Tamara Dobson specifically asked the producers to have Italian fashion designer Giorgio di Sant'Angelo do her costumes for this picture. He would do the same for her in the sequel Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold (1975). Dobson wears ten different outfits in this film.
Cleo's car is a customized black and silver 1973 Corvette Stingray. When she opens the door to get out, the T-bar panel in the roof above the driver's seat automatically opens, so she can get out without squashing her Afro. Five Corvettes were custom-made for the film. One also appears in an episode of The Rockford Files (1974).
The $30M worth of poppies would equate to over $197.4M in 2022.
Although she receives special billing in the opening credits, ("And Shelley Winters as Mommy"), her name does not appear in the end credits.
With the backing of a major studio (Warner Bros.) and two-time Oscar winner Shelley Winters co-starring, this was one of the most expensive blaxploitation films made during that period. It cost $2.5 million when most films in that genre were made for under $1 million.
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