The Legend of Nigger Charley (1972)

A slave kills a white man in self-defense and heads West towards freedom, pursued by a professional slave hunter.

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 Hussung	...	Dr. Saunders
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

A slave kills a white man in self-defense and heads West towards freedom, pursued by a professional slave hunter.

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Plot Keywords:

beer | whiskey | saloon | plantation | cigar smoking | 

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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:

Tucson, Arizona, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Eaves Movie Ranch, Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (TVC)

Did You Know?

Trivia

A.K.A. The Legend of Black Charley. (Via Bounce TV, 1:30AM-3:30AM, 07/06/15)

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Connections

Referenced in Lovelace (2013)

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Soundtracks

The Legend of Nigger Charley
Music and Lyrics by John Bennings
Sung by Lloyd Price

User Reviews

From the previous comment about this film

I saw this seldom seen film back when it first came out in theaters back in 1972. I was about eight years old at the time when my parents took me to see this film at the local drive-in theatre(when they had a lot of them back in the day),and this was on a double bill with another blaxploitation flick as well....The Jim Brown action vehicle from 1972 called "Slaughter". Speaking of the title of the film,and from the previous comment that was mentioned here is this,the key word here is not the word "legend",but the main word,and in the theatre marque is the word "n*gger". This film sparked of lot of controversy when it first came out and it really shocked me when I first saw it myself with my parents at the drive-in theatre where it was playing,and again years later during a screening of this picture on a college campus during a discussion session of the blaxploitation period in Black Cinema during the month of February...around the time of Black History Month.

And after all these years,why hasn't this movie been out on either video or DVD? For one,this film will never see the light of day on any video store shelf or for that manner anywhere no time soon,due to the powers that be and the board of administration of the NAACP and several other organizations,that called this film "totally racist and replusive at the level". Reason,the people who distribute this film,and its producers at the time this film was being made,especially from fame Italian/Hollywood producer Dino DeLaurentiis and the studio executives at Paramount Pictures,which released the distribution rights to this film. Paramount will never released this film on video,since it does have the title of the word "n*gger" in the name of this film,henceforth to its other title,"The Legend of Black Charley" or its other title too: "The Revenge of Black Charley",will never be released. The only way you will get to see this classic blaxploitation film is through either on a college campus during a screening of this during a film criticism class or through various other places,during private screenings.

Even though this is one blaxploitation film that does have no redeeming value since for all the violence that it endures throughout,and the use of the "N" word along with the stereotyping of minorities and excessive scenes,I never could understand why this film ended up with a "PG" rating at the time of its release,which came out in 1972. The film stars former NFL great/blaxploitation cinema king Fred "Hammer" Williamson as the title character of Charley,a slave who gets beaten too many times by his sadistic master who escapes,and becomes a violent wild west outlaw,and gunslinger,who is feared and despised by every white man in his path. And why not? Once he is loose and on the warpath, Charley gets his revenge on every white man who is out to get him. Once Charley has the upper hand and his revenge,he proves to be just as psychotic,sadistic,and down-right brutal as was his former masters. Even towards the end of the film,Charley gets even with his former master,who was out to killed him,but does Charley gets his freedom? Like hell he does. It may have been outdated now,but this movie pervaded of lot of African-Americans when it came out,especially when it appeals to let's get even in 1.5 hours for 400 years of depression. Hence the title of the movie.

The sequel,"The Soul Of Black Charley",was released by producer Dino DeLaurentiis and distributed by Paramount Pictures in 1973. Again hence the title of the word,"n*gger",in the 4th word of the title,and this time around it pervaded of lot of African-Americans again,and when this movie came out it sparked a lot of protest in the theaters,and gain some controversy from the folks at the NAACP and other organizations. And to this day,its sequel will never see the light of day on either video or DVD,despite the title of the film and the pervaded folks who raise hell about it:hence the title of the movie. And also,the only way you will see this too is on the college circuit during screenings of films that were made for discussion not to mention the private screenings at certain places,and on the college courses that have film criticism certaining Black Cinema. Hence the year 1973,when this film was released and the sparks that flew from black leaders when this came out.Again,the sequel brings back Fred Williamson as Charley and this time around he is on the loose and got some of his runaway slave buddies(or in the tagline "SOUL BROTHERS")with him to settle the score,and they better watch out! This time around there is enough excessive violence and profanity and racial words around to fill the void and not to mention it basically stereotypes minorities,especially when it concerns African-Americans and Native Americans(The American Indian). Some of the scenes in this film were in fact very graphic in parts and some were just hilarious,hence of all the violence that occurs and the strict "R" rating it received when it was shown in theaters. The sequel is not that good,but still it was grand entertainment all around.