Up in Smoke movie storyline. In California, jobless hippie and stoner Anthony “Man” Stoner (Chong) is kicked out of his house by his rich and classy father. He drives off in his fathers car, which breaks down, and Anthony is left stranded near a beach, left to sleep in a ditch over night with his belongings.
The next morning, Chicano stoner Pedo De Pacas (Cheech) sets off from his Mexican-family-house in his lowrider car looking for love with errands to run. Pedro drives along the beach where he tries to pick up ladies, and sees Anthony with melons stuffed under his shirt. Assuming that Anthony is a large-breasted woman, Pedro drives his car around and tries to pick “her” up, only to be horrified when he discovers Anthony is just a guy looking for a ride.
Feeling bad (and liking that Anthony likes his car), Pedro gives Anthony a ride, just missing being caught by the police. While driving, the 2 take a liking to each other being that they both like smoking marijuana. Pedro offers Anthony a small joint, while Anthony shows Pedro a huge joint, made out of dog feces (being that the dog ate Anthony’s stash).
The 2 smoke the joint and get incredibly high, followed by Pedro accidentally swallowing a lot of acid. The car crashes into a light pole, and the 2 are arrested and the car towed away. In a small courtroom trial, the 2 are being prosecuted when Anthony, still high, begs for water. Pedro grabs some of the judge’s “water” for Anthony, only to have Anthony spit it out, revealing it to actually be vodka. With the judge taken away, Pedro and Anthony are let off free.
The next morning, after Anthony meets (and argues) with Pedro’s band (being that Pedro is a guitarist/singer and Anthony is a drummer), the 2 set off to score some weed. However, the town is dry being that many people are smoking pot these days. The 2 visit Pedro’s cousin Strawberry, who is a retired war veteran who is a little messed up in the head and has a large “birth mark” on his face. Anthony stays in Strawberry’s messy apartment while Pedro and Strawberry go off on a motorcycle to get weed.
While in the apartment, Anthony meets Strawberry’s roommate, a cokehead who throws a large drug party in the apartment. Meanwhile, Strawberry has a war flash and loses his mind and jumps off the motorcycle, sending Pedro crashing. When he crashes, he sees cops hiding outside the apartment, ready to bust in and arrest the druggies at the party. Pedro tries to warn Anthony via phone, which is bugged, and the party is busted. Pedro infiltrates the bust dressed like a re-po man, claiming he’s there to reposses the stuff. The cops buy the story, and Pedro rescues Anthony.
After that, the 2 visit Pedro’s friends’ place where the 2 get stoned, but not so much being that the weed is bad. At that point, immigration busts in, being that Pedro’s friends calling immigration on themselves to get a free ride to a wedding in Mexico. Of course, Pedro and Anthony, despite their efforts to hide, get caught and deported to Tijuana as well.
While in Tijuana, Pedro calls his uncle and gets the address of a upholestry shop and arranges to pick up a van to drive back to America. But after getting fast food over the address, the 2 arrive at the wrong place- an upholestry shop which is actually a marijuana plant in disguise. The factory actually makes materials out of solid and liquid marijuana, which is then smuggled across the border.
The marijuana-made things made there are worth up to $9 million, and is heavily watched by police, led by Sargeant Stedanko. Pedro and Anthony show up to the factory, unaware of what it really is, and say they’re there to pick up “the van”. Rather than getting an actual van, the stoners get a huge green van, made from marijuana, top to bottom. From the steering wheel, the tires, the doors, the gas tank, to the very structure of the van itself, its all made of pure solid and liquid marijuana- and the guys have no idea they’re smuggling it into America.
Up in Smoke is a 1978 American buddy comedy film directed by Lou Adler and starring Cheech Marin, Tommy Chong, Edie Adams, Strother Martin, Stacy Keach, and Tom Skerritt. It is Cheech & Chong’s first feature-length film.
Cheech & Chong had been a counterculture 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, while scenes set on the Mexican border were actually filmed at the border in Yuma, Arizona. While negatively received upon its release, Up in Smoke grossed over $104 million, is credited with establishing the stoner film genre, and is now considered a classic
The screenplay was written under the title The Adventures of Pedro & Man. Paramount Pictures provided the budget of $1 million but refused to provide the additional $800,000 needed to complete the film after studio president Michael Eisner saw a rough cut, so Lou Adler used his own money to complete it.
Up in Smoke (1978)
Directed by: Lou Adler
Starring: Cheech Marin, Tommy Chong, Strother Martin, Edie Adams, Stacy Keach, Mills Watson, Zane Buzby, Wally Ann Wharton, Tom Skerritt, June Fairchild, Angelina Estrada, Ellen Barkin
Screenplay by: Tommy Chong, Cheech Marin
Production Design by: Mike Moder
Cinematography by: Gene Polito
Film Editing by: Scott Conrad
Art Direction by: Leon Ericksen
Makeup Department: Wes Dawn, Lola ‘Skip’ McNalley
Music by: Danny Kortchmar, Lee Oskar, Waddy Wachtel
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: Paramount Pictures
Release Date: September 15, 1978
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