Woodyanders Feisty Coca (a delightfully vibrant performance by Lola Falana) gets released from jail for twenty-four hours so she can testify in court against her mobster boyfriend. Weary veteran detective Lt. Ramsey (ably played by Alex Dreier) and his straight-laced partner Doug (a solid and likable performance by Gene Washington) are assigned to protect Coca from a couple of hit men.Director Matt Cimber keeps the entertaining story moving along at a brisk pace, maintains an amiable lighthearted tone throughout, and stages the one big action set piece with aplomb. Moreover, the sound acting from the capable cast helps a lot: Millie Perkins does well as mousy newlywed Marie, Mean Joe Greene looks suitably menacing as hulking thug Big Eddie, and James A. Watson Jr. contributes a neat turn as smooth operator Eddie. Popping up in amusing cameos are George "Buck" Flower as a drunk gambler, Richard Kennedy as an unctuous waiter, and John Goff as a swishy Sicilian man. Mikel Angel's witty script boasts lots of sharp rat-a-tat-tat dialogue. The funky-throbbing score by Luchi De Jesus hits the get-down groovy spot. Best of all, Falana's dynamic presence and kooky persona keep things buzzing throughout -- and she even belts out the catchy theme song "Pop Goes the Weasel." A hugely enjoyable movie.

cvoci-1 This is the kind of film you take lightly; and a good example of the genre (Blaxploitation). Lots of action and attractive stars (Lady Lola and Gene Washington. The color and sound are bad on the DVD due to a bad transfer process.Lola Falana really steps out of her Las Vegas entertainer role to play a gritty foul mouthed gangster's moll; and she does it to the max; especially the exchange between her and Washington in the hotel room -where she goes into a tirade about the police and poor people.I actually picked this DVD in a bargain bin at 99 cent store in the mall and I was really surprised. If you're a fan of the Genre, you will like this. And all you "serious" critics, if you want an art house therapy session, watch something else. This is just turn your mind off and enjoy. I loved it.

sneekspeeks No one was hotter than Lola Falana in the early-mid '70's. She could be seen on The Flip Wilson Show, The Ben Vereen Show, Johnny Carson and doing guest spots on "FBI" and "Streets of San Francisco". So cashing in on the blaxplotation boom wasn't a bad idea for this sultry song bird--or was it?"Lady Cocoa" is about a lady who gets a 24 hour day pass out of jail in exchange for testifying in court against her hustler boyfriend, played by a guy that you always see on shows of the 70's. He's that guy that you don't know his name but you always see him playing a guest spot like a door to door sales man on "Good Times" or some nerdy guy on "Barney Miller". When I saw who was playing the big bad boyfriend, I said, "THAT guy? Oh geez." At any rate, Lady Cocoa is under the custody of a big burly D.A. man and a good looking cop. It is apparent that the writers tried to create some tit for tat, playful bantering between the spit fire Cocoa and the straight faced "by the book" cop, creating romantic tension between them. WRONG.First of all, Lady Cocoa behaved like a regular twit. Often yelling and screaming and constant complaining. My goodness, shouldn't she be grateful that she gets 24 hours away from the slammer? Wouldn't it be more likely that she would rather be enjoying cable t.v, room service and perhaps the massage benefits that i'm sure the swanky Las Vegas hotel had to offer? And the her straight laced cop love interest was, well..how can I put it--stiff-as-a-board. Total mismatch, Which brings me to another point.This movie had a few loose ends. Well, more than a few. I could have sworn that when a person turns states evidence, they are exonerated from all crimes and released from jail and placed into protective custody. But in Lady Cocoa's case, she only gets a 24 hour get out of jail card? Wow, that's gotta stink. Okay, so a couple of thugs are wise to her plans and where abouts and is out to kill her. So she has to try to stay alive long enough to fully enjoy her well earned 24 hours of freedom. The back drop of this movie is appropriately enough, Las Vegas. What better movie location for no other than "The Queen of Las Vegas", Lola Falana. What got me through the horrible lighting, direction and sound was Lola herself. She's fun to watch if you can get past the incredibly suckie dialoge, although some lines were kind of funny.Out of the many blaxploitation films i've seen, I'd say that Lady Cocoa was tolerable because of the brief cat and mouse sequence at the end. And of course, the fabulous Lady Lola herself. I'd recommend you see this film if you're into black movies of the 70's. but please, don't expect too much from this one, you'll only get your feelings hurt.

Seymour Asses Of all the crappy blaxploitation films I've seen in my day, this is definitely one of them. Talk about poor film making, Lady Cocoa looks like it was shot by a bunch of high school kids. Here's a short list of things that make this movie suck:1. The screen changes colors repeatedly, probably from leaving the film cans sitting out in the sun or something. It reminds me of something shot in the early 1900's. One second everything will be completely purple, the next it will be green, followed by orange, then black and white. Even when the color is correct (which isn't often) the characters look totally illuminated, making the entire room glow. This is the first film I've ever seen that was physically painful to watch.2. The sound is awful. There is a high pitched squeal the entire movie. I tried the disc on two DVD players and two TV's and it was still there. The boom mic gets smacked around a lot to, usually making more noise than it actually records. Thankfully, it saves you from having to hear the awful dialogue, or in the case of Mean Joe, lack there of. 3. The story lags and lags and lags. There is absolutely no action in this movie until the 73rd minute, much like Matt Cimber's previous work, The Black Six. Up until then, I was under the impression this was some type of romantic comedy.4. Every thing in Lady Cocoa is completely illogical. Especially the ending. I supposed I should be grateful this one at least had an ending (director's previous movie just turned off after awhile).SUMMARY: Sucks.