Thomasine and Bushrod (1974)

A western set in 1910. A Black couple robs rich white capitalists and gives to the Black, Mexican and Indian poor. It was intended as an answer to Bonnie & Clyde, except Bonnie and Clyde never did anything for anyone and no one was ever rude to them. The wealthy "victims" in this thing were really asking for it.

I never understood why anyone would want to ride a horse and I always felt sorry for animals in westerns, so it was nice that they mostly drove cars. Made in 1974. The Model T's might have been less than fifty-years-old but I don't think that means they were as easy to get as a 1970 Ford would be now. They had a Mercer Runabout, an early sports car, which seemed surprisingly rugged.

They were armed with what I think were European revolvers. It helped distinguish it from other westerns although a machine gun wouldn't have hurt anything. There were only two of them and they were at a terrible disadvantage.

It may have been a mistake making the main characters too admirable. It just didn't seem violent enough. Or maybe just the heroes weren't violent enough. Two children are found lynched in an early scene. Thomasine and Bushrod should have been avenging angels.

Directed by Gordon Parks, Jr. Starring Max Julien and Vonetta McGee.