BUCKTOWN (1975)

Bucktown (1975)
Directed by: Arthur Marks
Written by: Bob Ellison
Starring: Art Lund, Carl Weathers, Fred Williamson, Pam Grier, Thalmus Rasulala, Tony King

BUCKTOWN (1975)
Directed Arthur Marks

Following the death of his brother Ben, Duke Johnson arrives in Bucktown to attend his brother’s funeral and reading of the will. Discovering he is the sole inheritor of Ben’s estate, he’s convinced by one of the locals to open up Ben’s old bar, The Alabama Club, if only to make it a more attractive purchase when he comes to sell it. However, Duke doesn’t realise that the town is run by corrupt police officers who take a particular dislike to the black community within Bucktown and decide to deal out punishment with their fists when they don’t receive their ‘protection’ money. Unwilling to be extorted, Duke decides to take matters into his own hands and invites his old friend Roy and his gang to help sort them out. What Duke doesn’t realise is that Roy’s plans for the neighbourhood may be worse than those of the police.

The worst is yet to come in Blaxploitation movie BUCKTOWN as protagonist Duke, played by Fred Williamson, discovers that his friend Roy (Thalmus Rasulala) has designs on taking over Bucktown and making money off the people himself instead of helping to liberate the community. Duke’s naivety sees him blindsided by his old friend’s selfishness and corruption as the black community find themselves being extorted and assaulted more than what they were before, and to make matters worse it’s by someone of their own ethnicity.

Outside of the fight to free the town, we see handsome charmer Duke take the eye of Pam Grier’s sassy Aretha who was close to his deceased brother Ben. She helps Duke get acquainted with the town and its people upon his arrival, especially the once bustling bar of The Alabama Club. He also meets Harley (Bernie Hamilton), a well meaning guy who likes a drink or two, who Aretha watches over, but being friends with Duke makes them prime targets when the feud begins between Duke and Roy and his men.

Whilst we have a blossoming romance within the film, it’s predominantly the threat of Roy and his men which the story focuses on. With Roy trying to rope Duke in to be a partner in running the town and keeping a pot of money to one side in case he changes his mind, Duke’s resistance to the takeover ignites a fury within Roy’s gang. One ruthless member in particular, known as TJ (Tony King), spies an opportunity to break the friendship of Duke and Roy apart. As a result, this would allow them to claim the extra pot of money for themselves and extort Duke’s business too with Roy having excluded Duke from his protection racket. This tense back and forth between Roy, the gang and Duke and his friends sees the trouble escalate as lives and businesses are put on the line. It’s on the edge of your seat stuff as you don’t know where it will end and whether Duke will be able to save his friends from the brutality of TJ and the gang as the relationship between Duke and Roy deteriorates to the point of no return.

Fans of blaxploitation will have plenty of fun with BUCKTOWN especially as it spirals into its final third. There’s fisticuffs, explosions and shoot-em-ups aplenty as things come to a head before the final big fight whilst Johnny Pate’s score and Luther Rabb’s funky main theme perfectly encapsulate the vibe of the movie.

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