The Soul of Nigger Charley (1973) review

 

THE SOUL OF NIGGER CHARLEY 1973

Fred Williamson (Nigger Charley), D’Urville Martin (Toby), Denise Nicholas (Elena), Pedro Armendariz, Jr. (Sandoval), Kevin Hagen (Colonel Blanchard), Kirk Calloway (Marcellus), George Allen (Ode), Bob Minor (Fred), James Garbo (Collins), Michael Cameron (Sergeant Foss), Johnny Greenwood (Roy), Joe Henderson (Lee Travis), Richard Farnsworth (Walker)

Directed by Larry G. Spangler

The Short Version: The controversial LEGEND gets a SOUL sequel that’s even bigger and more polished than before. The score by Frank Sinatra’s musical arranger Don Costa is opulent, alternating between a soaring, traditional western style and European western sensibilities--tinged with that unmistakable 70s funk sound making the movie feel like an epic unfolding as opposed to an adventurous exploitation movie. With a much bigger cast and storyline, THE SOUL OF NIGGER CHARLEY rides with the best westerns of the 1970s.

 

Charley and Toby ride into a town and discover a massacre at the hands of Blanchard the Butcher, a confederate Colonel hellbent on keeping slavery alive and reforming the Confederacy with $100,000 in gold. Blanchard plans to rob a train carrying the gold and split it with General Hooks, his partner across the border in Mexico. Charley and Toby recruit some free blacks living in a small Quaker community. Charley plans to intercept the train ahead of Blanchard to steal the gold in order to buy the freedom of 71 slaves held by General Hooks. However, the General has no intentions of making a deal. On his way to Mexico, Charley is captured by bandit leader Sandoval who decides to sell Charley to the General, but the wily ex-slave quickly turns the tables on the bandito. The two then join forces and with Sandoval's gang of 100 men, ride to the General's fort to settle with him and Colonel Blanchard.

Producer Larry G. Spangler was apparently fond of the Old West. When he wasn’t producing offbeat oaters he was directing and or producing them them. These range from the awful THE LAST REBEL (1971) to the awkward KNIFE FOR THE LADIES (1974). THE SOUL OF NIGGER CHARLEY (1973) is the best of the westerns Spangler directed and or produced through his own production company, Spangler and Sons Pictures.

 

For a successful sequel, everything needs to be bigger and expand on what came before while maintaining a degree of familiarity to the source material. SOUL does all of that. There’s a striking amount of exposition not normally afforded a film referred to as blaxploitation, or even your garden variety exploitation feature. Whereas that label is a more comfortable fit for THE LEGEND OF NIGGER CHARLEY, the more character-centric sequel is a black action picture—spending less time on shootouts, sex and violence, and streams of racial epithets the blaxploitation moniker demands. SOUL strives for more than cheap thrills; and a lot of this is due to Fred Williamson. 

 

The Hammer would never be described as a serious thespian, but he’s got an endless supply of charisma that drives all his performances. In SOUL, he does something he seldom, if ever, did again, and that’s emote. Charley, as depicted in this sequel, has attained folkloric status; a near mythic level hero. In the sequel, Charley embraces the derogatory epithet as if it were an authoritative appellation; he turns the negative connotations of "nigger"  back against the men labeling him. Such as a scene wherein an aristocratic representative of General Hooks refers to our hero in a condescending tone, Charley replies in a commanding voice, "It's MISTER Nigger Charley, to you". He did this in the first film but it's more profound in the sequel.

 

There are a few scenes, though, where we see this revered and feared gunslinger in a vulnerable, emotional state. It’s striking since you rarely saw larger than life heroes take a moment to break down and mourn someone close to them. This kind of pathos evoked by Williamson is refreshing. There’s a little bit of it in the first movie but it's more prevalent in this sequel.

 

 

Another area where SOUL surpasses LEGEND is in the romance between Charley and Elena. The angle with Tricia O'Neill in LEGEND was just there to bridge the next action scene. In SOUL, the script is gracious with its time building the relationship between Charley and Elena (played by Denise Nicholas). There's a curious scripting issue late in the film. When Charley and Sandoval and his mini army ride off to battle with Hooks and Blanchard, Elena stays behind; but without any explanation she turns up at the General's fort in the last scenes.

 

The career of Pedro Armendariz Jr. followed the trajectory of his father. The famous elder made movies in both Mexico and the United States as did the famous younger Armendariz. Both men featured alongside John Wayne--Armendariz senior in the westerns FORT APACHE and 3 GODFATHERS (both 1948); Armendariz junior in THE UNDEFEATED (1969) and CHISUM (1970). Father and son also appeared in James Bond productions--the former in FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE (1963) and the latter in LICENSE TO KILL (1989). Other westerns Pedro Jr. featured in include the underrated GUNS FOR SAN SEBASTIAN (1968), the major misfire MACHO CALLAHAN (1970), the mediocre THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN RIDE! (1972), and the massive missed opportunity that is THE DEADLY TRACKERS (1973). His part in SOUL is one of the better ones. 

 

 

Armendariz Jr (as Sandoval) and Williamson have good chemistry on-screen, and it would've been even better if they had a few more scenes together. One memorable sequence is when Sandoval walks in on Charley who awakens to find Sandoval's woman in bed with him. The two men fight (Bob Minor doubles Williamson in this scene) till they're exhausted and start laughing at the fact they're killing each other over a woman. Sandoval says to Charley as they continue to laugh uncontrollably, "There are some things worth dying for... money, excitement.. even patriotism... but a WOMAN?!"

For all it does exceedingly well, the one area that modestly cripples the film is the weak villains led by "The Butcher", Colonel Blanchard, as played by Kevin Hagen. The bad guys are introduced in a sufficiently sadistic manner; but afterward, Charley and his crew are almost always ten steps ahead of them. They never do anything else to match the evil of their act of violence at the film's outset. That they're frequently made to look foolish lessens the impact of the antagonists and makes them lose some of that threat level they started out with.

After multiple times of being outmaneuvered, Blanchard and his men (along with those of General Hooks) do manage to ambush Charley and his band once they cross the border. Prior to this, Charley underestimates the power of control over not just an individual, but a people. When a slave of General Hooks brings Charley a message that one slave per day will die for every day his gold isn't returned, Charley tells the man he's now free, but the scared man says he must return or else his family will be killed. What Charley doesn't take into account is that this man--a black man--would betray him and reveal his plans to the General. So when Charley and nine of his freedom fighters sneak into Hooks' headquarters, they walk into an ambush. 

 

There's this back and forth chess game between Nigger Charley and Colonel Blanchard; but perplexingly, Blanchard and Charley never meet face to face, nor does Charley deliver the killing blow to him; Toby does. It's curious why director Spangler didn't have his main hero and villain have a fistfight and concluding gun battle since the movie is built around these two men vying to wipe the other out. That they never exchange words nor fists damages the ruthlessness inherent in Blanchard and his rampaging gang of racist killers.

Hagen’s Colonel Blanchard is possibly modeled on the confederate guerrilla leader William Clarke Quantrill who led what was known as Quantrill’s Raiders. They were a serious threat during the Reconstruction Era that lasted approximately 40 years beginning in 1861. Led by Quantrill, his Raiders were a pro-slavery gang of cutthroats that included the James brothers, “Bloody”  Bill Anderson and Joel Mayes, a Cherokee Nations war chief.

Many Indian tribes took slaves, like the Apache, Seminoles and Chickasaw; and not just captives of enemy tribes, but blacks as well. The Cherokee were among the Indian tribes that enslaved Africans. 

As for Quantrill references, the opening slaughter is potentially based on the infamous Lawrence, Kansas massacre that occurred on August 21st, 1863. By that time, the US Army had ordered that anyone giving aid to Quantrill and his men would be arrested. At the beginning of SOUL, the killing and razing of the town is due to the townsfolk—made up of black and white residents—refusing to give supplies to Colonel Blanchard and his men.

Hagen played some despicable characters such as a Confederate deserter and rapist-murderer in the epic western SHENANDOAH (1965); another rapist killer in the BILLY JACK clone starring William Smith GENTLE SAVAGE (1972); and a psychopath who comes to a macabre bad end in the season 9 episode of GUNSMOKE, ‘No Hands’. Hagen of course, will forever be best remembered as Doc Baker on LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE (1974-1983). 

The most colorful of the villains is this albino character that Spangler curiously kills off thirty minutes into the movie. With such a unique look, it would’ve been more compelling to keep him around till the finale. This is another bizarre filming decision that makes as much sense as not having the leading protagonist and antagonist have the expected duel at the finale.

As for General Hooks, he’s only seen once, and you never get a good look at his face. He’s not included in the credits, but it appears that director Spangler may have played the villainous General. As for the historical significance of there being a General in Mexico maintaining slaves, the practice was abolished in Mexico in 1829. No date is given for when this film takes place, but it's presumed to be set during the Reconstruction Era sometime between 1865-1877. 

 

Unlike the poor quality bootleg that has been the only source to see this movie, this new restoration allows for a clearer visual of the General surrounded in shadow that you could barely discern before. If you'd like to compare screenshots between this new review and our old one from 2010, you can click HERE.

Williamson and Martin would costar together in another western, 1975s BOSS NIGGER for director Jack Arnold. The first half of that film is of a comedic nature; but once William Smith—the underrated actor The Hammer called “the toughest man alive”—makes his presence known, the movie turns totally serious. Williamson and Martin did many movies together and SOUL is one of their best collaborations.

As was touched on in the new review for the first film, had there been one or more legitimate sequels to make a longer-running series it would’ve been interesting to see Charley and Toby meet up with a regiment of Buffalo Soldiers; they being black soldiers who fought for the US Army against not only the Confederacy, but against Indian threats from the likes of the Apache, Kiowa and Comanche tribes.

 

 

Something that can make or break a movie is its music score, and the one SOUL is saddled with is epic. Don Costa, the musical arranger for Frank Sinatra, composed it--his one and only film score. The soundtrack spans a rousing, traditional western score with slivers of 70s funk, and cues of the European western variety. Standouts are the main theme and the Euro-fueled cue 'Sandoval'.

 

Compared to the LEGEND, the SOUL is a bigger and better movie. It's not blaxploitation in the purest sense of that term, it's a black action movie; and more accurately, it's simply a good and very entertaining western. A few fumbles and bizarre filming choices aside, Spangler directed a superior sequel that's polished and professional in virtually every way. Of all the westerns Fred Williamson did (the two NIGGER CHARLEY films; BOSS NIGGER; TAKE A HARD RIDE; JOSHUA; ADIOS, AMIGO), you could make a case that from a filmmaking perspective, THE SOUL OF NIGGER CHARLEY is the best of that wild, and wildly uneven, bunch.

This review is representative of the Imprint blu-ray part of the Blaxploitation 4-film box set including THE LEGEND OF NIGGER CHARLEY (1972), SUPERFLY TNT (1973) and DETROIT 9000 (1973). Specs and extras: 1080p 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen from a new 4K restoration; audio commentary by filmmaker/critic Mike Sargent; interview with Fred Williamson; running time: 01:49:28.

The Legend of Nigger Charley (1972) review

 

THE LEGEND OF NIGGER CHARLEY (onscreen title: THE LEGEND OF BLACK CHARLEY) 1972

Fred Williamson (Nigger Charley), D’Urville Martin (Toby), Don Pedro Colley (Joshua), Thomas Anderson (Shadow), John Ryan (Houston), Tom Pemberton (Willie), Tricia O’Neil (Sarah Lyons), Jerry Gatlin (Sheriff Rhinehart), Gertrude Jeannette (Theo), Keith Prentice (Niles Fowler), Alan Gifford (Hill Carter), Doug Rowe (Dewey Lyons), Marcia McBroom (Leda), Joe Santos (Reverend Jarvis Kessler)

Directed by Martin Goldman 

The Short Version: Former football star Fred Williamson tackles his first leading role in the remarkable, if rough around the edges, THE LEGEND OF NIGGER CHARLEY. It wasn’t the first black western, but certainly the most controversial and influential. Director Martin Goldman’s movie wants to be more than exploitation but it never rises above being anything more than escapist entertainment. Peppered with some great lines, a real camaraderie between the actors, an out of place soundtrack (save for the fitting ‘In the Eyes of God’ by rock n roll hall of famer Lloyd Price), and an episodic narrative, Charley’s LEGEND is finally available again after 40 years of  obscurity.

 

The dying master Hill Carter, at the behest of his housekeeper Theo, promises the freedom of her adopted son, Charley, a blacksmith slave living on his Virginia plantation. The evil Houston, who’s biding time till Carter’s death to take control of his plantation, tears up the letter of Charley’s freedom. In a rage, Charley kills Houston and becomes a runaway slave along with his friends Toby and Joshua. Pursued by slave wrangler Niles Fowler, Charley and his friends eventually kill their pursuers in a fierce gun battle. Earning a reputation as a heroic gunfighter, Charley and his now five-man band are recruited to protect a family from a psychotic preacher and his bandit gang.

 

Television Director Martin Goldman had a minor career in the movie business and this once hard to see blaxploitation western was the only film he was known for. THE LEGEND OF NIGGER CHARLEY (1972) is a film that should be better known rather than the little seen obscurity it’s been for decades. Despite this, it was a sizable hit back in 1972 and helped propel its star, Fred Williamson, into a long-lasting action film career. 

Generally, when many discuss  blaxploitation, it encompasses any films with multiple or entirely black leading stars and cast—black exploitation cinema. The word “exploitation” denotes films that exploit certain filmic elements to outrageous levels to sell a product. Where a major studio picture may have violent content, a low budget picture that can’t compete monetarily will do so by making violent content the emphasis of the film. This tends to include heavy doses of nudity and or sex, or explicit language designed to elicit an emotional response in viewers.

The term “blaxploitation”  is somewhat deceptive since a number of these films that were geared towards black audiences and were given this label are serious motion pictures with more of a story to tell than scenes of brutal violence at regular intervals. THE LEGEND OF NIGGER CHARLEY (1972) wants to do both and doesn’t entirely succeed at being either purely exploitation or a serious western. The sequel, THE SOUL OF NIGGER CHARLEY (1973), is quite different in this respect. That film is also getting a new, updated review from the one linked above. You can read the review for the restored version HERE.

LEGEND is rated PG, in spite of its subject matter. Occasionally violent, there’s no nudity (other than a mild sex scene) but it does have an abundance of  incendiary language that’s tossed around so regularly, it’s apparent what co-writers Martin Goldman and Larry G. Spangler were trying to do. Hurling epithets is a cheap method to rile up an audience against a film’s antagonists, but effective nonetheless.

 

 

The script is episodic, feeling like a three-chapter arc. Part one is Charley gaining his freedom; part two is Charley and his friends being tracked down to a small town by a posse of slave hunters; and part three is Charley being hired to help protect a passive couple from a mad preacher and his gang. It's an action-oriented script that contains an occasional bit of humor. One comedic moment involves a run-in with a group of Indians that may have inspired Mel Brooks for a similar scene in BLAZING SADDLES (1974). In it, the young Indians surround Charley and his two friends. Curious of their darker skin, one of the Indians rubs Charley's face. Charley then returns the favor by brushing his hand against the Indian's face, showing him that neither color has rubbed off. 

 

The writers also tried to create compelling and or interesting protagonist characters that went beyond the standard of the genre. Focusing solely on Williamson would’ve been adequate, but they include two additional characters (and a few supporting ones) for Charley to interact with. There's a genuine rapport between Charley, Toby and Joshua.

 

 

Don Pedro Colley is perfect as the kindly, soft-spoken Joshua. He'll forever be remembered for his role as Ongaro, a mutant human in BENEATH THE PLANET OF THE APES (1970) who utters the classic line, "We are a peaceful people. We don't kill our enemies. We get our enemies to kill each other". He appeared with Williamson again in 1972 in BLACK CAESAR.

D'Urville Martin was a natural at playing good-natured sidekicks. He had several small roles in mainstream Hollywood pictures before black-themed movies gave him the opportunity for much larger parts. Like Don Pedro, Martin featured in BLACK CAESAR as well. A regular actor in The Hammer's films, he co-starred with Williamson again in 1975s BOSS NIGGER, another western that could be viewed as a loose third chapter in the NIGGER CHARLEY saga even though Williamson and Martin aren't playing the same characters. Martin would later show he could both direct a movie and play its main villain in the iconic DOLEMITE (1975) starring Rudy Ray Moore.

Rounding out Charley's band of gunfighters...

 

 

Willie, a 16-year old gunslinger (played by Tom Pemberton) who prefers the showy technique of fanning his gun, joins Charley, who quickly takes to the young boy in a father and son way. Unfortunately, this plot point is only explored just enough to get the message across. Then there's the worldly Shadow (played by Thomas Anderson), who has many stories to tell of his exploits and personal slaving--highlighting his winning a Comanche woman in a card game... only to turn around and sell her for a drumstick.

 

 

John P. Ryan is the wild-eyed and vicious slave master Houston. He's way over the top with his relentless obscenities hurled at Charley and his treatment of others, particularly Charley's girlfriend Leda. Most genre fans know him from Larry Cohen's IT'S ALIVE (1974) and IT LIVES AGAIN (1978). He was a regular in Cannon Films like AVENGING FORCE (1986), DEATH WISH 4: THE CRACKDOWN (1987), and DELTA FORCE 2: THE COLOMBIAN CONNECTION (1990). He was also memorable as a robot teacher in Terminator mode in CLASS OF 1999 (1990).

 

The beautiful Tricia O'Neill made her film debut here, having been a stage actress prior. She isn't given much to do, looking dour the entire time, never smiling. Her expression tells her story without having to utter much dialog. She showed off her lovely figure in THE GUMBALL RALLY (1976) and had the lead role in the underrated PIRANHA 2: THE SPAWNING (1981) directed by James Cameron. She worked with Cameron again in a minor appearance in TITANIC (1997).

LEGEND begins in 1820 with simulated B/W footage shot as if we’re watching a documentary. We see an African tribe taking members of an enemy tribe and selling them as slaves to foreigners to be sold in the Americas, the Middle East and European territories. This opening doesn’t audibly explain the historical facets of the slave trade, it’s simply giving us the bare minimum to move the plot along. 

One of the captives is a pregnant woman who gives birth on her way to the ship she’s being taken away on. The baby boy is the child who will grow up to be the runaway slave of the film’s title.

 

And now for the man himself... 

As Charley, Fred Williamson is, like the film he's starring in, rough around the edges. It being his first lead role, it wasn’t long before The Hammer was wearing action hero parts as comfortably as an old pair of shoes. He was never a great actor but the roles he played didn’t require he be; charisma sold the man and Williamson has no shortage of that. The script does offer multiple occasions for Williamson to emote, and he puts in a good effort. Regardless of what many critics would say, he does a better job in these moments than you'd expect of an new action star in the making.

Black westerns didn't begin with LEGEND, but went as far back as the 1920s. Bill Pickett, for example, was a black cowboy, rodeo star and actor who starred in movies like 1921s CRIMSON SKULL. Pickett’s father was a former slave as was the woman Pickett would marry in 1890. He owned his own horse-breaking and cattle company, too. His life is indeed worth bringing to the big screen.

 

Then there’s HARLEM ON THE PRAIRIE from 1937, the first western with an all black cast starring Herb Jeffries (who had an intriguing life all his own that's worth being made into a movie). Then there’s Woody Strode, who started in SERGEANT RUTLEDGE in 1960. Sydney Poitier costarred with James Garner in DUEL AT DIABLO (1966). And also in 1972, released weeks before Williamson’s LEGEND, was BUCK AND THE PREACHER starring Sydney Poitier (who also directed) and Harry Belafonte. With the success of Williamson's western, Paramount Pictures would then distribute the bizarre, independently produced CHARLEY ONE-EYE in 1973 starring SHAFT himself, Richard Roundtree.

What’s unique about NIGGER CHARLEY and its sequel is that Williamson’s hero isn’t written as a typically linear protagonist. He’s more like a real human being with as many flaws as ideals. When he shows interest in going back to help the poor rancher, Toby questions if he's doing it for the purposes of justice or to bed down with the man's half-breed wife. In a later scene after the group return to help Dewey Lyons against Jarvis, a villainous preacher and his gang, the wife, Sarah, asks Charley why he came back. He says he's not sure if he did it for the right reasons. You normally wouldn't get this kind of thing in an action picture; it’s not the behavior of what defines a typical good guy.

 

It’s a shame this series didn't have more sequels, as there are additional historical stories relevant to the subject matter that could've expanded on the character of Charley. For example, millions of slaves sold to the Arabs were then sold to the Chinese—who likewise enslaved their own people as other countries did in those times. A potential sequel could’ve seen Charley set sail for China to free slaves there; or in India or some other Asian country.

 

The film’s title was controversial in its day and, as Fred Williamson gambled, key to the picture's success and ability to attract attention. That doesn’t mean that some territories didn’t get nervous about promoting the movie with its eyebrow-raising title. In certain areas, the movie was advertised as “The legend of Charley” or “The Legend of Black Charley”. The altered title on this print is the latter moniker. If you want to read our old review from 2010 to compare images then and now, that bootleg version retains the film's original title and can be read HERE.

 

The most jarring thing about the film is its soundtrack by music producer John Bennings. It doesn't sound anything like a western film score; replacing traditional sweeping cues of either the American or Italian spectrum, it settles for a funky sound indigenous to the black action genre. The cues aren't bad, just that they feel out of place in a western movie. However, two songs feel perfectly aligned with the film--those being 'In the Eyes of God'  that opens the film and the main title song that closes it, 'The Legend of Nigger Charley', both of which bear the vocal excellence of Rock n' Roll Hall of Famer Lloyd Price.

Seeing the film in a restored version allows for a better appreciation of the filmmakers efforts. It's a slightly above-average film in the genre, hampered by some wobbly scenes that go on too long--possibly due to the television roots of director Goldman. Charley's inaugural exploits were successful enough to ensure more black westerns--and even the bigger budgeted, more controversial Paramount production, MANDINGO (1975). Charley's second adventure is an improvement; but the LEGEND is a good start, as well as a satisfying beginning to the film career of Fred Williamson.

This review is representative of the Imprint Blaxploitation 4-disc bluray box set paired with THE SOUL OF NIGGER CHARLEY (1973), SUPERFLY TNT (1973) and DETROIT 9000 (1973). Specs and extras: 1080p 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen presentation from a new 4K restoration; audio commentary by filmmaker/critic Mike Sargent; interview with Josiah Howard, author of Blaxploitation Cinema; radio spot; Running time: 01:39:44