User reviews

This lesser film from Pam Griers' days as a blaxploitation queen is nonetheless mildly pleasing. Because it's rated PG, it has less punch than Pams' best stuff. Some viewers will really miss the elements of sex and graphic violence. The script, by producer David Sheldon and cult director William Girdler, is somewhat less than inspired, with only one sequence - the pursuit through the carnival - that could be considered memorable. The cast is also more colourless than usual. But Pam, in her inimitable fashion, could make just about anything watchable. Hell, this is worth watching just to see her in a wetsuit.

Pam plays our title character, Sheba Shayne, a Chicago-based private eye who returns to her hometown of Louisville, Kentucky. It seems that aggressive gangsters are constantly threatening her father Andy (Rudy Challenger) and his loan business, which Andy runs with Shebas' good friend Brick (Austin Stoker). Inevitably, the bad guys will have a full scale war on their hands once Sheba steps into the fray.

The ever engaging Stoker of "Assault on Precinct 13" fame is a good leading man for Pam, and D'Urville Martin is lively as "Pilot", a lowlife criminal. Christopher Joy is a hoot as a peddler who for whatever reason dresses more like a stereotypical pimp. Dick Merrifield is amusing enough as smiling, smarmy white guy villain "Shark". And it's nice to see Girdler regular Charles Kissinger as a mostly ineffectual white detective. Pam is great entertainment and eye candy as always, even if her role here isn't really on a level with her most famous ones.

The action scenes are passable (one comeuppance offers a spin on something we'd previously seen in "Coffy"), and the music score by Alex Brown and Monk Higgins (with vocals by Barbara Mason) is good, even if, like so much else here, it's also unmemorable.

Completists of the filmographies of Pam and Girdler will definitely want to check it out, no matter if it's not their best work.

Six out of 10.

This is the first of three Pam Grier releases from 1975 I'm reviewing for this site. In this one, she's Sheba Shayne who's back in Louisville, Ky., in order to look over her father Andy (Rudy Challenger) after he got roughed up from some hoods at his loan collection business. Also there is his partner Brick Williams (Austin Stoker) who rekindles his past romance with Sheba. The person who ordered the job is one called Pilot (D'Urville Martin) but the real muscle comes from another one called Shark (Dick Merrifield). I'll stop there and just say that this wasn't as exciting as Ms. Grier's previous movies Coffy and Foxy Brown and since this was rated PG, there's no nude scenes of Pam and the violence is tame in comparison. Still, those action scenes were still pretty exciting especially one involving another villain named Walker (Christopher Joy) who she forces during a car wash to stick his head out the window unless he gives pertinent info. The result with the way his hair looks was the most hilarious scene to me. In summation, if you're a Pam Grier completist, 'Sheba, Baby' is at the least worth a look. Oh, and I recognized the Chicago scenes since I lived there during the first 6 years of my life with occasional visitings since then.

Pam Grier is as lean, cool and tough as ever in this film (in fact, she's arguably tougher here than in "Foxy Brown"), but the plot is overly familiar ("Return of the Dragon", anyone?) and the flick is poorly edited in just about all the crucial spots (fight and action sequences). This one is mostly for Grier fans, who'll have an OK time. The "PG" rating is questionable, considering a few quite graphic and bloody scenes. (**)

In comparison to classics like "Foxy Brown" or "Coffy" this one obviously looses, but the film itself is not that bad as some people claim! Okay, it maybe looks more like the episode of a 1970s TV serial than a movie for the big screen, but it has got some decent entertainment values, although the above mentioned films were more violent and sexy. Once more Pam Grier plays a revenging lady which does away with some corrupt guys who killed her father. This amazing main actress it definitely the coolest Afro American actress on our planet and it´s a shame that she´s nowadays wasted in quite meaningless stuff like John Carpenter´s "Ghosts of Mars"! Another memorable part is given by Austin Stroker, a forgotten 1970s actor, who was great in films like "Assault on Precinct 13" (Made in the times when Carpenter still shot good movies...) or "Battle for the Planet of the Apes". Better watch "Foxy Brown" or "Coffy" first to see some real Pam Grier Blaxploitation classics, but you can easily check out "Sheba, Baby" without that feeling to have your time wasted!

A Chicago private detective (Pam Grier) returns back home to Louisville, Kentucky, to help her father fight mobsters.

This film was the pet project of director William Girdler, who had already made "Three on a Meathook" (1972) but had yet to make his better known films, "Grizzly" (1976), "Day of the Animals" (1977) and "The Manitou" (1978). During filming, Girdler was only 28... and he would end up dying in a helicopter crash at age 30. (One assumes that had he lived, he would have been a major force in the 1980s.)

Writer David Sheldon was given the task of writing a script for Pam Grier that was less edgy than the movies Jack Hill had been making. He wrote "Honor" almost literally overnight, which was transformed into "Sheba, baby" by the PR department, and Sheldon was also put on as a producer. This was a huge promotion for Sheldon, who had been at AIP as Larry Gordon's assistant (and later "director of development", which essentially means script reader).

For me, the blaxploitation subgenre is an interesting one -- did people dress like this? Now, I did not live through the 1970s nor did I grow up in a big city. But I feel like the "pimp" clothes and similar styles were more likely created in the movies and adopted in real life than the other way around. What is especially interesting is that most of the people involved in the subgenre were white... so this was very much how the black community was perceived rather than how it actually was.

One exception to this in "Sheba" might be the character of "Killer", played by Maurice Downs. Downs was a gangster and heroin dealer in real life, and somehow got mixed up with Sheldon and Girdler. He was also in their follow-up, "Project: Kill" and helped produce it. Tragically (but not surprisingly), he was shot to death outside a restaurant a few years later in true gangster fashion.

"Sheba, Baby" was a major hit in theaters, even though it is often cited as one of Pam Grier's weaker vehicles when compared to her similarly themed action films "Coffy" and "Foxy Brown" (both made by Jack Hill for AIP). This is fair, and it certainly lacks any iconic moments that really burn into a viewer's mind.

Despite this being a second or third tier film, it remains an important part of Grier's career, as well as Girdler's career, and there seems to always be a new generation of fans searching out every last AIP picture. Arrow Video has wisely picked this one up and given it the star treatment.

The Arrow disc has not one, but two audio commentaries. One with writer-producer David Sheldon, which offers incredible insight on AIP, Pam Grier and even legendary director Jack Hill. Heck, some of his detours are more interesting than his recollections of "Sheba", such as how he clarifies that "Grizzly" was not technically a "Jaws" ripoff because "Jaws" had not been released at that point. Heck, even Sheldon's involvement in "Last House on the Left" is discussed!!

We also have an in-depth retrospective on Pam Grier's time at AIP. Did you know that Grier was working as a switchboard operator before being discovered by Roger Corman and Jack Hill? Amazing!

This is an absolutely MUST-OWN disc for any fan of AIP.

Sheba Baby is a somewhat lesser film when compared to Coffy and Foxy Brown. But, I digress even though this is toned down with regards to sex and violence, Sheba Baby is a pretty solid action movie with good camerawork, some cool action sequences and a good cast. Pam Grier is beautiful and tough here and with her unique presence and good looks carries the film pretty easily. Austin Stoker(from Assault On Precinct 13) is good as support and love interest for Pam and D'Urville Martin is a cool villain. This was rated PG and comes off a little lighter, but is far from lame. I found Sheba Baby to be pretty entertaining overall, but is no means the best blaxsploitation movie and miles away from the worst.

No, this isn't Coffy, Foxy Brown, or even Friday Foster. It's Pam Grier toned down for the kiddies.

Unfortunately, with the loss of real action and Pam's boodilicious body, we also have to suffer through bad direction and a really lame script.

It is impossible to find a memorable quote from this film as there are none. The acting is wooden and, in most cases, just what you would expect from a flick that trades on the great roles Grier has had to date.

I was bored to tears.

Not as good as Coffy or foxy brown but it was entertaining. Pam Grier is the standout in this movie. Action sequences could have been sharper..

Sheba Shayne (Pam Grier) receives a telegram informing her that her father may be in trouble. Sheba, a private investigator and former cop, goes to her father's aid. But someone will stop at nothing to run her father out of business. An attempt to show their muscle goes awry and Sheba's father is gunned down in cold blood. These guys have messed with the wrong woman.

If I had to describe Sheba Baby, the best I can come up with is Pam Grier Lite with some really bad acting. For a Pam Grier film, Sheba Baby is incredibly tame. It's nowhere near as violent as some of her earlier films. Gone are the over-the-top images of Pam placing a small revolver or razor blades in her afro. Pilot (D'Urville Martin) and his crew can't hold a candle to some of the real villains Pam faced in her previous movies. It's strictly by-the-numbers and almost has a made-for-TV feel. As for the bad acting, the baddies that Pam faces off with are as unnatural sounding in their delivery as I've seen. As a result, characters like Pilot don't come across as threatening as they should or need to for the movie to work.

That's not to say there aren't moments or elements in Sheba Baby that I didn't enjoy (Pam in a wetsuit and Pam brandishing a spear gun), it's just that when compared with Pam's other films like Coffy, Foxy Brown, and even Friday Foster that the movie fails.

One final observation - maybe I'm just more sensitive to these things post-9/11, but I don't remember a time, even in the security lax 70s, when you could take a suitcase full of guns on an airplane. When Sheba flies to her father's aid, she's got an arsenal packed in her luggage!

My reason for making "Sheba, Baby" priority viewing over all the other Blaxploitation films and Pam Grier vehicles was purely personal, namely the involvement of director William Girdler. I'm fascinated by his short but fruitful career. To enter the world of soul cinema as a 24-year-old white director and immediately being able to cast Pam Grier after the huge success of both "Coffy" and "Foxy Brown" is an achievement that at least demands for a little respect. Sure the film itself has no patch on the two aforementioned titles, but it's a decent and engaging film. The plot is extremely standard, with Pam as a tough Chicago private eye returning to her hometown of Louisville because the local organized crime network there violently moves in on her father's modest but traditional loaning company. The matters get really personal when Sheba narrowly escapes a car bomb which was meant to kill her stubborn father. Sheba rolls up the malignant network from the bottom of the ladder (miserable couriers and hired assailants) all the way to the top (sly and sleazy white guys on yachts). Pam acts as mean and looks as yummy as she always does, with a wide selection of tight and revealing outfits as well as various hair styles. There are some nice and nasty bits of violence (including a virulent and blood-soaked gunfight inside the loan agency which makes the PG-rating rather questionable), a funky soundtrack, vivid dialogs and a ravishing and sexy Pam Grier. Did I mention Pam Grier already?

Lesser Pam Grier blaxploitation movie has Pam as Sheba, a tough private investigator who returns to her hometown of Louisville, KY to fight mobsters who are pushing her father around. While there she finds time to romance Austin 'Assault on Precinct 13' Stoker. Less gritty and sexy than Grier's blaxploitation classics Foxy Brown and Coffy. The acting is wooden, the direction amateurish, the action slow, and the dialogue lacks punch. None of this is uncommon with blaxploitation films, but this one is lacking the sex, violence, and colorful language that usually spackles over the cracks in these things. The film being shot on location in Louisville does add some authenticity and local flavor, which helps. The movie is propped up mostly just by Grier's screen presence. So completists will want to see it for sure. Those expecting something with a little more spice to it are likely to be disappointed.

Yeah, I guess this movie is kinda dull compared to some of Pam Grier's other films. The plot is overly familiar, the dialog stilted, and some of the acting isn't too good. But it's worth seeing for the lengthy stretch near the end of the film, where we see Ms Grier in a sexy blue wetsuit, with the zipper half unzipped. Yeah, it seems like a frivolous point when discussing an actress of Pam Grier's talent, but she also happens to be an extremely gorgeous woman, and back in the day, she had a body that wouldn't quit. It's nice to see it being showcased in a tight wetsuit. Rent the DVD, and then tell me I'm wrong. Can't, can you? That's because you know I'm right! :-) And yes, I really did give a 10 just for the wetsuit scenes! ;-)

'Sheba, Baby' (1975)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Blaxploitation Girdler style has Pam Grier leaving Chicago and heading to Louisville when she hears a bunch of thugs are trying to push her father out of his business. Soon dad is shot dead and it's up to Grier to track down the killers and put an end to them. Once again, this isn't the greatest film in the world and it's certainly not an Oscar-winner but if you enjoy the genre and what it has to offer then you're going to be able to enjoy what's here. I was a little hesitant going into a PG-rated blaxploiation film but the screenplay offers up enough action to keep things moving even though I'm sure fans of Grier want the R-rated action that comes with the nudity. Grier is as tough as ever here and she really turns in another winning performance. What always amazes me about her is how much fire and energy you can see her burning even if she's just standing around not doing a thing. Then, when it's time to fight, that energy just erupts like a volcano and one can't help but respect that energy she brings to a film. The supporting players include Rudy Challenger, Austin Stoker and Dick Merrifield but there's no doubt that the film belongs to Grier. Having lived in Louisville for many years, the film gave me even more entertainment than it probably will from someone who has never visited the city. There were several locations that I recognized and that's always going to add a little bit more charm to a film for someone. The movie does go over the top in its violence and I was a little surprised to see more of the red stuff than I was expecting. Of course, being a blaxploitation picture we've got to end the film with a wild chase and shoot out and that doesn't disappoint here either. Seeing Grier in a wetsuit never hurts either.

Sheba, Baby (1975) is a movie I recently watched for the first time in a long time on Tubi. The storyline follows a loan officer in Louisville who is being strongarmed by a local gang to sell his business to them. Little do they know the loan officer's daughter is a detective in Chicago that's more than happy to come home and put the gangsters in their place.

This movie is directed by William Girdler (The Manitou) and stars Pam Grier (Coffy), Austin Stoker (Assault on Precinct 13), D'Urville Martin (Rosemary's Baby), Richard Merrifield (The Invaders) and Charles Kissinger (The Grizzly).

The storyline in this is just okay and the characters aren't as compelling as other Pam Grier pictures from this era. The dialogue/jive, attire, settings, vehicles and soundtrack are all magnificent and worthwhile. There are some fun sequences like the scenes with the pimp and the boat fight sequence.

Overall this is one of Grier's lesser Blaxploitation pictures in terms of quality but is still fun to watch. I would score this a 5/10 and recommend seeing it once.

When I sat down to watch the 1975 movie "Sheba, Baby" here in 2023, it was actually my very first time even hearing about it. Of course I was familiar with Pam Grier and the many Blaxploitation movies she was in back in the 1970s, but I never had seen this movie.

The storyline in the movie, as written by William Girdler and David Sheldon, was pretty straightforward. But it was actually enjoyable and entertaining, despite it being somewhat generic for a 1970s crime action movie of this type.

"Sheba, Baby" has a good cast ensemble to portray the various roles and characters. And of course, leading actress Pam Grier carried the movie quite nicely.

There is a good amount of action throughout the course of the 90 minutes that the movie ran for.

If you enjoy the 1970s crime action movies of the Blaxploitation genre, then you will certainly also enjoy "Sheba, Baby".

My rating of director William Girdler's 1975 movie "Sheba, Baby" lands on a six out of ten stars.

Sheba Shayne (Pam Grier) returns to her hometown to help her father fight mobsters. Her father is killed by them and Sheba sets out to avenge him.

Grier had two other similar movies like this--"Foxy Brown" and "Coffy". They were hilariously over the top, VERY R rated and full of nudity and extreme violence. This is rated PG and far too tame. Yeah, there's action but it's all kept down to a PG level. The script is terrible which doesn't help matters. The other two had bad scripts too but threw in enough extreme violence to keep you interested. Here it's just boring. The plotting is by the numbers and the movie seems to drag. Grier is wonderful (as always) but she can't save such a terrible movie. For Pam Grier completists only.

Chicago private detective Sheba Shayne (Pam Grier) returns home to Louisville, Kentucky. Her father Andy is being harassed by loan shark gangsters who want his legitimate loan business.

It's low budget blaxploitation. Pam Grier is being her Pam Grier greatness although I'm not sure about her shorter do. She's still a bad mother despite the lesser production. It's interesting to do a movie in lesser seen Louisville, but there is a reason that it's lesser seen. The story is really simple. There is almost a purity to how simplistic everything is in this movie. There is some explosive action. The secondary actors are pretty stiff. I actually like the old R&B music. It's simple blaxploitation.

I really tried, but this movie just didn't work for me. The action scenes were dull, the acting was surprisingly poor, and some of these characters were TOO stereotypical to even be funny. Pam Grier tries, but when you have nothing to work with, even her considerable talent cannot prevent a disaster. Even by the standards of this weak genre, this film is pretty bad.

Sheba Baby, is another Pam Grier Blaxploitation film. It was one of Pam's less visceral films of this genre. Pam plays Sheba Shane, who's a Chicago gumshoe. Sheba's father is the owner of a small loan company, in Missouri. When local mobsters try to run her father of of business, Sheba goes after the bad guys.

Pam Grier had already made her mark in Blaxploitation films, by the time Sheba Baby came along. Fans of both Coffy and Foxy Brown, know that Pam is capable of an explosive intensity as an actress. In Sheba Baby, the fiery performance that viewers had come to expect from Pam, wasn't as evident in this film. Not that Pam doesn't kick-butt in Sheba Baby. She's just not as much of a runaway-train vigilante, as she was in her previous Blaxploitation films.

The supporting cast in this film, are a distinct disappointment. So Sheba Baby is Pam's film, through and through. And though Pam's a bit more subdued than in her other films, she still gives a compelling performance in Sheba Baby. This film is definitely worth your time, if you're an ardent Pam Grier fan.

Pam Grier in 'Jackie Brown' spends much of the film in a distinctive blue air stewardess's uniform, which may have been Tarantino's tribute to the blue flairs she wears for much of 'Sheba, Baby', which she swaps for a wicked blue wetsuit and machine gun in the movie's final quarter. Thus dressed to kill she actually proves disappointingly easy to overpower and disarm; and dishes out considerably less than in the earlier scene at a funfair which is probably the film's highlight (most of the killing at the climax is done by the cops).

The sexual content is also confined to just one rather chaste (if the word can be used in such a context) bed scene; and although the production values are good there's far too high a ratio of talk to action.