Get Christie Love!

An informant tells "Captain Casey Reardon" (Harry Guardino) of the Los Angeles Police Department that a major heroin shipment is coming in and that a drug-lord's girlfriend named "Helena Varga" (Louise Sorel) has all of the information on a secret ledger. Initially an undercover police detective named "Christie Love" (Teresa Graves) is called in but when her cover is blown she is taken off the case. At least that is what Captain Reardon tells her. Christie, on the other hand, doesn't want to be taken off the case. Therefore she takes it upon herself to dig deeper in order to get Helena to cooperate. Having said all of that, I thought Teresa Graves put on a very good performance despite the inherent limitations a made-for-television movie has placed upon it. I especially liked the flirtatious interplay between Christie Love and Captain Reardon and the way she used her sex appeal to her advantage. Be that as it may, while this movie might seem a bit tame to some viewers, I enjoyed it for the most part and rate it as slightly above average.

It's sad this TV Movie & later a TV series never made it. It was better than some other cop shows that were on at the time. The beautiful Teresa Graves had lots of charm & charisma and made this worth watching. Watered down compared to the Pam Grier movies of the era. Funniest scene is the beginning of this TV movie where Teresa is a cop posing as a hooker and when she tells a "John" her price is $100 he calls her a nigger and she responds with "nigger lover". Try doing that today! Surprising this was 1974. Louise Sorel is a standout as a gangster's girlfriend who gets into a tussle or two with "Christie". I remember how cool I thought Teresa Graves was at the time driving around in her VW Convertible kicking men's butts and karate chopping men taller than she was. The later TV series was just as good, I don't know why it was cancelled, it was more fun than Barnaby Jones or Petrocelli or any of those other shows starring white men (how cliche). I hope they do a remastered DVD of this, the cheapie I have looks like a bad TV print transferred to DVD (snap, crackle, pop!)

"Get Christie Love!" is included in many DVD packages along with "TNT Jackson", and the two films do have a lot of things in common: most importantly, they both have black female action leads who have the right attitude for their roles down pat, but their actual fight scenes leave a lot to be desired. "Get Christie Love" doesn't have nearly as much action as "TNT Jackson", but Teresa Graves is a better actress than Jeanne Bell, and (in my opinion at least) prettier as well. However, this film is hurt by the flat direction, a dreary pace and an uninteresting plot that wastes far too much time with an investigation about an adopted kid. And I have to agree with a previous reviewer, the DVD transfer is pretty bad. You turn the volume almost all the way up and you still can't listen to the dialogue clearly. (**)

I really find it offensive that this site said she "ruined her career" by turning down roles due to religious views. MORE black people needed to do the same so perhaps we still wouldn't be playing prostitutes, gang members, tough cops, scared comic relief aside white actors, and buffoons. She had hire morals and this site calls that a negative? So her infamous comment of the word "nigger" is positive? I am proud of this lady and her courage to NOT play negative roles. WHAT can ANYONE say against that? In todays times it is clear that many actors such as chris Tucker, play the typical scared black man roles, or even greats like richard prior took degrading roles in movies, never playing the brains till eddie murphy gave him the chance, but alas, eddie played the joke next to the white actor when he started off as well with nick nolte. So I feel Ms graves is a hero for black actors and actresses. Better to NOT work than play a pimp... Like the classic movie "hollywood shuffle" so aptly put it, "there is work at the post office"

Blaxploitation flicks were very popular in the early 70's. "Get Christie Love!" was a watered-down TV movie version of this genre about a female detective. It was also turned into a short lived TV series ('74-'75). It's star, Teresa Graves was the first black actress to have a one hour television series. She was featured on "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In", appeared in some films, & was a member of the pop group The Doodletown Pipers. She also released a self-titled solo album in 1970 (songs included "Everybody's Talking'", "My Cherie Amour", "Hey Jude", & "A Time For Us" among others). In the TV movie, Christie is tracking down a drug dealer's ledger. She knocks out the bad guys with her large handbags & karate chops them unconscious. This cartoon aspect of the movie was later toned down in the TV show. I was about 14 when the series was on the air, & it was shown at the same time as the popular "Police Woman" with Angie Dickinson, which never made any sense to me. I liked both shows, so I alternated between them each week. This time slot may have added to it's downfall. (Purchase this on VHS, because the cheapo DVD's that are floating around out there, so far, are atrocious!)