"She Shoulda Said 'No'!" (also known as
Wild Weed;
Marijuana, the Devil's Weed;
The Story of Lila Leeds and Her Exposé of the Marijuana Racket; and
The Devil's Weed) is a 1949 exploitation film that follows in the spirit of Morality play such as the 1936 films
Reefer Madness and
Marihuana (film). Directed by Sam Newfield (using the pseudonym "Sherman Scott") and starring Lila Leeds, it was originally produced to capitalize on the arrest of Leeds and Robert Mitchum on a charge of Cannabis (drug) conspiracy. The film was issued under many titles; it struggled to find a distributor until film presenter Kroger Babb picked up the rights, reissuing it as
The Story of Lila Leeds and Her Exposé of the Marijuana Racket. Its relative success came only after the promotional posters were redone and a story fabricated that the film was being presented in conjunction with the United States Department of the Treasury.
Plot
Leeds' character is "Anne Lester", a young orphan who is trying to pay for her brother's college education. After meeting Markey, a drug dealer, Anne begins to believe that she must smoke marijuana to fit in with her friends. She then goes to a "tea party", where she tries the drug for the first time. She is unaffected by the initial experiment, and loses her fear of drugs as she continues to smoke.
Cast
- Alan Baxter (actor) – Markey
- Lyle Talbot – Captain Hayes
- Lila Leeds – Ann
- Michael Whelan (actor) – Treanor
- Mary Ellen Popel – Rita
- Doug Blackley – Lieutenant Mason
- David Holt (actor) – Bob Lester
- Don Carlos Harvey – Lieutenant Tyne
- David Gorcey – Ricky
- Jack Elam – Raymond
- Dick Cogan (actor) – Edmunds
- Knox Manning – Narrator
See also
List of films in the public domain
Notes
Printed matter
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- A letter to Harry Anslinger from George H. White, who served as a district supervisor in Los Angeles, circa June 1949. -->
- The New York Times: "Sex and Vice 'Star' in Central's Double Bill." January 31, 1957.
- Pressbook from Hallmark Productions, circa 1959.
- Collier's: "Narcotics Ruined Me." July 26, 1952.
- Booth, Martin: Cannabis: A History (Picador, 2004; ISBN 0-312-42494-9)
- Friedman, David F. A Youth in Babylon: Confessions of a Trash-Film King (Buffalo, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 1990; ISBN 0-87975-608-X).
- Quarles, Mike, Down and Dirty: Hollywood's Exploitation Filmmakers and Their Movies (Jefferson, North Carolina, McFarland, 2001; ISBN 0-7864-1142-2).
- Eric Schaefer, Bold! Daring! Shocking! True!: A History of Exploitation Films, 1919–1959 (Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1999; ISBN 0-8223-2374-5).
- Shapiro, Harry, Shooting Stars: Drugs, Hollywood and the Movies (Serpent's Tail, 2004; ISBN 1-85242-651-9).
- Variety (magazine): "Wild Weed." August 31, 1949.
Websites
Category:1940s crime drama films
Category:1949 films
Category:American crime drama films
Category:Black-and-white films
Category:English-language films
Category:Exploitation films