The Poppy Is Also a Flower (1966)
I was aware that The Poppy Is Also a Flower (AKA Danger Grows Wild and a host of other titles) had a reputation as being cinematic oddity, but now having watched it, I would go further and say that it really is an utter mess of a film. Yet because of its movie pedigree both in front and behind the camera, it makes for morbidly fascinating viewing. The nuts and bolts of the plot certainly have legs; on paper at least. But the problems ultimately lie with the tonally inconsistent screenplay and the haphazard directing and editing. Despite the presence of Bond director Terence Young and a plethora of Hollywood stars from the time, the movie lurches from location to location, clumsily expediting the plot and extolling its anti-drug message with all the subtlety of a Rhinoceros horn up the backside. The score by Georges Auric sits uneasily with the on screen action and has been woefully integrated into the movie, quickly informing viewers that something is off about the entire production.
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