Opinion

Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold (1975) – Blaxploitation Comes to the Praia Grande 

In his book Hollywood Black the American film historian Donald Bogle wrote: ‘Out of nowhere in the early 1970s there appeared a new movie genre that knocked the film industry on its head. No one could have anticipated Blaxploitation cinema.’

Early 1970s audiences, used to black actors in weak and subordinate roles, black actresses as never more than maids or victims, responded positively to new heroes – Shaft, Sweet Sweetback, Sper Fly – and a new heroine too, Cleopatra Jones, “the Hottest Super Agent Ever” (so said the movie poster). African-American actress and model Tamara Dobson, at 6’2” the tallest ever leading lady in Hollywood, played Cleo Jones, embodying all the sassy jive-talking and gun-play skills of Blaxploitation’s male heroes, but in some wild and sexy outfits. Cleopatra Jones premiered in 1973 as she battled drug dealers targeting her local community and the corrupt LA cops working with them. It was fun, Cleopatra was sexy, the one-liners cool, the clothes sumptuous, the cars to die for, and Cleo had a hefty sense of humour. Audiences – black and white – liked the movie, and Cleo. It made a lot of money.

Then someone – and it’s not entirely clear who, accounts differ – decided to make a sequel and take Cleopatra Jones to Hong Kong and Macao. Warner Bros was keen – an exotic locale, a different set of bad guys, more of Cleo looking good and high-kicking. Also Hong Kong’s legendary Shaw Brothers Studios was keen to work with Hollywood and ride any trendy wave it could – even Blaxploitation, which didn’t seem a natural fit for Run Run Shaw. But the studio was losing out on the hits to Golden Harvest at the box office and needed to make some money in the 1970s. A US franchise filmed in Hong Kong and Macao could make all the difference. And so Cleopatra Jones came East.

It’s a simple enough story. Two of Cleo’s agents, the fast-talking, karate-chopping  Johnson brothers, get captured in Macao by the “Dragon Lady” (Stella Stevens), who runs Macao’s high-end Dragon Lady Casino. Downstairs is Asia’s biggest heroin lab. In Hong Kong looking for her agents Cleopatra hooks up with local gun-for-hire Mi Ling (played by Ni Tien, a Shanghai-born actress working in Hong Hong) and her crew of motorcycle riding, Kung Fu-adept, goodlooking young guys. After a pretty good car chase and some mass brawls in Hong Kong they head to Macao.

The Dragon Lady just happens to be a white American, hence US Super Agent Cleo being tasked with shutting her down. She’s all-bad but her Dragon Lady Casino is pretty cool, swathed in red velvet and silks, chinoiserie, roulette wheels and (obviously given the title) a lot of gold. The Dragon Lady’s dirty work is done by her henchman Mendez, a Macanese Eurasian smooth killer in a tailored suit, while she indulges her sapphic tastes in her harem of young women.

Cleopatra and Mi-Ling make a big entrance into the Dragon Lady Casino looking a million dollars each. They start gambling large – Cleo of course, as a Blaxploitation superstar, always bets on black! The local casino punters are intrigued – Cleo in a shimmering gold dress, Mi-Ling in a diamond encrusted cheongsam. There’s no way the Dragon Lady (equally luxuriously attired) is going to miss her and knows she’s come for her agents – deep in the Dragon Lady’s dungeon – and her narcotics business.

The final fights a winner – after a chase through Macao streets (actually a Hong Kong set) the finale involves motorcycles, machine guns, plenty of Kung Fu fighting, and the Dragon Lady Casino getting thoroughly trashed. The Dragon Lady gives as good as she gets, but obviously she’s never finally going to be a match for Cleopatra Jones.

So, is Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold worth 97 minutes of your time? ‘Trashy’, said the New York Times in 1975. It didn’t perform well at the box office – but arguably the Blaxploitation vogue had ebbed by 1975. But it’s actually a pretty good flick if you treat it as a period piece. The movie was filmed in the summer of 1974 in all its glorious over-the-top, technicolour, high-heeled glory. Tamara Dobson is cool, Ni Tien is a great sidekick, the Johnson Brothers hip patter is non-stop, the chopsocky ain’t bad, and the car and motorbike stunts pretty impressive. It’s also a nice way to see 1970s Hong Kong as much was filmed on location around Hollywood Road, the Mid-Levels, and Kowloon. Sadly, all the Macao scenes are interiors but – even by the standards of great East Asian cinema casinos such as Josef von Sternberg’s Madame Gin Sling’s casino in The Shanghai Gesture (1941), Club Obi Wan in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), Zhang Yimou’s old Shanghai nightclub in Shanghai Triad (1995), or even 007’s briefly visited Golden Dragon Casino in Skyfall (2012), the Dragon Lady Casino is pretty special!

So grab the popcorn and come for the costumes, the fights, and the Dragon Lady Casino. But stay for a perfect storm of 1970s cinematic fads – Blaxploitation meets chopsocky meets 1970s exuberance in a collaboration between Hollywood excess and Hong Kong super stunts, all in a gorgeous Macao casino.

Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold’ is available on Youtube, Apple TV, and Amazon Prime.

DESTINATION MACAO

By Paul French – Author

www.chinarhyming.com

Facebook
WhatsApp
Threads
X
Email

More from the author

Older Issues

Living and Arts Magazine

現已發售 NOW ON SALE

KNOW MORE LiVE BETTER