Part of 1973
A Turkish poppy field is torched — and a U.S. drug trafficker known as “Mommy” (Shelley Winters) is feeling pretty burned. She phones the local cops on her payroll and orders a retaliatory strike on an inner-city anti-drug headquarters. Mommy’s next call should be to 911. Because now she’ll have to mess with Cleopatra Jones (Tamara Dobson). Mommy is relentless in her vendetta — but Cleo responds with catlike karate stealth. Doodlebug, Pickle, Snake and more of Mommy’s offbeat stooges add glide to the story’s stride. Their antics, Mommy’s chortling sleaziness, and Cleo’s class shape the power and pizzazz of CLEOPATRA JONES.
“A demented slice of widescreen right-on action-funk from the Blaxsploitation era.” —Kim Newman, Empire Magazine