Boss Nigger

Two black cowboys ride majestically across the American plain. The music is a kind of funk-Morricone, with a singer enthusiastically explaining that "They call him Boss. BOSS N*GGER!" A black woman is being assaulted by a group of white cowboys, our black heroes intervene and save this damsel in distress.

A blaxploitation Western was bound to happen eventually, and its a good thing Fred Williamson got there first. What Boss N*gger lacks in technical proficiency and skill it makes up for in heart and soul. The music is funktacular, especially the catchy theme tune, and the acting from our heroes is wonderful. Boss N*gger also boasts some very funny lines, such as Boss kissing a white woman, before going, "that's just to satisfy your curiosity."

It's slow at parts, but the idea of two black bounty hunters coming to a white town and setting their own rules is appealing, and the film pulls it off. There are also some great shootouts, especially the finale, which is really quite exhilarating, and features a remarkable, almost downbeat ending. This film is by no means a masterpiece, but it is one of the best blaxploitation films I've seen, and an admirable effort on a small budget.

Boss Ni*ger (1975)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Boss (Fred Williamson) and Amos (D'Urville Martin) are bounty hunters who travel to a small town being ran by a corrupt Mayor. Boss is waiting on a bad guy to show up and in the mean time decides to make himself Sheriff, which doesn't sit well with the racist white locals but they're going to learn that there's one way to do things and that's up to the Boss. In case you didn't read the title, this here is blaxploitation 101 and without question the best I've seen from the genre. Director Arnold is best known for CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON but he handles this material perfectly and not only delivers the perfect blaxploitation movies but also a pretty good Western. What works best here is Williamson's screenplay, which clearly shows that he knows how to write dialogue but it also shows he's just as brave as the characters he plays because there are all sorts of rules broken here and this helps keep the viewer on high alert because you never know what's going to happen. Every racist remake ever made towards a black person are present here and played for laughs in how over the top they are but they then lead to some hard hitting action as Williamson really does lay down the Hammer. The racial slurs are downright hilarious especially one scene where a dumb redneck tells Williamson to "shine his shoes" and the Hammer goes up to him acting like a shoe shiner. The way Williamson plays this and eventually pays it off is just downright brilliant and is clearly a highlight of the genre. Some get shot while others are forced to keep handing money over in fines but the Hammer deals with them all. What I respect most about the film and its screenplay is that Williamson isn't afraid to not play by the rules and the reason I say this is because certain people are killed throughout and these are the type of people that never get killed in films like this. The action scenes are great as are the stunts and Arnold knows how to use the slow motion oh so well. In some ways this film spoofs BLAZING SADDLES, which is pretty funny considering that film was a spoof to begin with. The sensitive should probably stay clear but if you want brave and fun film-making than this here is the top of the blaxploitation genre.

Fred Williamson and D'urville Martin are two black bounty hunters that stumble into a town that is sorely in need of a sheriff. So what do they do? Why make themselves the sheriff and deputy of course. Now we know the white folk won't take a liking to that, especially the local bandit (played by William Smith) and his gang a' crackers. Not particularly distinguished from the blaxploitation Western sub-sub genre and not nearly as wild as the name suggests, 'Boss N!gger' is still good fun with a lot of humor (supplied mostly by Martin) and well-directed action scenes.

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.

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.