Click to View Larger...Cleopatra Jones (1973) - Cleopatra "Cleo" Jones (Tamara Dobson) is a strikingly beautiful black model with an array of flamboyant outfits. Modeling, however, is only a cover for her real job as a secret government agent. Cleo is a Bond-like heroine with power and influence; an object of awe for her flashy wardrobe, her ’73 silver and black Corvette Stingray (equipped with automatic weapons) and her martial arts ability. While she evokes the glory of a funk goddess, she remains loyal to her drug-ravaged community and her lover, Reuben Masters, who runs B&S House (a halfway home for recovering drug addicts).

The film opens with Cleo overseeing the destruction of a poppy field in Turkey belonging to the evil drug lord, Mommy (Shelley Winters). Mommy is a white lesbian with an all-male crew and a bevy of beautiful young women catering to her many wants. She is short, stout, and wears unfashionable clothes, fulfilling the role of "anti-Cleopatra" in every respect. When she hears about her poppies' demise, she plots revenge, hiring the corrupt policeman, Officer Purdy to raid the B&S House.

When Cleo returns to LA to arrest the police responsible for the raid, she continues to take apart Mommy’s underworld drug business, thwarting her minions along the way. Cleo and Mommy face off in a showdown at a nearby junkyard where she is trapped by Mommy in a car crusher but is saved by her friends from the B&S House. In a final showdown, Cleo chases Mommy to the top of a magnetic crane where the two women fight. Mommy, despite her weight advantage, proves to be no match for Cleo, who hurls Mommy over the side of the crane to her death, while Cleo's friends defeat her henchmen. At the end of the film, as Reuben and the members of the community celebrate victory, Cleo departs from the scene, off to undertake a new mission.

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Tamara Dobson (May 14, 1947 - October 2, 2006) was an African-American actress and fashion model. She was born in Baltimore, Maryland and received her degree in fashion illustration from the Maryland Institute College of Art. Dobson, who stood 6 feet 2 inches (188 cm), eventually became a fashion model for Vogue Magazine. She made a few films in Hollywood but is best known for her roles in the Blaxploitation films, Cleopatra Jones (1973) and Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold (1975).

Dobson died on October 2, 2006 in Baltimore, Maryland of complications from pneumonia and multiple sclerosis