Jeanskynebu the audience applauded

Breakinger A Brilliant Conflict

Tayloriona Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Bluebell Alcock Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

zardoz-13 "Wild Weed" is a polished but predictable potboiler about the consequences of marihuana abuse in America during the late 1940s. Prolific director Sam Newfield does a good job of making this pedestrian crime thriller palatable. The action concern a chorus girl who is putting her younger brother through college by working as a dancer. Actually, Richard H. Landau is based in part on the sensational event that occurred when actor Robert Mitchum was busted with starlet Lila Leeds in her apartment. Mitchum is neither shown nor depicted. This movie shows how our unfortunate heroine becomes addicted to pot. The filmmakers refer to marihuana as 'tea' and the pushers hide it in tomato cans. The first half of the action concerns Anne Lester's descent into the hell of pot. A thoroughly despicable pusher, Markey (Alan Baxter), gets Anne hooked. After she loses her job as a dancer, Anne winds up fronting for Markey. Sadly, when Anne's brother, Bob (David Holt), shows up at his older sister's house, he is surprised to find the house in ruins after a party. Later, he discovers that she is helping Markey sell cannabis and he commits suicide by hanging himself in the garage. The second part follows Anne on her downward spiral until she survives jail and leads the authorities to Markey.Lila Leeds does a credible job, but her arrest doomed her career. She wasn't a bad actress. She is surrounded by a number of solid Hollywood actors. Indeed, Jack Elam made his film debut. Meantime, "Wild Weed" was her last film before she disappeared from the big-screen. Of course, the filmmakers were trading on Lila's celebrity status to give the film a modicum of credibility. The filmmakers' depiction of pot as a so-called 'gateway drug' makes this film funny. The scenes of people having a good time as they party with their pot are goofy. "Wild Weed" isn't as hilarious as "Reefer Madness" or "Marihuana." The fate of the lead actress gives "Wild Weed" a measure of poignancy. She suffered a worse fate than her screen character and the effect of the arrest on her cinematic aspirations is the flip side of what actually happened to Robert Mitchum. The marihuana arrest for Mitchum bolstered his career and he suffered no fall-out from it.

kidboots Lila Leeds claim to fame should be as the beautiful blonde secretary that Robert Montgomery could not take his eyes off in "Lady in the Lake". Instead it was as a "starlet goes bad" warning to other young actresses of the time. She was "busted" along with Robert Mitchum in an infamous drugs raid and spent time in prison. Robert Mitchum bounced back and made being in prison "cool" - making him an "anti- hero". Poor Lila was persuaded to appear in this potboiler as part of her probation.A slimy drug peddler "Marky" is selling his wares to high school kids - they are in a horrific car accident, one of the girls loses her legs!! He is also selling to chorus girls and is determined to get beautiful Ann Lester (Lila Leeds) hooked!!! - which he does quite easily!!! At the most boring party ever a stoned pianist (Rudolf Friml Jnr.) imagines that he is playing at the Hollywood Bowl. It is a good attempt to show the "delusions of grandeur" that is a side effect of the drug.Ann and her friend Rita are sacked from their chorus jobs (they are too drugged up to dance) so Marky introduces Ann to selling the drug and "entertaining" the clients. When Bob (David Holt) comes home and finds how his sister Ann is really paying for his college fees, he hangs himself. Ann blames herself for his death and is then persuaded by Captain Hayes (Lyle Talbot) to go undercover, after viewing what an addict's life is really like and getting first hand experience of prison life.It is a pity Leeds couldn't put it all behind her as she is so pretty and is a passable actress. I agree "Hollywood Stars" is an exaggeration but their names would be familiar to film devotees of the 1930s.Lyle Talbot had been a star of pre-codes but this was in one of his down periods. David Holt was a child actor in the early 30s when studios were looking for the next Shirley Temple. Michael Qualen was a handsome leading man in a couple of Shirley Temple movies - "Poor Little Rich Girl" (1936) and "Wee Willie Winkie" (1937). "Wild Weed" was also one of Jack Elam's first films. Altogether the acting was of a higher level than most exploitation films. They might not have been Hollywood greats but they were professionals and it showed.

Michael_Elliott She Shoulda Said No (1949) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Government "warning" film in the same vein as Reefer Madness works on the same camp level and has a somewhat historic Hollywood twist. Anne Lester (Lila Leeds) is a hard working good girl until she takes a hit of marijuana and soon she turns into a mental slut. Can she be saved before ending up in a mental hospital? Like all of these "warning" exploitation films, this one here is very poorly made and the facts the film presents are so incredibly stupid you can't help but laugh at them. Weed is referred to here as tomatoes and tea, which are two terms I haven't heard the stuff called. The film also claims that, in 1949, there were over 200 million pot users, which seems a tad bit high (no pun intended). I guess the most interesting thing is the true Hollywood story of lead actress Lila Leeds who was busted with Robert Mitchum during his infamous marijuana bust. As part of her probation she had to appear in this film. I think she should have just done jail time like Mitchum. Lyle Talbot co-stars.

dwpollar 1st watched 2/19/2007 - 2 out of 10(Dir-Sherman Scott): Over-the-top marijuana educational film goes way beyond it's earlier predecessor's with an obvious bigger budget but having the same results. Please -- get a life people!! Stop making these silly movies and bust the offenders instead!! I absolutely hate these government funded opportunities to make bad movies. In this one, a dancer is turned onto the drug at a party as she's trying to get her brother thru college. She's promised lots more money from the seller and is enticed into his world where only heartbreak occurs instead. Her brother kills himself and she blames herself, and her reason for staying in the business is now more self-induced. She is eventually picked up by the cops with the rest of her friends, spends some time in jail where she freaks out but doesn't reveal the seller and his whereabouts. The rest of the movie I won't reveal in case you want to see it. There are some special effects thrown in on this movie but otherwise it's very similar to it's earlier exploitation movies about the horrors of the drug. Too bad the money to make this movie wasn't spent on something more useful, like rehab for users etc