| Up in Smoke | |
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Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Lou Adler Tommy Chong (uncredited) |
| Produced by | Lou Adler Lou Lombardo |
| Written by | Tommy Chong Cheech Marin |
| Starring | Cheech Marin Tommy Chong Strother Martin Edie Adams Stacy Keach |
| Music by | Danny Kortchmar Lee Oskar Waddy Wachtel |
| Cinematography | Gene Polito |
| Editing by | Scott Conrad |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
| Release date(s) | August 11, 1978 |
| Running time | 85 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $44,364,244 |
Up in Smoke, directed by Lou Adler, is Cheech and Chong's first feature-length film, released in 1978 by Paramount Pictures. It stars Cheech Marin, Tommy Chong, Edie Adams, Strother Martin, and Stacy Keach.
Cheech & Chong had been a comedy team for about ten years before they started reworking some of their material for their first film. Much of the film was shot in Los Angeles, California, including scenes set in Tijuana, Mexico. Scenes set on the Mexican border were actually filmed at the border in Yuma, Arizona.
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Tommy Chong plays Anthony Stoner,[1] a jobless, marijuana-smoking drummer who is told to either get a job by sundown or be sent off to military school by his parents. Anthony leaves the house in a Volkswagen convertible (which had his father's Rolls Royce grill on it), a car which is subsequently left smoking on the side of the road. Anthony is picked up while hitchhiking by the equally enthusiastic smoker Pedro de Pacas (Cheech Marin). They share a large joint, which Chong's character says is made with "mostly Maui wowie" and "Labrador" (essentially dog feces, as his dog had eaten his stash). Police find their car parked on a traffic median with them in it, discover that they are clearly high and arrest them. At trial, the pair are released on a technicality after the judge's water pitcher is discovered to be containing vodka.
In an attempt to procure marijuana, they visit Pedro's cousin Strawberry (Tom Skerritt), a Vietnam War veteran. They narrowly escape a police raid on Strawberry's house while Strawberry has a flashback and thinks the police are the Viet Cong, but are soon deported to Tijuana, by the INS (la migra), along with Pedro's relatives, who actually called the INS on themselves, so they could get a free ride to a wedding in Tijuana. In order to get back to the United States they arrange to pick up a vehicle from Pedro's uncle's upholstery shop, but arrive at the wrong address, a disguised marijuana warehouse. They end up unknowingly involved in a plot to smuggle a van constructed completely out of "fiberweed" (hardened THC resin derived from marijuana - a play on the word "fiberglass") from Mexico to Los Angeles, with an inept police narcotics unit, led by the overly zealous Sgt. Stedenko (Stacy Keach) hot on their heels.
Along the way, Pedro and Anthony pick up two women, who convince them to perform at a Battle of the Bands contest. Pedro and Man tell the women they need marijuana; the women convince them to see Gloria—a police dispatcher who sells drugs being held as evidence. Gloria informs the women she can't sell them any drugs as the police destroyed the evidence they were holding, but there should be some in stock soon as the police were searching all over town for a huge stash—which the police do not realize is currently sitting in the police station parking lot. They narrowly avoid arrest, at one point, after being pulled over by a police motorcyclist, but the officer gets high from the burning "fiberweed" emanating from the van's tailpipe, and lets them go after asking for a hot dog one of them was eating.
The film concludes with the duo's band, Alice Bowie, winning the contest, and a recording contract, with a performance of their song, Earache My Eye. They win after everyone gets stoned, due to a large amount of marijuana smoke, from their burning van, being funneled into the venue.
Paramount's market research determined that for reasons unexplained, the greatest concentrations of Cheech and Chong's fans were in Texas and Canada. As this was the comedy team's first film, Paramount wanted the initial screenings to be filled with their most ardent fans.[2] Cheech and Chong also came up with the novel (and ultimately successful) idea of advertising the film through comic strips, which they left on bus benches. The film opened first in Texas to huge business, and also later in Canada boosted by strong word of mouth.[2]
The film was a huge success, grossing $44,364,244[3], the 12th highest-grossing film of 1978.
Up in Smoke received mixed to negative reviews, earning a 38% "Rotten" rating on Rotten Tomatoes.[4]
The film was banned by the South African Publications Control Board (Censor Board) for fear that "it might encourage the impressionable youth of South Africa to take up marijuana smoking".
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