This weekend, after polishing off a triple bill of Hitchcock films that I'd never seen before, I waded in, neck deep, to the world of Westerns, espionage, travel agents and extremely offensive film titles.
My Panasonic UB820 worked it's way in to life and dutifully played back two titles that are the subject of much controversy. First up a co-directed blaxploitation film from former pro-footballer Fred Williamson and Creature From The Black Lagoon director, Jack Arnold comes 1975 Western, Boss N***** (intentionally redacted). This was followed up immediately by 1960 Hammer espionage epic Visa To Canton (aka Passport To China in the USA). Both films court their own controversies, but both would prove to be eye openers.
Boss N*****, or Boss (also it's Blu Ray re-titled name) as I'll refer to it from hence forth, is supposedly the final film in a Fred Williamson trilogy. Boss was not only co-directed by Williamson, but also written by him. As far as I know it's one of maybe 10 black Western films (please correct me if this is incorrect) but also one of the most infamous for pretty obvious reasons. Yet underneath the shock factor of the film title is a pretty frickin' good Western film. Better than a lot of other Westerns I have seen over the years. What is intriguing to read is that during the making of the film in 1974, it was still a pretty raw time in the United States in terms of racial tensions, the Vietnam War, Watergate and so on. You would have thought this film, on the surface, and to the uninformed, would be nothing more than vile, racist dross.
But it isn't.
Boss takes an interesting turn on a Western where the sheriff and his deputy, whom are both black bounty hunters, arrive in a primarily white township but are quick to stamp their authority, and inadvertently begin to correct the errors of many of the townsfolks ways. Imposing fines for use of the N word, spells in jail for being rude to other citizens and so on. This is played out with a great aura of parody and some comedic one liners, but when you scratch a bit further through the layers of the film, it's really Williamson and Arnold making a pretty clear statement of intent with regards race relations and setting the record straight that we are all equals. This is especially reinforced by the tough, no-nonsense approach the bounty hunters take and how quickly, simply and easily the white township's approach to race is curtailed and mocked. It's actually done really well and I applaud the film for it.
The film itself is standard Western fare about the new sheriff in town making his mark and all the rest of it. But you can see how co-directing with Jack Arnold and also having a fairly stellar cast with previous Western pedigree brings this film up a level. It's no award-winner, though it is really well shot and has some superb gunfights and fight sequences, though sometimes it does slip and all looks a bit hokey but quickly issues are corrected. I wasn't really expecting the ending at all, and there is a fairly good twist near the end. You think you have the film figured out but a curveball is thrown and you really can do nothing but tip your hat to Williamson for a great story.
Boss N***** really is badass. It's well shot, reasonably well-acted and has a superb and funky 70's disco score (albeit the title song is very catchy and makes it's point, it's most certainly not something you would want as an earworm!). It's a great shame that the Blu Ray edition, while keeping the original and uncensored score and title credits intact, suffers greatly from a very shoddy transfer. Colours are all over the place and what looks like a negative that would have really excelled with a proper remaster and perhaps the HDR treatment, instead looks like a rush job to make a quick buck as cheaply as possible. I've wanted to watch Boss for about the last 20 or so years, when I first heard about it. Sure, the film title piques curiosity and shock, but for me it was about seeing what this particular take on a Western could deliver. Thankfully the film is far more than 90 minutes of dross and a shocking title. Boss N***** is actually good. It's very good.
Next up was 1960 Hammer spy epic Visa To Canton. A travel agent is recruited by the FBI (yes really) to spy on China in order to find out what really happened after a plane is shot down near Canton. It's all very light and breezy stuff, very procedural and is all over in a mere 75 minutes. In contrast to Boss, Visa To Canton is very much a film of it's time and today is marred by utterly blatant whitewashing and racism which for me totally erased any real connection I may have made with regards my enjoyment of the film. Sure, it's a fairly esoteric and fantastical story, but the whole thing is let down by mediocre acting and the blatant 'yellow people' factor. We're talking about key cast members in full yellowface and additional make up to Asianify themselves. It's just not acceptable and I couldn't look past this, especially when 95% of the supporting cast is Asian. Why couldn't they cast them in leading roles instead? It's a s**t thing which still goes on today sadly.
There's not really much else to say about Visa To Canton as there really is very little substance to it. I did find interesting the little historical quips, especially the old country names like Formosa being in use. A reminder that this film was made very much in a different time, a different era of World history. It's just a film that isn't really executed all that well, which is a shame as I went in to the film blind and had really high hopes for it. I'd genuinely like to see a remake some day, I feel an up to date 2020's version could be really good. I can but hope.
Watch this one as a curiosity but don't hope for much more. It's really not that good and is also blatantly racist.
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