The Legend of Nigger Charley
Encyclopedia
The Legend of Nigger Charley is a 1972 blaxploitation
western
film directed by Martin Goldman. The story of a trio of escaped slaves, it was released during the heyday of blaxploitation films.
The film stars Fred Williamson
as Nigger Charley. The film is rated PG in the United States
. It was followed by two sequels, The Soul of Nigger Charley
and Boss Nigger
.
The film was renamed The Legend of Black Charley for broadcast television.
The three fugitives are put down when they engage in everyday activities. For instance, when Charley asks a bartender for three beers, he is asked, "Don't you know your place, nigger?" In response, Charley beats a patron and forces the bartender to flee.
He then tells his friends, "I ain't never gonna be a slave again for no man ... I ain't taking no shit from no white man again. I'm a free man, and that's the way I'm gonna die."
The three seek their freedom in the Old West. But they are chased by a gang of white men on horseback, who vow not to let them go free. Throughout their journey, the escaped slaves meet villains and violence.
The film ends with Charley and his friend, Toby, surviving an intense shootout and riding off. Toby asks "Where shall we go now, Charley?" Charley responds "Don't matter. Wherever we go, there's trouble waiting for us."
read, "Nigger Charley Is Coming."
When it was released in 1972, critic Roger Ebert
awarded the film two stars out of four, criticizing it for being repetitive and exploitative. However, Ebert also wrote that
New York Times film critic Howard Thompson also gave the film a luke-warm review, calling it "fair." He wrote that the film generally "rambles and dawdles, resolving tensions with conventional shootouts, like any standard Western."
Blaxploitation
Blaxploitation or blacksploitation is a film genre which emerged in the United States circa 1970. It is considered an ethnic sub-genre of the general category of exploitation films. Blaxploitation films were originally made specifically for an urban black audience, although the genre's audience...
western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
film directed by Martin Goldman. The story of a trio of escaped slaves, it was released during the heyday of blaxploitation films.
The film stars Fred Williamson
Fred Williamson
Fred "The Hammer" Williamson is an American actor, architect, and former professional American football defensive back who played mainly in the American Football League during the 1960s.-Football career:...
as Nigger Charley. The film is rated PG in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It was followed by two sequels, The Soul of Nigger Charley
The Soul of Nigger Charley
The Soul of Nigger Charley is a 1973 blaxploitation western film directed by Larry Spangler and starring Fred Williamson. It is the sequel to 1972's The Legend of Nigger Charley. It is followed by Boss Nigger...
and Boss Nigger
Boss Nigger
Boss Nigger is a 1975 blaxploitation film directed by Jack Arnold. It stars former football player Fred Williamson, who both wrote and co-produced the film. Boss Nigger is the first film for which Williamson was credited as screenwriter or producer....
.
The film was renamed The Legend of Black Charley for broadcast television.
Plot
Charley, after undergoing a beating by white men, escapes with two fellow slaves before being sold to a different plantation owner. He is put up for sale after his ailing plantation owner says he can no longer afford him.The three fugitives are put down when they engage in everyday activities. For instance, when Charley asks a bartender for three beers, he is asked, "Don't you know your place, nigger?" In response, Charley beats a patron and forces the bartender to flee.
He then tells his friends, "I ain't never gonna be a slave again for no man ... I ain't taking no shit from no white man again. I'm a free man, and that's the way I'm gonna die."
The three seek their freedom in the Old West. But they are chased by a gang of white men on horseback, who vow not to let them go free. Throughout their journey, the escaped slaves meet villains and violence.
The film ends with Charley and his friend, Toby, surviving an intense shootout and riding off. Toby asks "Where shall we go now, Charley?" Charley responds "Don't matter. Wherever we go, there's trouble waiting for us."
Reception
The Legend of Nigger Charley was one of Paramount's highest-grossing movies of 1972. Leading up to its release, a banner in Times SquareTimes Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue and stretching from West 42nd to West 47th Streets...
read, "Nigger Charley Is Coming."
When it was released in 1972, critic Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
awarded the film two stars out of four, criticizing it for being repetitive and exploitative. However, Ebert also wrote that
The Legend of Nigger Charley is frustrating partly because of the high level of acting talent in the cast. When you see fine actors being thrown into exploitative scripts, you begin to get a little angry. If the current group of black-oriented movies has proven anything, it's that there's a large pool of skilled and interesting black actors in Hollywood. Whether it will forever be necessary for them to waste their talents in dumb screenplays is a question that must come to them sometimes late at night.
New York Times film critic Howard Thompson also gave the film a luke-warm review, calling it "fair." He wrote that the film generally "rambles and dawdles, resolving tensions with conventional shootouts, like any standard Western."