Scott LeBrun 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.

tavm This is the first of there 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.

kohntarkosz 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! ;-)

pooch-8 Unfortunately, William Girdler's 1975 Sheba, Baby is one of Pam Grier's weaker vehicles. Playing a Chicago-based private investigator who flies to the South in order to help her father save his loan business from corrupt sharks, Grier has fewer that usual opportunities to pull out the stops. Additionally, Grier is hampered the most by a substandard script and little chance to do what she does best. Despite the lethargic pacing, a climactic speed boat chase -- which culminates in a nasty skewering at the end of a harpoon -- should please fans of the genre. Jack Hill's 1973 Coffy is a far superior Pam Grier movie.