, and Cult Classics

Over the next week or so, I want to do a short series focusing on a genre of film that has always interested me: the anti-drug propaganda film. The films in this genre are one of two types: educational videos intended to be used in health classrooms that get out of hand with their scare tactics or exploitation films falling into the b-movie category that also use scare tactics to make a horror-type film. Usually, the serious intentions of both types of film belie hilarity to modern audiences, who know better than believe that one puff of pot addicts you to heroin or makes you believe all of your friends have turned into giant spiders that need to be shot with your dad's rifle. It is the humor modern audiences find in these films that have made them rise to cult status.

What is an exploitation film exactly? Well, it is a film designed to exploit a subject, usually something lurid such as sex, drugs, or sociocultural fears (i.e. race, gender roles, etc.). Most of these films are poorly made, sensationalized with advertising and in plot, low budget, have suggestive or explicit subject matter. Though they have been made since the early days of film, the Sixties was the height of exploitation film and pushing boundaries. There are various sub-genres within the exploitation genre itself. Some films are designed to teach or scare the audience into behavior whereas others are just graphic (such as those in the grindhouse or splatter genres).

Exploitation film is a widely explored subject and has gained a considerable cult following, especially as these films became very easy to access on the internet. For a list of some of the most popular exploitation films, you can find this list on Amazon.com. The website brightlightsfilm.com offers various articles on exploitation film, which can be found here, and another focusing especially on drug exploitation films here. More information and interviews with directors and others involved with the making of these films can be found here, by imagesjournal.com. Two great references and guides to what exploitation is and its history can be found here, by filmreference.com, and here, by allmovie.com. Finally, there is even a blog devoted to the exploration and analysis of exploitation film which can be found here at the Exploitation Film blog.

I'm going to profile several films I have seen over the next several days, talking about why they were made, what their message is, and how sometimes the message doesn't always get across to the audience. Since these films started being made, they still remain culturally relevant, propagating and encouraging drug myths, spreading false education and fears, and overall contributing to our current culture and the American War on Drugs. So sit back, chill out, and try to ignore the fact that most of the highschoolers in these movies look to be about thirty.

It Happened on Wimpole Street

If you like poetry, the Victorian period, or romance, I have found a movie for you to watch. The original 1934 film, The Barrett's of Wimpole Street, is a truly classic film made from the play of the same name by Rudolph Besier. The story follows along with the real life romance of Victorian poets, Robert Browning and his later wife, Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

This film verison, directed by Sidney Franklin, stars Norma Shearer in the role the invalid Elizabeth Barrett Browning, who, along with her siblings, is forbidden to marry by their opressive father, played by Charles Laughton. Despite her stern father, Elizabeth falls in love with the dashing poet Robert Browning, played by Frederic March, and the two conspire to marry with the help of Elizabeth's sister Henriette, played by Maureen O'Sullivan. Through the course of the film, Robert's love helps Elizabeth recover from her mysterious illness and stand up to her opressive father. Always at Elizabeth's side is her loving dog Flush, who played himself.

This film truly is a great love story with an amazing cast who portray their characters so well. Whereas a film can never truly recreate the events of history, this film comes pretty close to echoing what really transpired during Brown and Barrett's courtship.The acting and cast work wonderfully as indiviuals and together. In fact, the film was so good it was nominated for Best Picture.

Sidney Franklin later remade the film in 1957, a remake that was nearly identical, word for word and scene by scene. Shearer's husband, Irving Thalberg, was the producer and cast her in the role, angering William Randolph Hearst, who wanted the part to go to his actress mistress, Marion Davies. This action caused a fall-out between Hearst and MGM, as well as Shearer. Marion then went to work for Warner Brothers.

For those of you who want more information, you can go here and get some review and analysis by classicfilmguide.com. The blog Colet and Company also discusses the various stage and film versions of the film, which can be read here. So, for any of you looking for a good romance, I would say The Barretts of Wimpole Street is an excellent pick.

Elections, Politics, and Three Classic Films

In the spirit of election day, and for all of you who want something else to watch besides the twenty-four hour election coverage, I have a few political themed movies that might be of interest. Politics and movies go way back, whether we are thinking of the Hays Production Code, the McCarthy Trials, films that create World War patriotism or just dabbled in political themes. I have three politically minded movies today that stop and make you think as well as are relevant to modern American history.

The first is the 1949 film All The King's Men, stars Broderick Crawford as corrupt politican Willie Stark who has to do a little mudslinging, scratching others backs and keeps his friends rolling in the dough as he rises into the political foreground. Sound familiar? The original version of the story was a novel of the same name written by Robert Penn Warren, based loosely on the real-life personality of Louisianna governer, Huey Pierce Long. Again, Filmsite.org provides a great analysis and synopsis of this film, which those interested can read here. The tale of Willie Stark really embodies the rise and fall of politicians and is an early look at how political campaigns were corruptly run, even back in the earlier days.

The second film is 1952's Suddenly, which stars Frank Sinatra as John Baron, a hired assasain who comes to the small town of Suddenly, bent on the murder of the president. He hides and plots in the house of pacifist and widow, Ellen Benson (Nancy Gates), who is unsuccessfully being courted by the Suddenly town sheriff, Tod Shaw (Sterling Hayden). The town of Suddenly is caught up in stopping the assassain before he does his job. Eleven years before the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, this film has several parallels the story of JFK's fateful day in Dallas. It is even rumored that Lee Harvey Oswald watched this film a matter of days before the assassination.

Again with Old Blue Eyes, the 1962 film The Manchurian Candidate echoes a somewhat different sentiment than Suddenly. When Korean POW Raymond Shaw (Laurence Harvey) returns to the US, he is greeted as a hero, but he can't remember what he did that was heroic. He and his friend Ben Marco (Frank Sinatra) begin experiencing similar nightmares about the war. Marco's dreams lead him to believe that Shaw is not the war hero everyone thinks him to be and there is something much darker. Shaw also has to deal with a domineering, politically minded mother (Angela Lansbury), the wife of a US Senator, and Marco deals with a blooming love interest (Janet Leigh). When Marco discovers what his buddy Shaw is being set up to do, he and his other army buddies have to get together to not only save Shaw but the fate of the country.

If you want to know more about how film and politics connect, you can check out these two websites. The first is an article by the Harvard Political Review online, which can be read here. The second is on the political website donklephant.com, which has a host of blogs under the topic of politics and film, which can be found here. Also, at a classic film review site on About.com that has a list of the Top Ten Classic Political Films. Finally, I would urge you wherever you are, if you haven't already, go out and vote!