The plot revolved around an attempt to stop the trafficking of opium out of Iran. It was based on an idea by Ian Fleming, author of the James Bond novels, and the film was directed by Terence Young who had directed Dr. No (1962), From Russia with Love (1963) and Thunderball (1965).
A bunch of well-known actors agreed to appear in the film (for a salary of one dollar) but like some other productions with large numbers of Hollywood stars (see Pepe) it was not a big critical or box office success. Time magazine's review commented, “The Poppy is Also a Flower is another James Bond movie made without James Bond, and many will wish it had been filmed without film.”
A plot outline: in an attempt to stem the heroin trade from Iran, narcotics agents working for the United Nations inject a radioactive compound into a one-ton shipment of opium, hoping they can track it to a heroin distributor in Europe with the help of the Iranian government and military.
See more radio-equipped Jeeps in the joint American/Iranian exercise Operation Delaware in 1964.
Near the end of the film, the most Bond-like sequence has E.G. Marshall in a lengthy fight on a moving train -- a pretty unusual event in the actor's career.
Despite all the stars and entertainers squeezed into this movie, it was not a success at the box office, and did not likely do a great deal to impress the public with the UN's fight against illicit drugs.
Thanks to Federico Cavedo for spotting the M606. -- Derek Redmond Return to The CJ-3B in the Movies.
Also on CJ3B.info, see more M606 Military Jeeps.
The Poppy is Also a Flower was produced in 1966 for the United Nations as part of a series of television specials designed to promote the organization's work, and it was also released theatrically in a longer version. In overseas markets and later on video, it went by other titles including Poppies Are Also Flowers, The Opium Connection, and Danger Grows Wild
This Jeep labelled with Persian numerals 6565 carries an Iranian officer with a geiger counter to detect the radioactive opium. This M606 is quite likely one of the Jeeps photographed by the Toledo Blade in 1962 on the dock for export to Iran (see CJ-3Bs for the World on CJ3B.info.)
The drug convoy includes an early sixties Wagoneer and a couple of trucks which appear to be examples of the Dodge M601. The M601 had something in common with the Jeep M606; it was a variation of the civilian Dodge Power Wagon intended primarily for distribution to foreign militaries through the Mutual Defense Assistance Program.
The M606 is equipped with a radio, which like the geiger counter was probably pretty high tech for the Iranian Army in the 1960s, and probably came from the U.S. government.
The Army intercepts the convoy, and an M606 plays a bit of chicken with the Wagoneer.
This Jeep is not the same one we saw earlier; it has a different number and is missing its side-mounted spare tire.
Another interesting Jeep, which we see briefly as E.G. Marshall and Trevor Howard arrive at a government building in Tehran, is an Iranian police CJ-6 with a hardtop. Much of the film was shot on location in Iran.
As their Impala pulls through the gate we also get a glimpse of a flatfender that appears to be Military Police.
A hand-colored lobby card shows the scene inside the building, as Marshall and Howard join Nadja Tiller, Yul Brynner and Omar Sharif in a meeting of UN operatives with Iranian military and government officials.
Singer Trini Lopez is oddly featured at some length in a nightclub scene. But apparently somebody failed to obtain the long-term rights to his performances of "Lemon Tree Very Pretty" and "La Bamba," because in the versions of the film available online, the sound drops out whenever he appears.
Another bit of nightclub entertainment is female wrestlers. As of July 2024 it appears that the new president of Iran is reform-minded, but it seems unlikely that female wrestling is going to make a comeback there anytime soon.
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