So they said. And that may be just the problem with "Maryjane", which was promoted as a typical AIP drive-in thriller, and too often becomes a tiresome talk fest. The film does have its good points. It is handsomely photographed, well enough acted and has a good score. New high school art teacher/football coach (Fabian) gets in hot water with school officials when he foolishly confesses to having tried pot in his college days. Of course, the stiff-necked faculty and the police chief react with horror, and let him know they'll be watching him closely. Meanwhile, baby-faced student Kevin Coughlin, who is also the school's star football player, spends his after school time as the leader of the "Maryjane" club. The members, who wear medals (!) include former "Bad Seed" Patty McCormack, Teri Garr and Robert Lipton (Peggy's bro). Desperately trying to join the club is sensitive student Michael Margotta. Coughlin makes it clear he doesn't want Margotta joining them, and humiliates him at every opportunity. As the kids hold "pot parties" in secluded lagoons, playgrounds, and deserted amusement parks, Teacher Fabian attempts to get to know fellow teacher Diane McBain, (the best performer in the film) and the quicker, the better.No luck, however, she's not interested in any advanced ''Sex Education''.Not with him, anyway. At the same time, he strikes up a friendship with Margotta, which leads to even more trouble for Our Hero. Director Maury Dexter, who also directed "Born Wild", "The Mini-Skirt Mob" and "Hell's Belles" for AIP, lost the touch this time, because, in between the pot sessions, there are some long, pointless scenes in which the Marijuana question is talked to death. The screenwriters (Dick Gautier and ''Hollywood Squares'' host Peter (L) Marshall) worked their limited knowledge of the subject into the story, and beat you over the head with it. That's a shame, because the rest of the film moves fast, and the kids are portrayed (for a change) as middle class students, not crazed "dope fiends". No wonder the film is not as well known as other AIP potboilers (no pun). Not bad, by any means, but not the exploitation classic it could (and SHOULD) have been. Some have called it a 1960's ''Reefer Madness''. Sadly, it's not. Look for future producer Garry Marshall ("Happy Days", "Laverne and Shirley"), as a gas station attendant.
Review of Maryjane
