Coffy
(1974)
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Pam Grier rocketed to stardom as the queen of blaxploitation films with this big cult hit. Director Jack Hill, who had launched her film career two years earlier with THE BIG DOLL HOUSE, here casts Grier as a hardworking nurse out to avenge her smack-addicted 11-year-old sister by waging a one-woman war on Los Angeles drug dealers. Better believe she can do it, too. After her cop friend Carter (William Elliott) is beaten up for not being crooked, Foxy decides to go undercover as a high-class Jamaican prostitute for King George (Robert Doqui), a super mack-daddy pimp with big-time heroin connections. There's a really memorable scene at a party, where Coffy battles King George's other prostitutes in a spectacular cat fight, and of course, lots of other slam-bang action is in the works as Coffy shoots, slashes and seduces her way to the top of the drug ring. Through it all, Grier keeps her character vulnerable and sweet, in a truly amazing performance. The rock-solid funk score is by Roy Ayers. Co-stars include Sid Haig, Allan Arbus, and Booker Bradshaw is Coffy's politician boyfriend. Hill and Grier re-teamed the following year with a sort-of-sequel, FOXY BROWN. |
Nurse Pam Grier masquerades as a junkie to infiltrate a drug cartel and take revenge on the mob who turned her little sister into a catatonic addict. Jack Hill's extremely violent, blaxploitation classic made the halter-topped, Capri-panted Grier, in her first leading role, queen of the genre, while plenty of nudity and nasty blood-letting keep the high-energy action bubbling along. Thanks to strong roles like this, and awesome acting smarts to match them, Grier became a cult star. Two decades later, Quentin Tarantino would give her a new lease of life in Jackie Brown.
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