Sheba, Baby (1975) American International/Action RT: 90 minutes Rated PG (violence, language, sexual references) Director: William Girdler Screenplay: William Girdler and David Sheldon Music: Monk Higgins Cinematography: William Asman Release date: March 26, 1975 (US) Cast: Pam Grier, Austin Stoker, D’Urville Martin, Rudy Challenger, Dick Merrifield, Christipher, Charles Kissinger, Charles Broaddus, Maurice Downes, Ernest Cooley, Edward Reece, William Foster Jr., Bobby Cooley, Paul Grayber, Sylvia Jacobson. Box Office: $6M (US)
Rating: ***
A few years ago, Jennifer Lawrence claimed (INCORRECTLY!) that “nobody had ever put a woman in the lead of an action movie” prior to The Hunger Games in 2012*. Uh, EXCUSE YOU?! Has this girl never seen or heard of Aliens starring Sigourney Weaver? Or better yet, Pam Grier? The blaxploitation bad ass made a few actioners of her own- e.g. Coffy (1973), Foxy Brown (1974) and Sheba, Baby. I think Jennifer needs to bone up on cinema history.
In Sheba, Baby, Pam plays Sheba Shayne, a former cop-turned-private investigator who comes home to Louisville on family business. Criminal types, acting under the orders of crime lord Pilot (Martin, Dolemite), are attempting to convince her father Andy (Challenger, Detroit 9000) to sell his loan company to the local Mr. Big. He refuses which makes them double down on their efforts. His assistant Brick (Stoker, Assault on Precinct 13) sends word about the situation to Sheba in Chicago. She, of course, wastes no time hopping on a plane.
Sheba starts her own investigation after the local police (her former colleagues) prove to be about as useful as a prophylactic dispenser in a convent. Pilot, feeling the heat, has his boys hire outside help to deal with the situation. It results in Andy’s death and Sheba’s fury. She proceeds to track down all involved parties including the creep behind it all, a white gangster named Shark (Merrifield, Five the Hard Way).
I’ve read some bad reviews of Sheba, Baby on-line and while I’ll grant it’s one of Pam Grier’s lesser films, it’s not bad by any definition. It’s an enjoyable B-movie actioner directed by William Girdler whose resume includes the blaxploitation Exorcist rip-off Abby (1974) and two nature gone wild horrors, Grizzly (1976) and The Day of the Animals (1977). It’s nothing special with its formulaic plot and standard-issue characters. Fortunately, the star of the show raises it a couple of notches.
I said it before and I’ll say it again, Pam Grier is a beautiful black bad ass. She gives it to the bad guys but good in Sheba, Baby. In one bit, she hides in the back seat of a pimp’s car and forces information out of him while they’re going through a car wash. She helpfully reminds him that he ordered hot wax before he finally tells her what she wants to know. This pimp Walker (Joy, Cleopatra Jones) is an American classic with his flashy outfit and jive talking (e.g. “Do I look like the Colored Bureau of Information?”). Pam’s best line, however, has to be “You better talk, big man, before I put my number one foot down your number one mouth.” I love tough gal dialogue like that.
Pam is also good with weapons. This time she gets to take somebody out with a speargun during a motorboat chase. That’s after she infiltrates a private party Shark hosts on his yacht. Yes, she gets into a fight with another woman. What’s a Pam Grier movie without a good cat fight? There’s also a good chase through a fair in which she threatens to let a roller coaster roll over a thug’s head unless he coughs up the name of the top guy. Another guy gets his face repeatedly dunked into a bucket of granulated chlorine until he gives up an address.
Sheba, Baby benefits from a groovy supporting cast lead by Stoker as Sheba’s partner-in-crime stopping. He does all the investigatory work while she’s out kicking butt. Martin provides comic relief as the crime boss who’d be scary if he wasn’t so incompetent. Merrifield is fine but unmemorable as the token white baddie. Speaking of stock characters, Charles Kissinger (Grizzly) shows up as the white, borderline racist cop who used to work with Sheba. He’s not thrilled about her being on the case, but what choice does he have? He’s the unintentional comic relief.
Sheba, Baby is the exact kind of movie that used to get paired with a bigger title on a double bill. It’s an entertaining diversion. It’s has plenty of action and it has Pam Grier. It does exactly what it set out to do, no more and no less.
*= Ms. Lawrence has since clarified her comment explaining that it came out wrong and what she meant to say was that The Hunger Games proved a lot of people wrong about the viability of female-led action movies.
