alr

Sheba, Baby

Screening on Film
Directed by William Girdler.
With Pam Grier, Austin Stoker, Rudy Challenger.
US, 1975, 35mm, color, 90 min.
Print source: Park Circus

A thoroughly independent, more sophisticated Grier emerges in the form of Sheba Shayne, a former cop turned private investigator. With echoes of the Western even in her name, Sheba comes immediately to the aid of her father, whose business is being threatened by organized thugs. Tainted by racism, classism and good old-fashioned corruption, the police flail impotently against the mob’s increasingly deadlier attacks. When one hits too close to home, the poised Sheba taps into her more raw, uninhibited reserves in order to protect her family and eliminate the source: a wealthy, white overlord. Sheba fearlessly sets to work doing “what the police won’t” in this urban Wild West, proving more effective than any man, black or white, at wiping out the scourge. To be fair, the police do not have access to the same precious resources: passion, charm, wiles, beauty and the sex appeal of a supernatural goddess. – BG

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