Boss Nigger

Made at the height of the Black Power movement, Boss N****r (or The Black Bounty Killer) is a blaxploitation western that was written and co-produced by genre legend Fred Williamson. Boss (Williamson) and his friend Amos (D'Urville Martin) are bounty hunters who are looking for wanted man Jed Clayton (William Smith), in order to claim a big reward. When they arrive at a small town where they suspect he may be, they discover it has no sheriff, and is instead being run by corrupt Mayor Griffin (R.G. Armstrong). Tired of being controlled by those damn 'whities', they instate themselves as sheriff and deputy, and stamp their own brand of law enforcement on the community.

Whether this is a genuinely angry film, made in the midst of racial tension and the rise of Black Power, or a satirical play on a familiar scenario with the roles reversed, I'm not sure. It certainly made me feel uncomfortable every now and then. There is only one white character in the whole town that treats the Boss as an equal, and he is quick to stamp his superiority over her as he seduces her. I know, this is a blaxploitation film and the theme is practically always sticking to the whities, but this is the kind of stereotyping that the black community were experiencing themselves at the time, which leads me to believe that it may in fact be a play on this.

However, racial themes aside, this is actually a pretty enjoyable western. It doesn't break any boundaries, but it's a delightfully old- fashioned new-sheriff-in-town story, that is suitably both amusing and action-packed when it needs to be. As the Boss, Williamson employs his impressive screen presence the same way he did in Larry Cohen's Black Caesar, taking no s**t from the townsfolk, and charming the ladies. It also benefits from the fact that is had a bit of a budget, as opposed to most blaxploitation films which often looked cheap and amateurish. Good, bloodless fun, that drops more 'N' bombs than a BNP rally.

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"Boss" (Fred Williamson) and "Amos" (D'Urville Martin) are two bounty hunters out west who just happen to come across some thieves who are dividing their loot. A gunfight breaks out and all of the outlaws are killed with one of them having a bounty on his head. So after pocketing the loot they proceed to ride toward the nearest town when they suddenly discover a young black woman named "Clara Mae" (Carmen Hayward) about to be raped by three or four ruffians who belong to a gang headed by a particularly notorious outlaw named "Jed Clayton" (William Smith). Another gunfight breaks out and after killing all of them Boss and Amos take Clara Mae to a small Mexican village not far from the town they are heading to in order to get their reward money. However, when they get to the town they discover that there is no sheriff and the man who runs things is secretly in cahoots with Jed Clayton. Sensing a golden opportunity, both Boss and Amos decide to set themselves up as the sheriff and deputy respectively. That way they can keep an eye out for Jed Clayton and get paid for doing it at the same time. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this turned out to be an entertaining Blaxploitation-Western for the most part. Although I didn't care for the numerous racial epithets in the script, I must admit that the film contained a couple of surprises here and there which definitely kept things interesting. That said, if a person is in the mood for a relatively good Blaxploitation or Western film then this one might be worth checking out. Slightly above average.

I had wanted to see this movie for a long time, but I could never find it in any video rental stores. The reason for that probably is the provocative title. I finally got a copy of it for a Christmas present and I sat down to enjoy it. I found some things about the movie enjoyable. As others have said here, the title song is very memorable, though the funk music score elsewhere in the movie is equally enjoyable despite not being western-flavor. Also, Williamson's performance here is great. He makes for a charismatic (and amusing) hero that you hope will succeed, and his abusing of the racist town citizens is good for some laughs.

In fact, Williamson's performance comes close to saving the movie - but the movie ultimately disappoints. It's a low-budget movie, with frequent camera set-ups that were obviously set up quickly. As Williamson's sidekick, D'Urville Martin is mostly wasted. In fact, it wouldn't take very much rewriting to remove his character from the script. Speaking of the script, it is filled with scenes that seem to fill no purpose, and partly because of that the movie is VERY slow-moving at times. If all this fat were cut out, the movie would be much, much shorter-running.

If you decide to watch this movie, a warning about the DVD. Although it's presented at its correct aspect ration (2.35:1), the print looks very crummy, and the audio is weak as well.

I love the prototypic and legendary Blaxploitation classics, such as "Black Ceasar" or "Shaft" for example, as much as the next cult cinema fanatic, but I must admit I always had a slight preference for– what I call them – "Blaxploitation with a plus" movies. I refer to the Blaxploitation films that simultaneously also venture into a totally different genre, like horror ("Blackula", "Abby") or psychedelic ("Ganja and Hess") or even Western. "Black Bounty Hunter", which is the alternative title that I'm forced to use because the website doesn't allow the usage of the titular N-word, is one of the only existing Blaxploitation westerns ever made! That little trivia aspect alone makes the film worth tracking down, and then I haven't even mentioned the fact that it is written by and starring the almighty Fred Williamson and directed by B-monster movie veteran Jack Arnold ("Creature from the Black Lagoon", "It came from Outer Space"). The film is fundamentally a parody of the western genre, but with plenty enough violence and action to satisfy hard-boiled genre fanatics, and with stellar acting performances and a funky swinging soundtrack atop. Whilst on the tail of wild west villain Jed Clayton, Boss and his loyal right hand Amos ride through the insignificant and Sheriff-less little town of San Miguel. Without consulting the townsfolk, and much against the will of the cowardly mayor Griffin, Boss declares himself Sheriff and Amos his deputy. They upset the conservative locals with their new laws and freshly invented money penalties, while patiently waiting for Jed to cross their paths. The comedy doesn't always work, except for a few notable moments with D'Urville Martin at his best, but the western action is old-fashioned good! Terrific supportive roles for R.G. Armstrong as the sleazy mayor and the stunning Barbara Leigh as one of Boss' romantic interests.

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.