Remember the two excellent Italian posters for the 1974 swords-and-sandals/blaxploitation epic The Arena? Usually the American posters for films from this era compare unfavorably to the foreign versions, but in this case the U.S. promo painted by John Solie is also very good. And as a bonus Grier actually gets to star on this one. On the Italian versions she was entirely whitewashed from one, and relegated to secondary status on the other. Not only that—on the text of both posters Italian actress Lucretia Love is given top billing, though she’s actually a supporting character in the film. We can only assume the distributors thought Italian audiences wouldn’t flock to cinemas to see a movie headlined by Grier, and dissed her twice over. Well, above we see her where she belongs. 

The Big Bird Cage finds writer-director Jack Hill at the top of his form as he sticks star Anitra Ford in a Philippine jungle prison where an evil warden uses the female inmates as slave labor to process sugar. Pam Grier and Sid Haig are revolutionaries who want to recruit women for their cause, so Grier infiltrates the prison and primes the women for a big breakout. This is one of the most remembered of 70s B-romps, a sleazefest filled with iconic scenes such as Ford being suspended by her hair, and seven-foot model Karen McKevic slathering her body with grease and dashing naked through camp. The classic poster is above, a brilliant production photo appears below, and if you’re looking for actual reviews, well, there are about a thousand online. Wild, weird, and oh so incorrect, The Big Bird Cage premiered in the U.S. today in 1972.

A little while ago we shared an image of American actress Judy Pace, and that got us thinking about some of her blaxploitation flicks. One we hadn’t seen was Cool Breeze, a reworking of the classic 1950s crime drama The Asphalt Jungle, which was in turn based on W.R. Burnett’s novel. We watched it last night and enjoyed it, though like many movies of the genre it’s the grittiness and other intangibles that make it good, as opposed to the acting and directing, which aren’t great.

Here’s a little something different—you're looking at a foot-high statuette of Pam Grier as Foxy Brown. It comes from Mark Alfrey Studios and goes for $70, or thereabouts. He also has a version of Grier as the immortal Coffy, seen below. They’re done in stylized proportions, but amusingly, their extreme shapes are not too far off Grier’s actual mid-20s physique—all praises to genetics. By the way, someone asked us recently why Coffy never had a last name. When you consider Grier has played such characters as Sheba Shayne, Friday Foster and Jackie Brown, Coffy no-last-name would seem to be a grave omission, but she actually does have a last name—it’s Coffin (see what we did there with that “grave” omission thing?). Her character is called Coffy as a nickname, (much better than Coffin, considering she’s a nurse), so what she actually lacks is a first name. It never occurs in the film.

Last time we watched Coffy we made a game of coming up with a first name. Her sister is named LuBelle, so that gave us a general sense of which way to go, but we settled on something ridiculous, owing to the brain-muddling influence of demon alcohol. Next time you watch the movie try some names on for size—it’s kind of fun. Anyway, back to the figures, these things are licensed, so Alfrey got some signed by Grier, and those go for a cool $145. But for the blaxploitation fan who has everything price is no object. And for Grier, statuettes are great, but how about a star on the Walk of Fame? She’s had far greater cultural impact than many of the recipients.

Above is a beautiful panel length promo poster for the blaxploitation classic Coffy, which starred Pam Grier in one of her defining roles, and premiered in the U.S. today in 1973. This film has been written about thousands of times, so we don't need to bother. But maybe we'll revisit the subject later anyway.

Edit: which of course we did.

This sultry shot of American actress Pam Grier was made while she was filming the 1973 blaxploitation classic Coffy. It’s an image you see around the internet a bit, but Grier doesn’t have many quality promo photos out there, so we’re sharing it because, well, her presence only makes things better. Interestingly, it isn’t just Grier who doesn’t have many promo shots, but a lot of blaxploitation actresses. We’re thinking Tanya Boyd, Jeanne Bell, Tamara Dobson, Marki Bey, and other examples of pure hotness. We can only assume the shoestring production budgets in blaxploitation didn’t provide for much in the way of promotional materials. Truly a shame. 

Above, three covers of Soul, with the immortal Pam Grier, along with an inset of her boyfriend Richard Pryor,1973, 1976 and 1977. 

Women’s prison is such a rollercoaster ride. One minute you’re enjoying a water fight with other beautiful cons in the communal shower; the next you’re getting the rubber glove slapdown from a Barbie-coiffed matron. But with a little teamwork you can escape, even if you happen to be handcuffed to someone you don’t particularly like at first. Black Mama White Mama isn’t quite The Defiant Ones, but it’s got Pam Grier and Margaret Markov fleeing a blaxploitation neverland located somewhere between Hazzard County, Nicaragua, and the South China Sea, so it’s all good fun. It’s also got the killer Turkish one sheet you see above, which was made its run as Kadinlar Cehennemi, which means "women hell." Exactly. If you like b-movies, carve out a little time to watch this flick. It isn't particularly deep, but then neither are we.