It doesn't get much better then Tamera Dobson & CLEOPATRA JONES in HD!!
"She's Ten Miles of Bad Road For Every Hood in Town!"
Tamera Dobson made only a handful of film in her short career, but she will forever be enshrined in the grindhouse/drive-in hall of fame for her title roles in the two Cleopatra Jones films and the all-time WIP classic CHAINED HEAT in 1983. A tall statuesque 6' 2" (much was made of the this in the film's publicity) ex-model her last role was in the TV movie AMAZONS in 1983 and she sadly passed away in 2006 after being diagnosed with MS in 2000.
A great example of what you could get away with in the 70's with a PG rating and directed by the great Jack Starrett (RACE WITH THE DEVIL) Warner archive brings CLEOPATRA JONES to Blu-ray in a gorgeous 2.40:1 16X9 transfer with 2.0 DTS Master Audio.
Patterned after the James Bond films (Dobson has a tricked out '73 Stingray) the plot has Cleopatra Jones as a Los Angeles based U.S. secret agent going after drug kingpin "Mommy" (a screeching & scenery chewing Shelly Winters) thanks to Starrett's brisk direction the film moves at a brisk pace and features a surprising amount of comedy most likely thanks to co-screenwriter Sheldon Kelly who worked on The Dick Van Dyke show.
A sequel CLEOPATRA JONES AND THE CASINO OF GOLD (available on DVD from Warner archive) appeared in 1975 but it did poorly at the box office as blaxploitation was winding down. It features Stella Stevens as Cleopatra's main nemesis (a huge improvement over Winters) and moves the location to Hong Kong ramping up the action and toning down the more urban feel of the first movie. Always a bit under regarded it's a great film (in some ways I prefer to the original) and hopefully Warner will release this on Blu-ray soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment