Main Cast: Tamara Dobson, Bernie Casey, Brenda Sykes, Antonio Fargas, Bill McKinney
Release Year: 1973
Country: US
Run Time: 89 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
Tamara Dobson stars as Cleopatra Jones in Jack Starrett's blaxploitation programmer that, in its own way, deals effectively with the ravages of drugs in inner-city black communities. Cleopatra Jones is a jive female James Bond, a special drug agent for the United States government who wears sleek and hip clothes, drives a fancy car with a submachine-gun compartment in the front door, and travels all over the world to stomp out drugs at their source. Cleopatra has a loving relationship with Ruben (Bernie Casey), the well-meaning head of a drug rehabilitation clinic in Los Angeles. When Cleopatra travels to Turkey to oversee the destruction of poppy fields owned by Mommy (Shelley Winters) -- a lesbian drug dealer -- Mommy becomes upset. She exacts her revenge on Cleopatra by having the police close down Ruben's drug clinic. Nevertheless, Cleopatra continues to wreak havoc upon Mommy's drug business, and Mommy continues to try to do Cleopatra in, until finally there is a major confrontation between Cleopatra and Mommy and her minions. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
Review
This colorful blaxploitation outing is a lightweight affair but offers enough cheap thrills and campy laughs for fans of the genre. The script, which was penned by actor Max Julien (star of The Mack), is notable for applying a moral, socially positive approach to the blaxploitation genre by making its heroine an intelligent agent of the law who is out to clean up her neighborhood. However, it removes much of the fun of the average blaxploitation film in the process, creating a squeaky-clean tone devoid of the raunchy fun on display in films like Coffy and Superfly. It also suffers from a weak heroine; Cleopatra may be smart and resourceful, but the lack of depth applied to her character and the filmmakers' desire to have her be clean-cut makes her quite dull. Despite these problems, Cleopatra Jones remains quite watchable thanks to some energetic filmmaking. Jack Starrett's direction is crisp, giving the film the color and humor of a good comic book as it delivers plenty of fast, funky action. The film also benefits from a top-notch score by jazz arranger J.J. Johnson, who blends conventional orchestrations with gritty funk rhythms to create a soulful but stylish sound. In terms of acting, Tamara Dobson lacks the chops to overcome the comic-book nature of her character, but Antonio Fargas is slyly funny as the social-climbing crook Doodlebug and Shelley Winters gives one of her most memorably outrageous performances as the villainous Mommy. In the end, Cleopatra Jones is probably too lightweight and silly for a general audience, but offers up some modest charms for the patient blaxploitation enthusiast. ~ Donald Guarisco, All Movie Guide
Shelley Winters - Mommy; John Alderman - Mommy's Assistant; Don Cornelius - Himself; Dan Frazer - Detective Crawford; Angela Gibbs - Annie; Christopher Joy - Snake; Caro Kenyatta - The Johnson Boy; Paul Koslo - Mommy's Hood; Hedley Mattingly - Chauffeur; Stafford Morgan - Sgt. Kert; Albert Popwell - Matthew; George Reynolds - Doodlebug's Hood; Esther Rolle - Mrs. Johnson; Joe Tornatore - Mommy's Hood; Mike Warren - Andy; Theodore Wilson - Doodlebug's Hood; John Garwood - Lt. Thompkins; Keith Hamilton - Maxwell Woodman
Credit
Peter W. Wooley - Art Director, Max Julien - Co-producer, Jack Roe - First Assistant Director, Jack Starrett - Director, Allan Jacobs - Editor, Carl Brandt - Composer (Music Score), Dominic Frontiere - Composer (Music Score), J.J. Johnson - Composer (Music Score), Brad Shapiro - Composer (Music Score), David M. Walsh - Cinematographer, William Tennant - Producer, Cheryal Kearney - Set Designer, Joe Simon - Intertitle Writer, Max Julien - Screenwriter, Sheldon Keller - Screenwriter
Cleopatra Jones is another in a long line of blaxploitation soundtracks, this time with cues done by legendary bop trombonist J.J. Johnson. It's what you'd expect in a blaxploitation soundtrack: the requisite funky bass, wah-wah guitars, brassy horns, and sweeping strings. Given Johnson's background, one gets the feeling this is little more than a competently done genre exercise. But it is well done, and enjoyable on its own terms. It's just that it never reaches a level where the music transcends the film, the way Superfly and Shaft did. As such, it's probably best for devoted fans of the genre. ~ Sean Westergaard, All Music Guide
Millie Jackson (Vocals), J. Alan Johnson (Conductor), Joe J. Simon (Vocals), Rick Conrad (Proof Reading), Nicolas Saada (Liner Notes), Bruno Gruel (Digital Remastering), Vincent Mercier (Preparation for Release)
Cleopatra Jones is a Blaxploitationaction film starring Tamara Dobson as Cleopatra, which was released in 1973. In the film, Jones is a special agent assigned to eliminate drug-trafficking in the US and abroad. After Jones torches a poppy field in Turkey, Mommy, a drug-lady played by Shelley Winters, becomes furious and promises to destroy Jones. Mommy uses her link with corrupt officers on the force to stir up trouble for Jones' friends and to set her up to be jumped. Meanwhile, Mommy is having problems with some of her pushers, like the disloyal Doodlebug, played by Antonio Fargas.
The films were parodied in Austin Powers in Goldmember with the character Foxxy Cleopatra, who resembled Jones.
In The Kentucky Fried Movie, this movie in particular and blaxploitation films in general were parodied in a fake film trailer for Cleopatra Schwartz.
Remake
News of a remake has been circulating since the mid nineties with various persons attached such as Quentin Tarantino and Don Cheadle as possible directors and Jennifer Lopez playing the title role.
