* Alan Baxter - Markey
* Lyle Talbot - Captain Hayes
* Lila Leeds - Ann
* Michael Whelan - Treanor
* Mary Ellen Popel - Rita
* Doug Blackley - Lieutenant Mason
* David Holt - Bob Lester
* Don Harvey - Lieutenant Tyne
* David Gorcey - Ricky
* Jack Elam - Raymond
* Dick Cogan - Edmunds
* Knox Manning - Narrator
Previously-Captain Hayes sends Mason and Tyne out on an undercover assignment to find a lead on the marihuana racket; Anne throws herself into the party life; In no mood for games, Raymond warns Markie that his mouth might get him in trouble; Anne's new lifestyle leads to a tragedy; Markie gets his chance for advancement when Treanor entrusts him with an important job; and an uncooperative Anne spends time in jail.
She Shoulda Said No which was originally titled "Wild Weed", among many other titles, didn't really find success until it was marketed as a release in conjunction with the US Government in an effort to warn about the scourge of "marihuana". This was a blatant lie. The government was in no way connected with its production, distribution, or promotion during any of its stages.
It was actually an attempt to exploit the arrest in late 1948, for marijuana possession, of Robert Mitchum and film starlet Lila Leeds, the latter of whom is featured in the film in the role of Ann Lester. It would be her last film role of any significance. Whereas Mitchum played up on public empathy and used the arrest as a springboard to further enhance his career, Leeds was a hot potato. No one would touch her. This is perhaps a glaring example of the rampant sexism of the times, and Leeds felt she had no choice but to take the role, feeling it might be her one chance to salvage her career. In fact, perhaps the most cumbersome of the movies many titles was "The Story Of Lila Leeds And Her Expose Of The Marijuana Racket".
Ironically, during the period of time when she was in jail, and just prior to the making of the film, Leeds became a heroin user, and was in all likelihood addicted to the drug by the time this film was made.
She disappeared from public view until the mid-fifties, when she named a Chicago Democratic Party leader in a paternity suit. Sometime during this period, she was also arrested in Chicago for soliciting, a charge which she denied, but for which she was fined ten dollars.
In the seventies, she turned up as a minister in a group devoted to helping addicts recover from their addictions. She died in 1999, a virtual unknown, with no mention in any obituaries, her death being discovered almost by accident, through a perusal years later of her Social Security records.
The film featured a motley crew of performers, for the most part, the most significant of whom was Lyle Talbott in the role of Captain Hayes. Talbott had been a union activist for the Screen Artists Guild, and so of late his roles did not come easy. He had been a leading man much in demand up until then, but soon was relegated to B movies and roles in the early years of television, his most notable one perhaps being a recurring role as a neighbor on the Ozzie and Harriet Show.
Alan Baxter, who played Markie, was a well-respected actor who achieved some success on stage and in B movies, but never rose above that level.
David Gorcey, who played Ricky, had been a former Bowery Boy, but though he was in more of these films than any of the others, including his better known brother who was one of the leads in the film series, he was one of the minor characters.
David Holt, who played Ann's sister Bob, lived a life almost as tragic as that of his character in the film. Plagued by health problems and on the outs with his father, he never rose higher than this role, and died soon after.
Mary Ellen Popel, who played Ann's friend Rita, appeared in frequent films, but very seldom was she credited, mainly subsisting as little more than an extra in films where she was mainly one of a group. She was one of the Hebrews, for example, in the Golden Calf scene of The Ten Commandments.
And so it goes for practically every member of the cast, to whom this exploitation flick represented one last lifeline to a very unlikely successful career, or a revival of one that had floundered for whatever reason. Yet another irony was, by the time this film finally found some degree of success-nearly a decade after it was made-it was far too late to make any difference for most of them.
The one fortunate exception to this, of course, was Jack Elam, who appeared here in his first role as the bodyguard and thug named Raymond, and who probably would have just as soon the film never again saw the light of day.
Yet, it is interesting as a reflection of the attitudes of the day.
