Policewomen

Rating:
Summary: Policewomen
Review: I bought this on a whim, and, while clearly a cheapie 70's exploitation movie, it was marginally better a lot of stuff in the genre. The movie is directed by Lee Frost, who helmed such schlocky grindhouse fare as House on Bare Mountain (1962), The Defilers (1965), The Scavengers (1969), Chaingang Women (1971), The Thing With Two Heads (1972), and most recently Private Obsession (1995). The main character of the movie is Lacy Bond, played by Sondra Currie, who is probably better known for her TV work appearing on such shows as The Incredible Hulk, Columbo, and the soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful. The most recognizable actor in this movie would probably be William Smith who has played in a ton of movies, usually as a bad guy, and is most remembered by me as Jack Wilson in the Clint Eastwood movie Any Which Way You Can (1980). His appearance in this movie is brief, so don't blink or you may miss it.

The movie starts out in a what appears to be a police station, but then is also a woman's prison...go figure. Lacy is a cop, or a guard, and she's instrumental in stopping a planned escape by a number of inmates. Two manage to get away, but Lacy's efforts do not go unnoticed by her superiors. They pick her for an undercover mission to infiltrate a gang of women that have been committing crimes.

Before her mission starts, they put her through some training exercises, where the misogynist male cops laugh and guffaw at her, because she's just a woman, and she continually makes them look like jerks when she excels in these exercises. The scene with William Smith, who plays a police martial arts expert, is not too bad, except maybe the end. The martial arts work and stunts are marginally better than you might expect, and some of the fight scenes, especially between the women are downright brutal looking.

Anyway, Lacy manages to infiltrate the gang, which is run by a fairly whithered and crotchety old woman who I believe was called Ma. Now Ma has a young boy toy (ewwwwwwwww) who also doubles as her bodyguard. (I made the ewwwww noise as I just remembered a scene where the muscled boy toy made sexual advances towards his sugar mama and she subsequently turned him down because she had a 'headache', for which I was eternally thankful, but it just the thought of the two of them made me shudder.)

After learning about their operation, Lacy is recognized by another gang member as a cop, but she manages to shut that woman up, if you know what I mean. Also, we learn another female member of the gang is an undercover FBI agent. This may account for the plural form of woman used in the title, as it didn't seem to make sense, as there was only one policewoman up until that point. Or maybe the title Policewoman had already been used...who knows.

So now both law enforcement undercover agents have been exposed, and are now being used as hostages while Ma and her gang perform their big score, involving a shipment of gold or something or other...the plot got a little messy after awhile, but this leads to a big final confrontation at the end of the movie.

Not a bad movie for what it's worth, and there are copious bits of nudity in a few scenes. Sondra Currie is, or at least was, very easy on the eyes. The movie is in a full screen format, and little or no extras, except maybe a trailer. If schlocky 70's movies are your bag, then this is right up your alley. If cinematic verite' is your cup of tea, avoid this movie.

Rating:
Summary: Where else can you see an all girl bikini crime gang?
Review: I bought this on a whim, and, while clearly a cheapie 70's exploitation movie, it was marginally better a lot of stuff in the genre. The movie is directed by Lee Frost, who helmed such schlocky grindhouse fare as House on Bare Mountain (1962), The Defilers (1965), The Scavengers (1969), Chaingang Women (1971), The Thing With Two Heads (1972), and most recently Private Obsession (1995). The main character of the movie is Lacy Bond, played by Sondra Currie, who is probably better known for her TV work appearing on such shows as The Incredible Hulk, Columbo, and the soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful. The most recognizable actor in this movie would probably be William Smith who has played in a ton of movies, usually as a bad guy, and is most remembered by me as Jack Wilson in the Clint Eastwood movie Any Which Way You Can (1980). His appearance in this movie is brief, so don't blink or you may miss it.

The movie starts out in a what appears to be a police station, but then is also a woman's prison...go figure. Lacy is a cop, or a guard, and she's instrumental in stopping a planned escape by a number of inmates. Two manage to get away, but Lacy's efforts do not go unnoticed by her superiors. They pick her for an undercover mission to infiltrate a gang of women that have been committing crimes.

Before her mission starts, they put her through some training exercises, where the misogynist male cops laugh and guffaw at her, because she's just a woman, and she continually makes them look like jerks when she excels in these exercises. The scene with William Smith, who plays a police martial arts expert, is not too bad, except maybe the end. The martial arts work and stunts are marginally better than you might expect, and some of the fight scenes, especially between the women are downright brutal looking.

Anyway, Lacy manages to infiltrate the gang, which is run by a fairly whithered and crotchety old woman who I believe was called Ma. Now Ma has a young boy toy (ewwwwwwwww) who also doubles as her bodyguard. (I made the ewwwww noise as I just remembered a scene where the muscled boy toy made sexual advances towards his sugar mama and she subsequently turned him down because she had a 'headache', for which I was eternally thankful, but it just the thought of the two of them made me shudder.)

After learning about their operation, Lacy is recognized by another gang member as a cop, but she manages to shut that woman up, if you know what I mean. Also, we learn another female member of the gang is an undercover FBI agent. This may account for the plural form of woman used in the title, as it didn't seem to make sense, as there was only one policewoman up until that point. Or maybe the title Policewoman had already been used...who knows.

So now both law enforcement undercover agents have been exposed, and are now being used as hostages while Ma and her gang perform their big score, involving a shipment of gold or something or other...the plot got a little messy after awhile, but this leads to a big final confrontation at the end of the movie.

Not a bad movie for what it's worth, and there are copious bits of nudity in a few scenes. Sondra Currie is, or at least was, very easy on the eyes. The movie is in a full screen format, and little or no extras, except maybe a trailer. If schlocky 70's movies are your bag, then this is right up your alley. If cinematic verite' is your cup of tea, avoid this movie.

Rating:
Summary: Policewomen
Review: I bought this video as one who is a martial arts officianado. Unfortunately, I would have to say that though they may not have used many stunt doubles, all of the punches were 'pulled'. This movie certainly did not rate near as well as say a 'Cynthia Rothrock' effort. For the most part, I think the story line held together, and I think, contrary to some other reviews, the scenes we 'believable'. If you are looking for a movie that has a little action with some story, this is a good one. However, if you are looking for some hard hitting adrenaline pumping action, you might want to check out 'Tigerclaws' or another action packed movie with Cythia Rothrock. Another good female action star is Cory Everson, though she has not done near as many action films!

Rating:
Summary: Girl karate cop against the" female mafia"
Review: Lacy Bond (Sondra Currie) a cop with a martial arts skills, finds she is only getting boring routine duties.Then while working in a women's prison there's an attempted mass breakout. Lacy goes into action, using her fighting expertise to stop the fleeing convicts.Only two end up making a clean getaway.This finally brings Lacy to the attention of her superiors.Partnered with Lt.Frank Mitchell(Tony Young)she is assigned to stop a large gang of women who are responsible for a crime wave -robberies,drug dealing and gold smuggling being their main activities.The brains behind this "female mafia" (Lacy's phrase), is thought to be an elderly crook called Maude Anderson (Elizabeth Stuart), who is married to a big musclebound thug in his thirties called Doc(Phil Hoover).It was Maude who organized the jailbreak, and the escapees later turn up at her hideout.The movie follows Lacy and Mitchell's adventures in their fight against the gang, while they also develop a romantic relationship.In the course of events Lacy infiltrates the mob and finds an unexpected ally to help her in her attempts to destroy them from the inside.
"Policewomen" is an early "female action" movie, roughly contemporary with the likes of "The Doll Squad","Foxy Brown" and "Superchick".Director Lee Frost helmed a lot of "drive-in" fare in the 1970's including "The Thing with two heads"(1972) and "The Black Gestapo"(1975)."Policewomen"(1974),is one of his least known movies, possibly because it has a pretty mundane title!In the main role, Sondra Currie a small beautiful actress best known in tv guest spots in shows like "Knightrider" is very effective . She plays a tough determined lady cop and was given karate training for the role.Jeanie Bell also appears, playing government agent Pam Harris, but apart from one notable fight, she is under used (later she played action heroine"TNT Jackson").Tony Young as Lacys boss/lover is okay, but his part seems underwritten in the concentration on female cast members.Elizabeth Stuart and Phil Hoover as Maude and Doc are a real movie odd couple--a doddery, rasp voiced old witch and a brawny bad tempered thug about 35 years younger than his wife.The "female mafia" are all ruthless blackhearted hookers and gang molls.They are often on display in bikinis,adding to the camp unreality of the movie, but it will help keep the guys watching, as they include Jennifer Brooks- billed as "Laurie Rose" (Janette),Susan McIver (Laura) and Dorrie Thomson (Caroline).
The film has a small amount of sex and nudity and quite a bit of swearing but the emphasis is on action, with car chases, a boat chase and lots of fights. Oddly there is little gunplay.Much is made of the contrast between Lacy's demure appearance and her fierce combat skills.Sexist cops have to eat their words after they see her in action.In the films funniest scene,Lacy shows up a patronizing police fight instructor (William Smith), by beating him during training.Only one of the female villains,Kim (Eileen Saki), shows any fighting ability, and she has single combats with both Lacy and Pam.The rest of the bad girls take on more than they bargained for.It's fun seeing Lacy having to come to the rescue as Frank is viciously attacked by a whole boatload of Maude's weapon wielding bikini babes-alone the female cop takes them all on, using her karate skills against them, including boss girl Caroline, the frantic paddle swinging six foot blonde tiny Lacy kicks across the deck.
Even by todays standards the violence is sometimes pretty strong.In one scene Lacy is tied to a chair and brutally beaten by the sadistic Doc.During Lacys later bloody fight with Doc, actor Phil Hoover really looks as if he's taking some punishment.There's little evidence of stunt doubles in fight and action scenes and it seems the cast did a lot themselves.
"Policewomen" is an enjoyable example of female action movies.Unfortunately the dvd full sceen sometimes cuts off parts of the picture; however it is a good clear print and includes the original trailer.

Rating:
Summary: "Hard-hitting violence... and soft curves"
Review: Sortin' through the stacks of second-hand bargain-priced DVDs at the local used-movies-and-music joint, I took one look at this particular platter and knew I just hadda give it at least one view. Bein' an aficionado of trash cinema, I figured this mid-70s bad@$$-chick-cop-flick would be just my can of Cheez Wiz. Fortunately, I wasn't disappointed-- from the opening jailbreak on down to the final bust, I found myself more than amused by the antics of the sassy and attitude-laden heroine Lacy Bond as she lays out a few karate moves that looked like they came straight outta the Captain Kirk School of Martial Arts. Throughout the feature, Lacy makes every effort to show that she can handle herself quite well amongst the men in the force, which is driven home with the obligatory police training ground montage about twenty minutes in. But for all her machismo, she also has a soft side, which climaxes (so to speak) with her love scene with her undercover partner at the fifty-minute mark. Heh, yes, soft... VERY soft...hee hee...

*AHEM*

Anyhoo... throw in a few low-rent James Bond-type espionage devices, a horde of bikini-clad felon babes (many of whom get naked on a few occasions) led by an annoying old hag of a gold smuggler & her henpecked gym rat of a husband, the usual "wocka-wocka-wocka-wocka" and semi-jazzy trumpety soundtrack that all 70s action flicks have, and just plain awful acting all around, and you've got yerself some pretty tasty cheese to go with your popcorn on movie night at your place!

One thing I found really annoyin' about this flick: Rhino did a horrible job of reformatting "Policewomen" from widescreen to pan-and-scan. For example: on several occasions a speaking subject who I imagine was on the outer edge of camera range in the original widescreen release has been cropped out of the p&s release. So you get to hear the subject talk, but you don't actually see him/her, or maybe just a part of him/her. Also a problem were a few action scenes that didn't look quite right in the p&s format. 'Course, it could be argued that most of the action sequences were so fake-looking and dumb that the cropping of the stuff to the left and/or right could be seen as an improvement...

BTW if you're too busy and/or lazy to watch the entire movie, the theatrical trailer that's included as an extra on this platter pretty much gives ya the whole shebang in a nutshell...

'Late