UP IN SMOKE
By the time “rock ‘n’ roll comedians” Thomas “Tommy” Chong and Richard “Cheech” Marin made their first feature film, they had already become counterculture icons with a series of hit albums made in partnership with producer Lou Adler that had sold over 10 million copies. For UP IN SMOKE, the duo tapped Adler as director and reworked material from their decade-long career into what became the first stoner comedy, a film less concerned with plot than with vibes attained through misadventures across Los Angeles and Tijuana. Though critically panned, it was a box office hit that established the genre and catapulted Cheech & Chong to new levels of stardom. Indeed, UP IN SMOKE proved to be such an influence that, in 2024, the Library of Congress tapped the film for preservation in the National Film Registry. DIR/PROD Lou Adler; SCR Tommy Chong, Cheech Marin; PROD Lou Lombardo. U.S., 1978, color, 86 min. RATED R