The Legend of Nigger Charley (1972)

Director:

Martin Goldman

Writers:

James Bellah (story), Martin Goldman (screenplay),

Stars:

Fred Williamson, D'Urville Martin, Don Pedro Colley

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Fred Williamson	...	Nigger Charley
D'Urville Martin	...	Toby
Don Pedro Colley	...	Joshua
Thomas Anderson	...	Shadow
Jerry Gatlin	...	Sheriff Rhinehart
Alan Gifford	...	Hill Carter
Will Hussing	...	Dr. Saunders (as Will Hussung)
Gertrude Jeannette	...	Theo
Fred Lerner	...	Ollokot
Marcia McBroom	...	Leda
Bill Moor	...	Walker
Tricia O'Neil	...	Sarah Lyons
Tom Pemberton	...	Willie
Keith Prentice	...	Niles Fowler
Douglas Rowe	...	Dewey Lyons (as Doug Rowe)

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

african american | first part | blaxploitation | racial slur in title | street shootout | 

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Taglines:

Somebody warn the West. Nigger Charley ain't running no more.

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Genres:

Western

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 October 1972 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

The Legend of Black Charley

Filming Locations:

Charles City, Virginia, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (TVC)

Did You Know?

Trivia

In Sept. 1972, Paramount was widely distributing this film on a double bill with Hannie Caulder starring Raquel Welch.

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Connections

Featured in 42nd Street Forever, Volume 1 (2005)

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Soundtracks

"The Legend of Nigger Charlie"
Sung by Lloyd Price

User Reviews

more balanced and interesting than the sequel

Though SOUL OF N*GGER CHARLEY is more professionally constructed and filmed, I found it less interesting than LEGEND OF N*GGER CHARLEY. To begin with, Fred Williamson is actually called upon to do a bit of acting in LEGEND. Though the character transition is rushed, Williamson initially portrays Charley as hard-working and respectful (his Master has always treated he and his mother with kindness), and later (after having his promised freedom stolen away from him by the cruel, presumptive heir to his Master's estate), as a defiant, avenging hero. In SOUL, on the other hand, he's pretty much a defiant hero from beginning to end, his performance varying only when called upon to show a bit of sadness and remorse near the end.

Further, LEGEND struck me as the more balanced of the two films. In SOUL, there is not a single white man in a featured role who is not portrayed as a villain. In fact, even in smaller roles, the only white men who are not evil are the Quakers who appear very briefly, denying Charley their assistance due to a vow of non-violence. Contrast this with LEGEND in which three of the six white men in featured roles (the original Master, the Sheriff, and the farmer who married a half-breed) are not portrayed as racist. They may be ineffectual, but they're not evil men.

All that said, the story in LEGEND is padded and truly scattered. I would definitely watch it again though... something I cannot say for SOUL.

Finally, I must note the irony that the version of LEGEND on the BLAX FILM disc censors the words "shit" and "ass", but not N*GGER, whereas IMDb allows both "shit" and "ass", but not "the N-word", despite its being in the title of the film!