IMDb RATING
6.3/10
2.9K
YOUR RATING
Two black bounty hunters, pursuing an outlaw, take over a small Western town without a sheriff.Two black bounty hunters, pursuing an outlaw, take over a small Western town without a sheriff.Two black bounty hunters, pursuing an outlaw, take over a small Western town without a sheriff.
Don 'Red' Barry
- Doctor
- (as Don Red Barry)
Carmen Hayward
- Clara Mae
- (as Carmen Hayworth)
Sonni Cooper
- Wash Lady
- (as Sonny Cooper)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis film was originally going to be shot on location in Tucson, AZ, but this was ultimately dropped when it proved to be too expensive.
- GoofsWhen Boss is being patched up by the good doctor, the doctor uses what appears to be medical tape to get the job done. However, medical tape was invented in the 1920's which was after the end of the Old West era.
- Quotes
Miss Pruitt: Good afternoon, gentlemen. And welcome to our town. My name is Miss Pruitt. I'm the schoolteacher here. But I recall living in Boston and my family had black people working for us. You were good people. They used to sing and dance a lot. I used to love to watch them.
Boss Nigger: Thank you for the welcome, Mam. When you get back to Boston, you can tell my people that you just met two niggers who don't know how to sing or dance.
- ConnectionsEdited into The N Word (2004)
- SoundtracksBoss Nigger
vocal by Terrible Tom
orchestration by Mike Terry
music and lyrics written by Leon Moore and Tom Nixon
music production by Tom Nixon
Featured review
If This is How Blaxploitation Films Work, Make Mine a Double
Boss (Fred Williamson) and Amos (D'Urville Martin) are bounty hunters, riding into the city of San Miguel to collect a reward when they find there's no sheriff. Boss nominates himself the new sheriff, and the reluctant mayor (who is working with the local bandits) goes along with it. Now Boss and Amos must clean up crime, defend the poor and win some women's hearts.
What's really amusing about this film is that it received a PG rating. There's some borderline nudity, and they use the N-word something like 200 times. But they never really swear otherwise, the violence is minimal by western standards and there's no sex (though it's hinted). Having seen other blaxploitation films (such as "Sweet Sweetback") I was surprised by the tameness.
They play really heavily on the race issue, not surprisingly. They even institute "black rules" as the new police, which is awesome (including banning the n-word, despite its prevalent use in this film). But the film is not derogatory to whites or blacks, really. It offers an interesting view where white people must be protected by the black man, and things work out fairly well (much to the people's initial chagrin).
Reviewer Vincent Canby of The New York Times described the film as "a pleasant surprise if you stumble upon it without warning." Canby characterized Williamson's acting as "an immensely self-assured parody of the Man With No Name played by Clint Eastwood in Sergio Leone's films." I agree with the first part, although I think the second part might be giving this film just a little bit too much credit. But, perhaps not.
Canby finished the review by pointing out what made the film notable among black Westerns: "Most black Westerns either ignore race or make it the fundamental point of the movie. (This movie) somehow manages to do both quite successfully." And on this we agree completely -- race was both the issue and yet completely removed from the real point of the film. Which is why it works; it plays on your insecurities while convincing you they don't exist.
If you can get your hands on this one (I don't know how easy that is), I give it a very high recommendation. My only concern is that someone really needs to get a good transfer with quality picture and sound. The quality I saw was a VHS transfer with grainy footage and mediocre sound. This did nothing to take away from the brilliance of the film, but a smart action film like this one deserves better. Give me digital remastering and a Fred Williamson audio commentary.
What's really amusing about this film is that it received a PG rating. There's some borderline nudity, and they use the N-word something like 200 times. But they never really swear otherwise, the violence is minimal by western standards and there's no sex (though it's hinted). Having seen other blaxploitation films (such as "Sweet Sweetback") I was surprised by the tameness.
They play really heavily on the race issue, not surprisingly. They even institute "black rules" as the new police, which is awesome (including banning the n-word, despite its prevalent use in this film). But the film is not derogatory to whites or blacks, really. It offers an interesting view where white people must be protected by the black man, and things work out fairly well (much to the people's initial chagrin).
Reviewer Vincent Canby of The New York Times described the film as "a pleasant surprise if you stumble upon it without warning." Canby characterized Williamson's acting as "an immensely self-assured parody of the Man With No Name played by Clint Eastwood in Sergio Leone's films." I agree with the first part, although I think the second part might be giving this film just a little bit too much credit. But, perhaps not.
Canby finished the review by pointing out what made the film notable among black Westerns: "Most black Westerns either ignore race or make it the fundamental point of the movie. (This movie) somehow manages to do both quite successfully." And on this we agree completely -- race was both the issue and yet completely removed from the real point of the film. Which is why it works; it plays on your insecurities while convincing you they don't exist.
If you can get your hands on this one (I don't know how easy that is), I give it a very high recommendation. My only concern is that someone really needs to get a good transfer with quality picture and sound. The quality I saw was a VHS transfer with grainy footage and mediocre sound. This did nothing to take away from the brilliance of the film, but a smart action film like this one deserves better. Give me digital remastering and a Fred Williamson audio commentary.
helpful•271
- gavin6942
- Nov 18, 2007
- How long is Boss Nigger?Powered by Alexa
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $250,000 (estimated)
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