Government special agent Cleopatra Jones (Tamara Dobson) oversees the torching of a poppy field in Turkey, landing her on the wrong side of drug kingpin Mommy (Shelley Winters, appearing in four scenes) when she returns to the U.S.

Bernie Casey plays Cleo’s main man, the director of a drug treatment center raided by the cops on Mommy’s orders. Antonio Fargas – soon to be immortalized as Huggy Bear on Starsky and Hutch – is featured as a gangster named Doodlebug, supposedly the comic relief in an already goofy setup.

The idea of a super agent soul sista who could stand up for the neighborhood, while doing it with the passport and weapons of James Bond, was ingenious and makes for good entertainment. Directed by Jack Starrett, who made Slaughter with Jim Brown before this and Ride With The Devil immediately after, and written by Max Julien and Sheldon Keller, Cleopatra Jones is colorful, sometimes fun and completely stupid.

A sensational title theme by Joe Simon kicks things off right as we are introduced to our foxy heroine in Turkey. There’s also a car chase between Cleo’s customized black and silver Corvette Stingray and a Ford Mustang that, while chewing up the same L.A. River flattop used for many a chase since, is absolutely bad ass and the highlight of the movie.

The whole affair is PG and forgoes the gratuitous sex, violence and mayhem of the Blaxploitation genre, which this film sets itself a part from. It’s a companion to Lynda Carter’s Wonder Woman series more than anything else. A 007 title sequence would probably cover this film’s entire budget, but it’s well produced and done with style.

Julien tried to set this film up with Samuel Arkoff’s American International Pictures, but when the deal fell through and he went to Warner Bros., AIP rushed ahead with their own Cleopatra Jones called Coffy. The cheap rip-off was much, much better than the classy studio picture. The 6’2″ and athletic Tamara Dobson is of great physique, but is no actress and couldn’t pick Pam Grier up at the airport when it comes to this type of movie.

A sequel – Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold – followed in 1975. The idea of a soul sista super agent globetrotting from one comic book adventure to the next had its appeal, but with these actors and scenarists, they wouldn’t get very far.