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.[1]
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."[3]
In a 2012 interview, director Arthur Marks described the film as "a big success," noting that Samuel Arkoff'sAmerican 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.[4]
Release
Bucktown has been released on DVD by MGM and blu-ray, most recently in 2019 by Scorpion Releasing.
Remake
Bucktown was loosely remade as the film Full Clip (2004).[5] Williamson also borrowed heavily from the film's plot for his 1996 film Original Gangstas, which also co-starred Grier.
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