She Shoulda Said No! is a 1949 exploitation film that follows in the spirit of Reefer Madness and Marihuana. Directed by Sam Newfield and starring Lila Leeds, it was originally produced to capitalize on the arrest of Leeds and Robert Mitchum on a charge of marijuana conspiracy.
About She Shoulda Said No! in brief
She Shoulda Said No! is a 1949 exploitation film that follows in the spirit of morality tales such as the 1936 films Reefer Madness and Marihuana. Directed by Sam Newfield and starring Lila Leeds, it was originally produced to capitalize on the arrest of Leeds and Robert Mitchum on a charge of marijuana conspiracy. 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 Treasury. The film gained approval from the Federal Bureau of Narcotics to use the drug references, a standard practice at the time even though the Bureau had no power to censor the films. It used its plot to push many of the beliefs of the time: that drug-using youth would turn to crime and the theory of marijuana as a gateway drug.
The latter was a leading argument for drug prohibition during the era, and an argument that Leeds herself made, based on her own history with marijuana and heroin. Leeds was sentenced to sixty days in prison and placed on probation for five years. Upon her release, Leeds struggled to find work in Hollywood, and signed on to star in Wild Weed. She later said in 1952 that appearing in the picture would keep other people her age from trying drugs, but in 1952 she confided in Collier’s that she only took the offer because she was broke.
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This page is based on the article She Shoulda Said No! published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 05, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
