I had never heard of this film before it was screened in my westerns class, and unfortunately this film has often gone overlooked even when discussing black westerns. It's too often labeled as a blaxploitation imitation of Bonnie and Clyde, but in this case the titular outlaws are more overtly fighting against the bigoted small-town establishment that hunts them down, and have a clearer Robin Hood, give-to-the-poor motivation that makes them immediately easy to sympathize with; not to mention the thin ice anyone who tries to compare a lesser-known black film to a popular white-led film is treading, and the fact that this comparison is simply surface-level and beyond reductive to what the film aims for. I'd hesitate to even call it blaxploitation, as it leans less into the stereotypes of that genre and serves a much more tender, often romantic narrative for its title characters. As a 70s western, it incorporates some anachronisms into the western imaginary--the very 70s soul soundtrack is a giveaway--but in a way that works wonderfully instead of becoming distracting. Every aspect of this film is rooted in the New Hollywood movement, as the violence is now full of brutal, bright-red blood squibs, and it serves to undo the whitewashing of the default western imaginary by centering two black leading characters with all the agency over the narrative, without a doubt a welcome change for the western. Right from the moment they meet, we feel an immediate emotional connection to Thomasine and Bushrod that is felt for the rest of the narrative, making the finale all the more devastating to watch unfold, and Vonetta McGee and Max Julien both give great performances. Definitely an underrated gem of its era and genres that I wish more people get a chance to see.
Not everything has aged perfectly, however: while Bushrod's chauvinism is called out in moments, and I've seen far worse from films from this time, it does conform at points to that questionable 70s masculinity and still chooses to make this a romance through and through.
I had never heard of this film before it was screened in my westerns class, and unfortunately this film has often gone overlooked even when discussing black westerns. It's too often labeled as a blaxploitation imitation of Bonnie and Clyde, but in this case the titular outlaws are more overtly fighting against the bigoted small-town establishment that hunts them down, and have a clearer Robin Hood, give-to-the-poor motivation that makes them immediately easy to sympathize with; not to mention the thin ice anyone who tries to compare a lesser-known black film to a popular white-led film is treading, and the fact that this comparison is simply surface-level and beyond reductive to what the film aims for. I'd hesitate to even call it blaxploitation, as it leans less into the stereotypes of that genre and serves a much more tender, often romantic narrative for its title characters. As a 70s western, it incorporates some anachronisms into the western imaginary--the very 70s soul soundtrack is a giveaway--but in a way that works wonderfully instead of becoming distracting. Every aspect of this film is rooted in the New Hollywood movement, as the violence is now full of brutal, bright-red blood squibs, and it serves to undo the whitewashing of the default western imaginary by centering two black leading characters with all the agency over the narrative, without a doubt a welcome change for the western. Right from the moment they meet, we feel an immediate emotional connection to Thomasine and Bushrod that is felt for the rest of the narrative, making the finale all the more devastating to watch unfold, and Vonetta McGee and Max Julien both give great performances. Definitely an underrated gem of its era and genres that I wish more people get a chance to see.
Not everything has aged perfectly, however: while Bushrod's chauvinism is called out in moments, and I've seen far worse from films from this time, it does conform at points to that questionable 70s masculinity and still chooses to make this a romance through and through.
