There haven't been a lot of African American Western films made over the years. When you look at the number of general Western movies versus Black Westerns, the number is very small. However, the ones that have been made are notable and worth seeing.
Unfortunately, the oldest Black Western , "Harlem on the Prairie" is not available on DVD or video. This all Black cast western film starred Herb Jeffries who was famous for his singing in these western movies. In fact, one of Herb Jeffries' nicknames was "The Sepia Singing Cowboy."
Fortunately, at least two of Herb Jeffries' western films, The Bronze Buckaroo
and Harlem Rides The Range
are available on DVD.
Woody Strode is another well-known actor who was a part of the stable of actors for Western movie director, John Ford. Besides playing roles in a variety of Western films, Woody Strode starred in Sergeant Rutledge. John Ford directed this movie and it is credited with being one of the first studio directed films with a strong positive portrayal of a Black man.
If you like Western movies, you'll enjoy these predominantly Black cast Westerns. And if you happen to know about other African American Westerns available on DVD, please let us know so that we can add it to our database for others to enjoy, too.
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On special two movie DVD with "Look Out Sister"