Get Christie Love!
Encyclopedia
Get Christie Love! is a 1974
made-for-television film
starring Teresa Graves
as an undercover female police detective who is determined to overthrow a drug ring. This film is based on Dorothy Uhnak's
crime
-thriller novel, The Ledger. However, the main character "Christie Opara" -- a white, New York Police detective—was dropped completely and "Christie Love" is who emerged.
Det. Olga Ford of the NYPD served as the series Technical Advisior.
films such as Tamara Dobson
's Cleopatra Jones
(1973), and Pam Grier
's Coffy
(1973) and Foxy Brown
(1974). The title character even had a catchphrase; upon apprehending a criminal, Love would declare, "you're under arrest, Sugah!" The film proved a big success, and consequently spawned a short-lived television series on the ABC network
featuring Charles Cioffi
as Love's supervisor Matt Reardon and Jack Kelly
as Lt. Ryan, the next supervisor. However, the series, financed on a meager budget and heavily sanitized to conform to Graves'
religious morals (she had become one of Jehovah's Witnesses
since the making of the TV film), was eventually cancelled. One episode featured many of Graves'
former Laugh-In
co-stars such as Judy Carne
, Jo Anne Worley
and Arte Johnson
in particular playing a mad bomber. Another notable guest star was Jaclyn Smith
, who appeared in an episode entitled "A Fashion Heist."
1974 in film
The year 1974 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*February 7 - Blazing Saddles is released in the USA.*August 7 - Peter Wolf, lead singer of The J...
made-for-television film
Television movie
A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...
starring Teresa Graves
Teresa Graves
Teresa Graves was an American actress and singer. As the star of Get Christie Love!, Graves is credited as being the first African American woman to star in her own hour long drama television series....
as an undercover female police detective who is determined to overthrow a drug ring. This film is based on Dorothy Uhnak's
Dorothy Uhnak
Dorothy Uhnak was an American novelist.-Biography:Uhnak was born in New York City. She attended City College of New York and the John Jay College of Criminal Justice....
crime
Crime
Crime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority can ultimately prescribe a conviction...
-thriller novel, The Ledger. However, the main character "Christie Opara" -- a white, New York Police detective—was dropped completely and "Christie Love" is who emerged.
Det. Olga Ford of the NYPD served as the series Technical Advisior.
Synopsis
The film was inspired by the 1970s heroine blaxploitationBlaxploitation
Blaxploitation or blacksploitation is a film genre which emerged in the United States circa 1970. It is considered an ethnic sub-genre of the general category of exploitation films. Blaxploitation films were originally made specifically for an urban black audience, although the genre's audience...
films such as Tamara Dobson
Tamara Dobson
Tamara Dobson was an 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 , eventually became a fashion model for Vogue Magazine...
's Cleopatra Jones
Cleopatra Jones
-Plot:Cleopatra Jones 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. Jones is a Bond-like heroine with power and influence; an object of awe for her flashy wardrobe, her ’73 silver and...
(1973), and Pam Grier
Pam Grier
Pamela Suzette "Pam" Grier is an American actress. She became famous in the early 1970s, after starring in a string of moderately successful women in prison and blaxploitation films such as 1974's Foxy Brown. Her career was revitalized in 1997 after her appearance in Quentin Tarantino's film...
's Coffy
Coffy
- Track listing :# "Coffy Is The Color" - 3:03Vocals – Dee Dee Bridgewater, Roy Ayers, Wayne Garfield# "Priscilla's Theme" - 3:58# "King George" - 3:00Vocals – Roy Ayers# "Aragon" - 2:55# "Coffy Sauna" - 2:16# "King's Last Ride" - 1:10# "Coffy Baby" - 2:26...
(1973) and Foxy Brown
Foxy Brown (1974 film)
Foxy Brown is a 1974 blaxploitation film written and directed by Jack Hill. It stars Pam Grier as the title character, described by one character as "a whole lot of woman" who showcases unrelenting black sexiness while battling the villains.- Plot :...
(1974). The title character even had a catchphrase; upon apprehending a criminal, Love would declare, "you're under arrest, Sugah!" The film proved a big success, and consequently spawned a short-lived television series on the ABC network
ABC Network
ABC Network may refer to any of the following:*American Broadcasting Company, a private television network in the United States.*Asahi Broadcasting Corporation, regional radio and television broadcaster in Japan....
featuring Charles Cioffi
Charles Cioffi
Charles Cioffi , also credited as Charles M. Cioffi, is an American movie and television actor.-Biography:He was born in New York City and attended Michigan State University, where he became a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity....
as Love's supervisor Matt Reardon and Jack Kelly
Jack Kelly (actor)
Jack Kelly was an American film and television actor most noted for the role of "Bart Maverick" in the TV series Maverick, which ran on ABC from 1957 to 1962...
as Lt. Ryan, the next supervisor. However, the series, financed on a meager budget and heavily sanitized to conform to Graves'
Teresa Graves
Teresa Graves was an American actress and singer. As the star of Get Christie Love!, Graves is credited as being the first African American woman to star in her own hour long drama television series....
religious morals (she had become one of Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The religion reports worldwide membership of over 7 million adherents involved in evangelism, convention attendance of over 12 million, and annual...
since the making of the TV film), was eventually cancelled. One episode featured many of Graves'
Teresa Graves
Teresa Graves was an American actress and singer. As the star of Get Christie Love!, Graves is credited as being the first African American woman to star in her own hour long drama television series....
former Laugh-In
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In is an American sketch comedy television program which ran for 140 episodes from January 22, 1968, to May 14, 1973. It was hosted by comedians Dan Rowan and Dick Martin and was broadcast over NBC...
co-stars such as Judy Carne
Judy Carne
Judy Carne is an English actress best remembered for the phrase "Sock it to me!" on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In.-Career:...
, Jo Anne Worley
Jo Anne Worley
Jo Anne Worley is an American actress. Her work covers television, films, theater, game shows, talk shows, commercials, and cartoons. She is best known for her work on the comedy-variety show Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In.-Biography:...
and Arte Johnson
Arte Johnson
Arthur Stanton Eric "Arte" Johnson is an American comic actor. Johnson was a regular on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In. His best-remembered "character" was that of a German soldier with the catchphrase: "Verrrry interesting, but...['stupid', 'not very funny', and other variations]".-Early life:Johnson...
in particular playing a mad bomber. Another notable guest star was Jaclyn Smith
Jaclyn Smith
Jacquelyn Ellen "Jaclyn" Smith is an American actress and businesswoman. She is best-known for the role of Kelly Garrett in the television series Charlie's Angels, and was the only original female lead to remain with the series for its complete run...
, who appeared in an episode entitled "A Fashion Heist."
Cast
- Teresa GravesTeresa GravesTeresa Graves was an American actress and singer. As the star of Get Christie Love!, Graves is credited as being the first African American woman to star in her own hour long drama television series....
— Christie Love - Harry GuardinoHarry GuardinoHarry Guardino was an American actor whose career spanned from the early 1950s to the early 1990s. In 1964, he was cast in a short-lived CBS series entitled The Reporter, a drama about a hard-hitting investigative journalist named Danny Taylor. His principal co-star was Gary Merrill as city...
— Captain Casey Reardon - Louise Sorel — Helena Varga
- Paul StevensPaul Stevens (actor)Paul Stevens was an American film and television actor.Stevens played Colonel Charles R. Codman in the 1970 film Patton. He appeared in the 1960 film Exodus and the 1969 film Marlowe...
— Enzo Cortino - Ron RifkinRon RifkinRon Rifkin is an American actor. He is best-known for his roles as Arvin Sloane on the spy drama Alias and as Saul Holden on the American family drama Brothers & Sisters.-Personal life:...
— Normand - Lynne Holmes — Celia Jackson
- Lee PaulLee PaulLee Paul is an American actor who has appeared in many television shows primarily in the early and mid 1970s.-External links:*...
— Max Loomis - Titos Vandis — Spiliolis
- Tracey Roberts — Gwen Fenley
- William HansenWilliam Hansen (actor)William Hansen was an American actor.He originated the role of Mr. Lundie in the original Broadway production of Brigadoon in 1947.- Filmography :- External links :...
— Dr. Shepard - Andy RomanoAndy RomanoAndy Romano is an American actor, known for playing "J.D." in the 1960s Beach Party movies ....
— Sergeant Seymour Greenberg - Davis Roberts — Myron Jones
- Bill HendersonBill Henderson (actor)William Randall "Bill" Henderson is an American jazz vocalist and actor in television and film.Henderson was born in Chicago, Illinois. Henderson's acting credits have been numerous. Beginning in the mid-1970s, and continuing to this day, he has frequently appeared on television in supporting,...
— Sergeant Stoner Martin - Deborah Dozier — Amy
- Darlene ConleyDarlene ConleyDarlene Conley was an American actress.Conley's career spanned fifty years, but she was best known for her performances in daytime television, and in particular, for her portrayal of larger-than-life fashion industrialist Sally Spectra on The Bold and the Beautiful. Conley played the role from...
— Virginia
Cultural references
- In a famous scene in Quentin TarantinoQuentin TarantinoQuentin Jerome Tarantino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. In the early 1990s, he began his career as an independent filmmaker with films employing nonlinear storylines and the aestheticization of violence...
's 1992 film, Reservoir DogsReservoir DogsReservoir Dogs is an American crime film marking debut of director and writer Quentin Tarantino. It depicts the events before and after a botched diamond heist, but not the heist itself. Reservoir Dogs stars an ensemble cast: Harvey Keitel, Steve Buscemi, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Chris Penn, and...
, the characters Mr. Pink (Steve BuscemiSteve BuscemiSteven Vincent "Steve" Buscemi is an American actor, writer and film director. An associate member of the renowned experimental theater company The Wooster Group, Buscemi has starred and supported in successful Hollywood and indie films including New York Stories, Mystery Train, Reservoir Dogs,...
), Mr. White (Harvey KeitelHarvey KeitelHarvey Keitel is an American actor. Some of his most notable starring roles were in Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets and Taxi Driver, Ridley Scott's The Duellists and Thelma and Louise, Ettore Scola's That Night in Varennes, Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, Jane Campion's The...
), Mr. Orange (Tim RothTim RothSimon Timothy "Tim" Roth is an English film actor and director best known for his roles in the American films,Legend of 1900, Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Four Rooms, Skellig, Planet of the Apes, The Incredible Hulk and Rob Roy, receiving an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for...
), and "Nice Guy" Eddie Cabot (Chris PennChris PennChristopher Shannon "Chris" Penn was an American film and television actor known for his roles in such films as The Wild Life, Reservoir Dogs, Footloose, Rush Hour, True Romance, All the Right Moves and Pale Rider.-Early life:Penn was born in Los Angeles, California, the youngest son of Leo Penn,...
), engage in a brief discussion regarding Get Christie Love!. - In the 2002 Austin PowersAustin Powers (film series)The Austin Powers series is a series of action-comedy films written by and starring Mike Myers as the title character, directed by Jay Roach and distributed by New Line Cinema...
movie GoldmemberGoldmemberJohan van der Smut, better known as Goldmember, is a fictional agent in the third film of the Austin Powers trilogy, Austin Powers in Goldmember. He is played by Mike Myers. The character was partially inspired by the James Bond's Auric Goldfinger...
, the character Foxxy CleopatraFoxxy CleopatraFoxxy Cleopatra, played by Beyoncé Knowles, was the female counterpart to Austin Powers in the third Austin Powers film: Austin Powers in Goldmember.-Austin Powers in Goldmember:...
uses the famous phrase, "You're under arrest, Sugah!"