| ....Style-b Cinema |
Cleopatra Jones (1973)
This fun blaxpolitation film features Antonio Fargas as
Doodlebug, a pimp/drug dealer who gets in a turf-war
with a very mean mama named Mommy (Shelly Winters).
Incredibly, Mommy spends most of her time touching
women's asses and insisting they say...
"I love Mommy" Tamara Dobson is Cleopatra Jones...
A very chic, karate-kicking D.E.A. agent.
Another big studio blaxploitation flick, yet...
Cleo feels more like television than cinema.
If it weren't for the violence and R-Rated language,
Cleopatra Jones could have been a TV series.
That being said...
In a scene that was not-ready-for-primetime...
Curly red-haired Mommy (Shelly Winters), dressed
entirely in leather, with switchblade in-hand,
takes-on karate-kicking Cleo... In these situations,
always bet on black. Unless you're watching one of
Antonio Fargas' characters. When Antonio walked
Across 110th Street, he was castrated.
In Cleopatra Jones, his Caddy is run off the road
before Mommy has him machine-gunned to death.
Always wanting to look good, and with his last breath,
Doodlebug fixes his hair because as he'd said earlier...
"Hair's like a woman. You treat it good and it treats
you good... You got to hold it, caress it, and love it.
And if your hair gets out of line you take a scissor
and say, "Hair I'm going to cut you."
This fun blaxpolitation film features Antonio Fargas as
Doodlebug, a pimp/drug dealer who gets in a turf-war
with a very mean mama named Mommy (Shelly Winters).
Incredibly, Mommy spends most of her time touching
women's asses and insisting they say...
"I love Mommy" Tamara Dobson is Cleopatra Jones...
A very chic, karate-kicking D.E.A. agent.
Another big studio blaxploitation flick, yet...
Cleo feels more like television than cinema.
If it weren't for the violence and R-Rated language,
Cleopatra Jones could have been a TV series.
That being said...
In a scene that was not-ready-for-primetime...
Curly red-haired Mommy (Shelly Winters), dressed
entirely in leather, with switchblade in-hand,
takes-on karate-kicking Cleo... In these situations,
always bet on black. Unless you're watching one of
Antonio Fargas' characters. When Antonio walked
Across 110th Street, he was castrated.
In Cleopatra Jones, his Caddy is run off the road
before Mommy has him machine-gunned to death.
Always wanting to look good, and with his last breath,
Doodlebug fixes his hair because as he'd said earlier...
"Hair's like a woman. You treat it good and it treats
you good... You got to hold it, caress it, and love it.
And if your hair gets out of line you take a scissor
and say, "Hair I'm going to cut you."
Coffy (1973) "She's the Godmother of them all...
The baddest One-Chick Hit-Squad that ever hit town!"
This time the movie posters were telling the truth.
Coffy is my pick for the baddest blaxploitation film of them all.
Directed with ferocious disregard for PC by exploitation genius
Jack Hill. In addition to employing the enormous assets of Pam Grier,
this film also includes an unforgettable performance from one of
my favorite 70s character actors... Sid Haig.
Pam Grier plays Nurse Coffin, nicknamed Coffy by
her black politician boyfriend.
Coffy is essentially a revenge picture with one big twist.
This time, the anti-hero is played by a beautiful black chick.
Coffy's younger sister is in a catatonic state, caused by
a heroin overdose. As a result...
Coffy goes undercover as a junkie/hooker to punish the
dealers she blames for her sister's condition.
Coffy's production history is a fascinating story itself.
A freelance producer brought Cleopatra Jones to A.I.P. who
planned to cast their black superstar Pam Grier in the role
which ultimately went to Tamara Dobson.
What happened? The same thing that always happens
when you try to deal with 'the man'
He got more money from rival Warner Bros.
This so enraged AIP, that they put Coffy on a fast-track
production schedule. The end result? Cleopatra Jones
and Coffy were both big hits. However, Warner had
invested three-times the green in Cleopatra Jones and
it's big advertising campaign. To the suits, this made Coffy
three times as successful as Cleo.
Pam Grier's opinion was somewhat different. Although she
describes Coffy as 'the' Pam Grier film, she still laments the
loss of the glamorous Cleo role. Grier has stated that although
the grittier Coffy & Foxy Brown are far more popular with her fans,
she actually preferred playing Friday Foster (1975).
Although the film was definitely not a financial success...
It did give Pam that one glamorous role.
There's a great scene in Coffy where Grier convinces
Sid Haig to untie her so that she can...
"spend her last minutes of life making love to a real man"
Naturally he falls for it, this is Pam Grier we're talking about!
Coffy then proceeds to puncture Sid Haig's jugular vein
with a jagged piece of metal.
Sid's final scene, played holding his neck while screaming for his
two crooked (white) cop sidekicks to help him, is unforgettable.
Coffy eventually dispatches the cop/sidekicks as well.
One is run-over by an eighteen-wheeler...
The other burns to death in an overturned car.
Grier says that during screenings in black community theatres,
audiences frequently jumped to their feet demanding that Coffy...
"KILL HIM... DON'T LISTEN TO HIM..."
What had her black politician boyfriend done?
Had he killed someone or been caught dealing drugs?
Nope... He had really pissed Coffy (and the audience) off.
How? She caught him in bed with a white chick.
Her reaction? Well... as the U.S. one-sheet poster says...
She's "the ... baddest One-Chick Hit-Squad that ever hit town"
The baddest One-Chick Hit-Squad that ever hit town!"
This time the movie posters were telling the truth.
Coffy is my pick for the baddest blaxploitation film of them all.
Directed with ferocious disregard for PC by exploitation genius
Jack Hill. In addition to employing the enormous assets of Pam Grier,
this film also includes an unforgettable performance from one of
my favorite 70s character actors... Sid Haig.
Pam Grier plays Nurse Coffin, nicknamed Coffy by
her black politician boyfriend.
Coffy is essentially a revenge picture with one big twist.
This time, the anti-hero is played by a beautiful black chick.
Coffy's younger sister is in a catatonic state, caused by
a heroin overdose. As a result...
Coffy goes undercover as a junkie/hooker to punish the
dealers she blames for her sister's condition.
Coffy's production history is a fascinating story itself.
A freelance producer brought Cleopatra Jones to A.I.P. who
planned to cast their black superstar Pam Grier in the role
which ultimately went to Tamara Dobson.
What happened? The same thing that always happens
when you try to deal with 'the man'
He got more money from rival Warner Bros.
This so enraged AIP, that they put Coffy on a fast-track
production schedule. The end result? Cleopatra Jones
and Coffy were both big hits. However, Warner had
invested three-times the green in Cleopatra Jones and
it's big advertising campaign. To the suits, this made Coffy
three times as successful as Cleo.
Pam Grier's opinion was somewhat different. Although she
describes Coffy as 'the' Pam Grier film, she still laments the
loss of the glamorous Cleo role. Grier has stated that although
the grittier Coffy & Foxy Brown are far more popular with her fans,
she actually preferred playing Friday Foster (1975).
Although the film was definitely not a financial success...
It did give Pam that one glamorous role.
There's a great scene in Coffy where Grier convinces
Sid Haig to untie her so that she can...
"spend her last minutes of life making love to a real man"
Naturally he falls for it, this is Pam Grier we're talking about!
Coffy then proceeds to puncture Sid Haig's jugular vein
with a jagged piece of metal.
Sid's final scene, played holding his neck while screaming for his
two crooked (white) cop sidekicks to help him, is unforgettable.
Coffy eventually dispatches the cop/sidekicks as well.
One is run-over by an eighteen-wheeler...
The other burns to death in an overturned car.
Grier says that during screenings in black community theatres,
audiences frequently jumped to their feet demanding that Coffy...
"KILL HIM... DON'T LISTEN TO HIM..."
What had her black politician boyfriend done?
Had he killed someone or been caught dealing drugs?
Nope... He had really pissed Coffy (and the audience) off.
How? She caught him in bed with a white chick.
Her reaction? Well... as the U.S. one-sheet poster says...
She's "the ... baddest One-Chick Hit-Squad that ever hit town"
Forward
Back
Not for sale. This e-publication is intended for private home use only. No rights are implied or given. This e-publication may not be reprinted, reproduced, downloaded,
or retransmitted in whole or in part without expressed written permission. All rights are reserved. The opinions expressed in this e-publication are not necessarily those of
Style-b Cinema, or the editor. Many of the characters described and/or featured in this e-publication are fictitious and similarity to any real person or entity whether living or
dead is entirely coincidental. 2011
or retransmitted in whole or in part without expressed written permission. All rights are reserved. The opinions expressed in this e-publication are not necessarily those of
Style-b Cinema, or the editor. Many of the characters described and/or featured in this e-publication are fictitious and similarity to any real person or entity whether living or
dead is entirely coincidental. 2011
 | |  | |  | |  | |  |
Feature
