Bucktown (film)

{{Infobox film

| name = Bucktown

| image = Bucktown (film).jpg

| caption = Theatrical Release Poster

| director = Arthur Marks

| producer = Bernard Schwartz

| writer = Bob Ellison

| starring = Fred Williamson
Pam Grier
Thalmus Rasulala
Tony King

| music = Johnny Pate

| cinematography = Robert Birchall

| editing = George Folsey, Jr.

| studio =

| distributor = American International Pictures

| released = {{Film date|1975|7|2}}

| runtime = 94 minutes

| country = United States

| language = English

| budget = $600,000

| gross =

}}

Bucktown, USA is a 1975 American crime action blaxploitation film released by American International Pictures starring Fred Williamson.

Plot

Fred Williamson stars as Duke Johnson, a former black activist who arrives in Bucktown to bury his brother, a bar owner who was killed for refusing to pay crooked white cops for protection. Duke realizes he needs help. After being threatened himself, he contacts his old friend Roy (Thalmus Rasulala) and his associates to come and help. But after disposing of the corrupt constabulary, Roy's gang decide to take over the town for themselves, and the new bosses become as bad as the old bosses. In order to stop them, Duke must defend the town all by himself.Gary A. Smith, The American International Pictures Video Guide, McFarland 2009 p 35

Cast

Fred Williamson as Duke Johnson
Pam Grier as Aretha
Thalmus Rasulala as Roy
Tony King as T.J.
Bernie Hamilton as Harley
Art Lund as Chief Patterson
Tierre Turner as Steve
Carl Weathers as Hambone
Morgan Upton as Sam
Jim Bohan as Clete

Music

The film's score was written by Johnny Pate, and its main theme sung by Luther Rabb. The soundtrack was released by American International Records.

Johnny Pate – Bucktown (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)|http://www.discogs.com/Johnny-Pate-Bucktown-Original-Motion-Picture-Soundtrack/release/1044593

Reception

The New York Times reviewer Vincent Canby gave the film a negative review, calling it "really bad" and "both silly and vicious," though he praised the performances of Williamson and Grier, saying the two "display enough of their own private wit to save the movie from seeming to be quite the mess it is."{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9E03E1DB103CE034BC4B53DFB166838E669EDE |title=Movie Review - Bucktown (1975) Screen:'Witch Mountain':Disney Fantasy Shares Bill With 'Cinderella'. |last=Canby |first=Vincent |authorlink=Vincent Canby|date=July 13, 1975 |work=The New York Times |access-date=July 19, 2012 }}

In a 2012 interview, director Arthur Marks described the film as "a big success," noting that Samuel Arkoff's American International Pictures saw the film and wanted to distribute it (Marks had previously distributed through his own General Film Corporation). He claimed, "it made back its initial cost very quickly, and played every inner-city in the North. It was making --playing the State Lake Theater in Chicago-- at [sic] $60,000 and 70,000 a week." Mark's work with AIP on the film led to their distributing his subsequent films.{{cite AV media

| people = Elijah Drenner (director)

| title = Arthur's Kids: A Conversation with Arthur Marks

| medium = short documentary

| publisher =

| location =

| date = June 29, 2010

| url = http://vimeo.com/27964463}}

Release

Bucktown has been released on DVD by MGM and [https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Bucktown-Blu-ray/226299/ blu-ray], most recently in 2019 by Scorpion Releasing.

Remake

Bucktown was loosely remade as the film Full Clip (2004).{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NNnZAMnSfV4C&pg=PA206|title = My Infamous Life: The Autobiography of Mobb Deep's Prodigy|isbn = 9781439103197|last1 = Johnson|first1 = Albert "Prodigy"|last2 = Checkoway|first2 = Laura|date = 7 February 2012| publisher=Simon and Schuster }} Williamson also borrowed heavily from the film's plot for his 1996 film Original Gangstas, which also co-starred Grier.