''Lady Cocoa'' (also known as ''Pop Goes the Weasel'') is a 1975 low-budget American
blaxploitation
Blaxploitation is an ethnic subgenre of the exploitation film that emerged in the United States during the early 1970s. The term, a portmanteau of the words "black" and "exploitation", was coined in August 1972 by Junius Griffin, the president ...
crime drama that was directed by
Matt Cimber
Matt Cimber (born Thomas Vitale Ottaviano; 1936) is an American producer, director, writer, and occasional actor in films, television, and theatre. He is known for directing genre films including ''The Candy Tangerine Man, The Witch Who Came f ...
.
[ With ]Lola Falana
Loletha Elayne Falana or Loletha Elaine Falana (born September 11, 1942), better known by her stage name Lola Falana, is an American singer, dancer, and actress.
Early life
Lola Falana was born in Camden, New Jersey. She was the third of si ...
in the title role,[ the film also featured ]Millie Perkins
Millie Perkins (born May 12, 1938) is an American film and television actress known for her debut film role as Anne Frank in ''The Diary of Anne Frank'' (1959), and for her supporting actress roles in two 1966 Westerns, ''The Shooting'' and ''R ...
, Alex Dreier
Alexander M. Dreier (June 26, 1916 – March 11, 2000) was an American news reporter and commentator who worked with NBC Radio during the 1940s, and later with the ABC Information Radio network in the 1960s and early 1970s. Dreier then became a ...
, Gene Washington and Joe Greene
Charles Edward Greene (born September 24, 1946), better known as "Mean" Joe Greene, is an American former professional football player who was a defensive tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL) from 1969 to ...
. It was released by Moonstone Entertainment,[ and written by George Theakos.
]
Premise
The film tells the story of a woman (Lola Falana
Loletha Elayne Falana or Loletha Elaine Falana (born September 11, 1942), better known by her stage name Lola Falana, is an American singer, dancer, and actress.
Early life
Lola Falana was born in Camden, New Jersey. She was the third of si ...
) who is released from jail for 24 hours prior to testifying against her ex-boyfriend (James A. Watson Jr.)[
]
Reception
Linda Gross of the ''Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...
'' called ''Lady Cocoa'' "a slick, predictable, but well-made blaxploitation film." Joe Baltake, writing for the ''Philadelphia Daily News
''Philadelphia Daily News'' is a tabloid newspaper that serves Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper is owned by The Philadelphia Inquirer, LLC, which also owns Philadelphia's other major newspaper ''The Philadelphia Inquirer' ...
'', complimented Falana's performance but called the film "a flimsy, boring situation comedy," concluding: "It's dumb, but Lola makes it palatable."
See also
* List of American films of 1975
A list of American films released in 1975.
''One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'' won the Academy Award for Best Picture. The highest-grossing film of 1975 was '' Jaws''.
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A–B
C–G
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T–Z
See also
* 1975 in the Uni ...
References
External links
*
1975 films
Blaxploitation films
American crime drama films
1975 crime drama films
American independent films
Films directed by Matt Cimber
1975 independent films
1970s English-language films
1970s American films
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