Lady Cocoa

Lady Cocoa
Film poster
Directed byMatt Cimber
Written byGeorge Theakos (credited as Mikel Angel)
StarringLola Falana
CinematographyKen Gibb
Edited byBud Warner
Music byLuchi De Jesus
Distributed byDimension Pictures
Release date
  • December 1975 (1975-12)
Running time
93 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Lady Cocoa (also known as Pop Goes the Weasel) is a 1975 low-budget American blaxploitation crime drama that was directed by Matt Cimber.[1] With Lola Falana in the title role,[2] the film also featured Millie Perkins, Alex Dreier, Gene Washington and Joe Greene. It was released by Moonstone Entertainment,[3] and written by George Theakos.

Premise

The film tells the story of a woman (Lola Falana) who is released from jail for 24 hours prior to testifying against her ex-boyfriend (James A. Watson Jr.) and is placed in police protection for that timeframe.[4] The film mimics the plot-line in theoretically the first blaxploitation movie, Carmen Jones. Adjustments are made to that traditional story so that the protecting officer does not meet a pathetic end nor that our heroine nastily lose her life to him.

Reception

Linda Gross of the Los Angeles Times called Lady Cocoa "a slick, predictable, but well-made blaxploitation film."[5] Joe Baltake, writing for the Philadelphia Daily News, complimented Falana's performance but called the film "a flimsy, boring situation comedy," concluding: "It's dumb, but Lola makes it palatable."[6]

See also

References

  1. ^ Staff (2004). The Scarecrow Movie Guide. Seattle: Sasquatch Books. p. 391. ISBN 1-57061-415-6.
  2. ^ Berry, Torriano; Berry, Venise T. (2007). Historical dictionary of African American cinema. Historical dictionaries of literature and the arts. Vol. 12. Scarecrow Press. p. 112. ISBN 978-0-8108-5545-8.
  3. ^ Lawrence, Novotny (2008). Blaxploitation films of the 1970s: Blackness and genre. Studies in African American history and culture. Psychology Press. p. 108. ISBN 978-0-415-96097-7.
  4. ^ Craddock, Jim (2005). Videohound's Golden Movie Retriever. Thomson/Gale. p. 460. ISBN 0-7876-7470-2.
  5. ^ Gross, Linda (October 24, 1975). "Movie Reviews: Double Bill Blaxploitation". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. Retrieved August 12, 2021.
  6. ^ Baltake, Joe (August 28, 1975). "Lola's 'Cocoa' Is Palatable". Philadelphia Daily News. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Retrieved August 12, 2021.


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