Up in Smoke (1978)

Two stoners unknowingly smuggle a van - made entirely of marijuana - from Mexico to L.A., with incompetent Sgt. Stedenko on their trail.

Directors:

Lou Adler, Tommy Chong (uncredited)

Writers:

Tommy Chong (as Thomas Chong), Cheech Marin

Stars:

Cheech Marin, Tommy Chong, Strother Martin

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Cheech Marin	...	Pedro
Tommy Chong	...	Man
Strother Martin	...	Mr. Stoner
Edie Adams	...	Tempest Stoner
Harold Fong	...	Chauffeur
Richard Novo	...	Richard
Jane Moder	...	Jail Bait
Pam Bille	...	Jail Bait
Arthur Roberts	...	Arresting Officer
Marian Beeler	...	Judge Gladys Dykes
Donald Hotton	...	Bailiff
John Ian Jacobs	...	Prosecuting Attorney (as Jon Ian Jacobs)
Christipher Joy	...	Curtis
Ray Vitte	...	The Band: Bass - James
Michael Caldwell	...	The Band: Guitar - Duane

Storyline

Cheech and Chong meet up by chance on the highway somewhere in California. They go in search of some dope and are accidentally deported to Mexico where in their desperation to get home they agree to drive a van back to the States so they can get back in time for a gig they are due to play. Unaware of the properties from which the van is constructed they make their way back having aquired a couple of female hitch-hikers whilst all the time avoiding the cops whom they are not even aware are following them.

---

Plot Keywords:

marijuana | cheech and chong | stoner comedy | vietnam war veteran | low budget film | 

---

Taglines:

DON'T go straight to see this film!

---

Genres:

Comedy | Music

---

Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

Both Cheech Marin and Stacy Keach were born with cleft lips and grew their trademark moustaches to cover the surgical repair scars.

---

Goofs

When Chong is playing the drums at the Roxy after being "revived", his drum strokes clearly don't go with the music.

---

Quotes

Debbie: [referring to her top] Does this show?
Pedro: Yeah, they sure do.
Debbie: No. I mean this, this spot.
Pedro: Let's see. Yeah, a little bit. Here, I'll take it out for you.
Debbie: Will you?
Pedro: Yeah. Sure. Just take it off.
Debbie: Oh, great!
[removes her top]

---

Crazy Credits

The opening credits are in the style of spray-painted graffiti, super-imposed over Pedro's low-rider.

---

Connections

Referenced in Nostalgia Critic: Sidekicks (2009)

---

Soundtracks

Here Come the Mounties to the Rescue
New Music by Danny Kortchmar and Waddy Wachtel
[song title uncredited]

User Reviews

The Show

The counterculture was long dead and ripe for retrospective satire. Into the opportunity stepped two pro comics who after trying other things, built these characters. When comics work up a world for years and then brings it to a movie, it bodes well. Mike Myers would follow almost precisely this formula later with "Wayne's World."

The jokes are still pretty funny, many of them. Not the stuff with the flumoxxed cops or the folks who inadvertently get stoned (and get the munchies). But the bits of comic timing associated with the guys as if they were on stage.

Two bits to watch out for. One is two incidental women. The first has a scene only a minute long. A girl comes in, mistakes scouring powder for coke, snuffs it up and has the most comic facial expressions I have even seen on film. This is one of those priceless moments in film. I hope IMDb at some point figures out some means to vote on particular scenes. This girl would in life become an addict and a bag lady.

The second girl has a bigger role: Zane Buzby is one of the hippie stoner cheesecake babes that join the trip. She's got a less flashy role, but in ad libs created most of the situations in which she appears. She would go on to become one of TeeVee's most attuned comedy directors.

So you can see this as two stage personalities that are good, with these two women, who are also as good, surrounded by some disposable situations and jokes.

But there is another something interesting. The end of this comic show is a comic show within, the guys as a rock band in possibly the best Cheech and Chong sequence of all their movies. Everything from about 20 minutes into the film to this is a journey to this show, I suspect that "The Muppet Movie" of the following year was influenced by this.

Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

15 September 1978 (USA)

Also Known As:

Cheech and Chong's Greatest Hits

Filming Locations:

Henry's Tacos, 11401 Moorpark St., Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$44,364,244

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$44,364,244

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min

Sound Mix:

Mono Dolby SR (5.1)

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1