A bigot named Frank hires men to chase Big Ben (Fred Williamson) off his land, offering a $100 reward for doing so.
When Big Ben strikes back, he’s arrested, handcuffed and put on a stage bound for Boulder Pass for punishment.
The stage never makes it to Boulder Pass.
Sam Spade (Richard Pryor) robs it en route, freeing Big Ben in the process, though leaving him afoot.
From that point on, Big Ben follows Sam from one destination to another, hoping for a big payday.
Mostly he lands in trouble as a result of Sam’s cons, which range from robbing a mine to orchestrating a land swindle.
It reaches the point where Big Ben doesn’t even want to hear the word “amigo.”
Richard Pryor should lose a comedy stripe for this piece of garbage. And if ever two lead characters deserved to be gunned down at the film’s climax for subjecting viewers to an hour and a half of nonsense, it’s these two.
An hour in, you’re still waiting for a plot to develop when it becomes apparent there is no plot.
Just one misadventure after another. Which might be fine, it any of it was funny. Or entertaining. It’s neither.
Williamson’s blaxploitation Westerns aren’t classics, but at least they have a certain cool grit to them.
Here, Williamson engages in a gun versus knife duel. And shoots his opponent’s pants off, leaving him standing in pink underwear.
In another scene, a white man gets jealous because Big Ben has escorted his pretty lady to a dance. Do they shoot it out? Nope. A food fight breaks out.
Perhaps the worst Western of the 1970s.
Directed by:
Fred Williamson
Cast:
Fred Williamson … Big Ben
Richard Pryor … Sam Spade
James Brown … Sheriff
Robert Phillips …. Notary
Mike Henry … Mary’s husband
Suhaila Farhat
Victoria Jee
Lynne Jakcson
Heidi Dobbs
Liz Treadwell
Joy Lober
Thalmus Rasulala … Noah
Runtime: 87 min.
Memorable lines:
Frank: “That’s all you have to do. Just clean that black off that piece of land and you get $100.”
Big Ben: “I wish people would stop calling me amigo. Whenever they do, something bad happens.”
Mexican, standing Big Ben against a wall for his execution: “Your last wish, senor?”
Big Ben: “Not to be here.”
Mexican: “That I cannot grant you.”
Big Ben, as a pretty woman from whom he’s stolen a horse prepares to pull the trigger: “How about a kiss from my executioner?”