{{italic title}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2026}} '''''The Florida Connection''''', also known as '''''Weed''''',<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-houston-post/188525070/ | title=Film: 'Weed' | work=The Houston Post | date=November 22, 1975 | accessdate=9 January 2026 | author=Crossley, Mimi | pages=10F}}</ref> is a 1978<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XLxBcHacjkAC&dq=%22The+Florida+Connection%22+1976&pg=PA39|title=Cartelera cinematográfica, 1980-1989|first1=María Luisa|last1=Amador|first2=Jorge Ayala|last2=Blanco|date=January 7, 2006|publisher=UNAM|isbn=978-970-32-3605-3 |via=Google Books}}</ref> film starring former NFL player Dan Pastorini and his Playboy model and actress wife June Wilkinson. It was her first film after a ten-year hiatus. The film is a "violent drug-smuggling tale."<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ITClSVUV7voC&dq=%22The+Florida+Connection%22+pastorini&pg=PA230|title=Glamour Girls of Sixties Hollywood: Seventy-Five Profiles|first=Tom|last=Lisanti|date=May 7, 2015|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-1-4766-1241-6 |via=Google Books}}</ref>
Maury Cramer wrote and produced the film with director Robert J. Emery.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tSH25LXGOksC&dq=%22The+Florida+Connection%22+1976&pg=PA204|title=Regional Horror Films, 1958-1990: A State-by-State Guide with Interviews|first=Brian|last=Albright|date=November 7, 2012|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-7864-7227-7 |via=Google Books}}</ref> The movie is set in Florida's swamps.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qOH7eCG59M4C&q=%22The+Florida+Connection%22+pastorini|title=VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever 1996|date=September 7, 1995|publisher=Visible Ink Press|isbn=978-0-7876-0626-8 |via=Google Books}}</ref>
Jack L. Richards was the director of photography
The film is about drug smugglers, corrupt police, and officers of the U.S. Treasury.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FQ05AAAAIAAJ&q=%22The+Florida+Connection%22+1976|title=TV Guide|date=January 7, 1987|publisher=Triangle Publications|via=Google Books}}</ref> Wilkinson portrays a charter pilot helping a drug smuggler. The film includes scenes with air boats, dog racing, chases, shoot-outs, a drunk, and features fashions of the 1970s.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nhjsnWfFoiAC&dq=%22The+Florida+Connection%22+pastorini&pg=PA212|title=The Psychotronic Video Guide To Film|first=Michael|last=Weldon|date=January 7, 1996|publisher=Macmillan|isbn=978-0-312-13149-4 |via=Google Books}}</ref>
Pastorini said that he felt good about his acting until watching the film and then cringed at his stilted delivery.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0kQPfKMoTkQC&dq=%22The+Florida+Connection%22+pastorini&pg=PA70|title=Taking Flak: My Life in the Fast Lane|first1=John P.|last1=Lopez|first2=Dan|last2=Pastorini|date=October 7, 2011|publisher=AuthorHouse|isbn=978-1-4670-4466-0 |via=Google Books}}</ref>
''Variety's Complete Home Video Directory'' described the film as "Adventures take place in the drug-trafficking corner of the Keys."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8QPsAAAAMAAJ&q=%22The+Florida+Connection%22+pastorini|title=Variety's Complete Home Video Directory|date=January 7, 1988|publisher=R.R. Bowker|via=Google Books}}</ref>
==Cast== *Dan Pastorini *June Wilkinson *Frank Logan *Ed Faulkner as Mule Tucker *Jim Bruce *Bill Thurman *Bob Leslie *Doug Lance *Mal Jones *Otis Sistrunk
==References== {{Reflist}}
Category:1978 films Category:1978 American films