Coffy (1973)

A sexy black nurse takes vigilante justice against inner-city drug dealers after her sister becomes their latest victim.

Director:

Jack Hill

Writer:

Jack Hill

Stars:

Pam Grier, Booker Bradshaw, Robert DoQui

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Pam Grier	...	Coffy
Booker Bradshaw	...	Howard Brunswick
Robert DoQui	...	King George
William Elliott	...	Carter
Allan Arbus	...	Arturo Vitroni
Sid Haig	...	Omar
Barry Cahill	...	McHenry
Lee de Broux	...	Nick
Ruben Moreno	...	Ramos
Lisa Farringer	...	Jeri
Carol Locatell	...	Priscilla (as Carol Lawson)
Linda Haynes	...	Meg
John Perak	...	Aleva
Mwako Cumbuka	...	Grover
Morris Buchanan	...	Sugarman

Storyline

Nurse "Coffy" Coffin leads a double life. During the day, she's a nurse at work. At night, she's an avenging angel on a personal vendetta, tracking down the drug pushers who hooked her younger sister on drugs. Along the way, she meets a honest police detective who also is leading a double life.

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Plot Keywords:

blaxploitation | vigilante justice | social decay | female vigilante | organized crime | 

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Taglines:

No one sleeps when they mess with Coffy!

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

Included among the American Film Institute's 2001 list of 400 movies nominated for the top 100 Most Heart-Pounding American Movies.

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Goofs

When Coffy is taken to the river under the freeway, the weather goes from dry, to raining, to dry again.

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Quotes

Coffy: [with Carter at the juvenile rehabilitation center] Some of the kids here were on all sorts of pills, some of them are on Methadone now... the youngest is only 9 years old. The worst are the ones that got the contaminated junk. But you know how some of those junkie dealers are, they'll put anything in it to stretch another dollar out of it.

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Alternate Versions

The film was initially rejected for UK cinema under the title "Coffey" and then passed 6 months later with minimal BBFC cuts (to the stabbing of Omar). All later releases were fully uncut.

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Connections

Featured in Baadasssss Cinema (2002)

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Soundtracks

Shining Symbol
Music by Roy Ayers
Lyrics by Carl Clay
Sung by Wayne Garfield

User Reviews

Underrated

The first half of this film is interesting enough, with a strong and smart African-American woman in the lead role (Pam Grier of course), using her brains and body to seek vengeance on drug dealers who messed up her sister. It has a heavy 70's B-movie vibe to it, and there were times when it felt like the feminist aspects of Grier's character were undercut by things like women's tops flying open at what seems like every possible moment. However, the film really picks up steam is in the second half, which has interesting moments in the plot, action scenes that hold together well, and a few social messages delivered as well. Seriously, if the film hadn't gotten carried away in places early on, I think it would be much better regarded, and even as it is, it feels underrated to me.

It's an action movie first and foremost, and an entertaining one at that, but I loved how it talked about the overall system of drugs, starting with poverty being a factor in the chain stretching from users to pushers to all the way back to poor farmers in faraway places, many of whom are people of color. At the top in this system are the affluent, and a chain of mostly white businessmen, corrupt police, and corrupt politicians. The film doesn't hit us over the head with this, and there are good and bad African-American characters, as well as good and bad cops. With that said, images like the rope being put around a black man's neck and then him being dragged from a car, as well as a rich white guy getting off on using slurs and denigrating "exotic" women are pretty meaningful in addition to powerful.

It's really Pam Grier who makes this film though. She simply radiates beauty and strength, and the look in her eyes at times is every bit as mesmerizing as her often talked about body. Her acting may be a little uneven in places but it didn't bother me in the slightest, and I loved her overall performance, which had high entertainment value.

My favorite quote is from the politician (Booker Bradshaw), who is an interesting character in his own right: "You know, you've been listening to my political speeches. I thought you'd be more intelligent than to listen to crap like that."

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 May 1973 (USA)

Also Known As:

Coffy

Filming Locations:

Glendale Freeway, Glendale, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$500,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

American International Pictures (AIP), Papazian-Hirsch Entertainment International

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Mono Mono (Ryder Sound Services)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1