70's Black Movies: Our List with Over 100 Films

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The 70's signified the birth of a new genre in Black Cinema

This decade brought us films like "Shaft" and "Super Fly", which were instrumental in the emergence of the Blaxploitation genre. Meanwhile, "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman" and "Roots" offered powerful narratives about the BlackEexperience in America. "Cooley High" provided a look at the joys and struggles of Black youth.

Discover more about these films, their cast, trailers, and where to watch them.

Buck and the Preacher

Comedy, Action, Western
Watch The Trailer:
Buck and the Preacher Trailer
Black Cast
Harry Belafonte, Ruby Dee, Sidney Poitier, Tony Brubaker
Directed By Black
Sidney Poitier
Release Date
March 17, 1972
Synopsis

A wagon master and a con-man preacher help freed slaves dogged by cheap-labor agents out West.

Buck and the Preacher

The Legend of Nigger Charley

Action, Crime, Western, Blaxploitation
Watch The Trailer:
The Legend of Nigger Charley Trailer
Black Cast
D'Urville Martin, Fred Williamson
Release Date
March 16, 1972
Synopsis

A trio of runaway slaves evade authorities in the Old West.

The Legend of Nigger Charley

The Organization

Drama, Action, Crime, Thriller
Watch The Trailer:
The Organization Trailer
Black Cast
Barbara McNair, Bernie Hamilton, Sidney Poitier
Release Date
October 20, 1971
Synopsis

After a group of young revolutionaries break into a company's corporate headquarters and steal $5,000,000 worth of heroin to keep it off the street, they call on San Francisco Police Lieutenant Virgil Tibbs for assistance.

The Organization

Brother John

Drama, Science Fiction, Blaxploitation
Black Cast
Lincoln Kilpatrick, Paul Winfield, Richard Ward, Sidney Poitier
Release Date
August 15, 1971
Synopsis

An enigmatic man (Sidney Poitier) returns to his Alabama hometown as his sister is dying of cancer and incites the suspicion of notable town officials.

Brother John

Shaft

Action, Adventure, Crime, Thriller, Blaxploitation
Watch The Trailer:
Shaft Trailer
Black Cast
Camille Yarbrough, Christopher St. John, Gwenn Mitchell, Moses Gunn, Richard Roundtree
Directed By Black
Gordon Parks
Release Date
July 02, 1971
Synopsis

Cool black private eye John Shaft is hired by a crime lord to find and retrieve his kidnapped daughter.

Shaft

Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song

Drama, Action, Crime, Blaxploitation
Watch The Trailer:
Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song Trailer
Black Cast
John Amos, Mario Van Peebles, Melvin Van Peebles
Release Date
April 23, 1971
Synopsis

After saving a Black Panther from some racist cops, a black male prostitute goes on the run from "the man" with the help of the ghetto community and some disillusioned Hells Angels.

Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song
Release Date
January 01, 1971
Synopsis

This is the story of Okonkwo, an Ibo man who lives in the village of Umoufia, in Nigeria. It shows the traditions and culture of the Ibo people, while also telling Okonkwo's story.

Things Fall Apart
Watch The Trailer:
The Great White Hope Trailer
Black Cast
Beah Richards, James Earl Jones, Joel Fluellen, Marlene Warfield, Moses Gunn
Release Date
October 11, 1970
Synopsis

A black champion boxer and his white female companion struggle to survive while the white boxing establishment looks for ways to knock him down.

The Great White Hope

Trouble Man

Drama, Romance, Action, Crime, Blaxploitation
Black Cast
Ivan Dixon, Jeannie Bell, Julius Harris, Paul Winfield, Paula Kelly, Robert Hooks, Stack Pierce
Release Date
November 01, 1972
Synopsis

It seems that masked men are knocking over the floating crap games of Chalky and Pete. Chalky and Pete hire the cool, loose, elegant Mr. T to fix things. Then, the masked manipulators set up the death of a collector for a rival gang lord. It looks like it's up to T to hold a gang war from breaking out, keep the police off his back, and earn his fee from Chalky and Pete.

Trouble Man

Lady Sings the Blues

Drama, Romance, Music
Watch The Trailer:
Lady Sings the Blues Trailer
Black Cast
Billy Dee Williams, Diana Ross, Richard Pryor, Virginia Capers
Release Date
October 12, 1972
Synopsis

Chronicles the rise and fall of legendary blues singer Billie Holiday. Her late childhood, stint as a prostitute, early tours, marriages and drug addiction are featured.

Lady Sings the Blues

Sounder

Drama
Watch The Trailer:
Sounder Trailer
Black Cast
Cicely Tyson, Kevin Hooks, Paul Winfield, Sylvia Kuumba Williams, Taj Mahal
Release Date
September 24, 1972
Synopsis

The Morgans, a loving and strong family of Black sharecroppers in Louisiana in 1933, face a serious family crisis when the husband and father, Nathan Lee Morgan, is convicted of a petty crime and sent to a prison camp. After some weeks or months, the wife and mother, Rebecca Morgan, sends the oldest son, who is about 11 years old, to visit his father at the camp. The trip becomes something of an odyssey for the boy. During the journey he stays a little while with a dedicated Black schoolteacher.

Sounder

Blacula

Fantasy, Horror, Blaxploitation
Watch The Trailer:
Blacula Trailer
Black Cast
Emily Yancy, Ji-Tu Cumbuka, Thalmus Rasulala, Vonetta McGee, William Marshall
Release Date
August 25, 1972
Synopsis

An 18th century African prince is turned into a vampire while visiting Transylvania. Two centuries later, he rises from his coffin attacking various residents of Los Angeles and meets Tina, a woman who he believes is the reincarnation of his deceased wife.

Blacula

Slaughter

Drama, Action, Crime, Blaxploitation
Watch The Trailer:
Slaughter Trailer
Black Cast
Jim Brown, Marlene Clark
Release Date
August 16, 1972
Synopsis

Slaughter, a former Green Beret, avenges the killing of loved ones by the Mob, and after being blackmailed by the feds, is forced to head to South America to finish the mobsters off.

Slaughter

Super Fly

Drama, Action, Crime, Blaxploitation
Watch The Trailer:
Super Fly Trailer
Black Cast
Julius Harris, Ron O'Neal, Sheila Frazier
Release Date
August 04, 1972
Synopsis

Super Fly is a cocaine dealer who begins to realize that his life will soon end with either prison or his death. He decides to build an escape from the life by making his biggest deal yet.

Super Fly

The Thing with Two Heads

Comedy, Science Fiction, Blaxploitation
Watch The Trailer:
The Thing with Two Heads Trailer
Black Cast
Rosey Grier, Don Marshall, Chelsea Brown
Release Date
July 19, 1972
Synopsis

A rich but racist man is dying and hatches an elaborate scheme for transplanting his head onto another man's body. His health deteriorates rapidly, and doctors are forced to transplant his head onto the only available candidate: a black man from death row.

The Thing with Two Heads

Hammer

Action, Blaxploitation
Black Cast
Bernie Hamilton, D'Urville Martin, Fred Williamson, Leon Isaac Kennedy, Marilyn Joi, Mel Stewart, Stack Pierce, Vonetta McGee
Release Date
July 04, 1972
Synopsis

Hotheaded laborer B.J. Hammer can't go long without ending up in a fight, and, after he comes out on top in a particularly impressive workplace scuffle, word of his brawling skills makes its way to Davis, a top boxing manager. Hammer is hired by Davis and begins a lucrative career in the ring, only to find out that his new employer wants him to throw a fight and take part in other illicit activities. Hammer reacts to this news violently, and the feud is on.

Hammer

The Big Bird Cage

Drama, Action, Crime
Watch The Trailer:
The Big Bird Cage Trailer
Black Cast
Carol Speed, Pam Grier
Release Date
July 01, 1972
Synopsis

Grier and Haig are thieving mercenaries who engineer a prison break from the outside.

The Big Bird Cage

Shaft's Big Score!

Mystery, Action, Adventure, Crime, Blaxploitation
Watch The Trailer:
Shaft's Big Score! Trailer
Release Date
June 08, 1972
Synopsis

John Shaft is back as the lady-loved black detective cop on the search for the murderer of a client.

Shaft's Big Score!
Black Cast
Billy Dee Williams, D'Urville Martin
Release Date
May 31, 1972
Synopsis

Black revolutionaries take action in the white suburbs.

The Final Comedown

Black Rodeo

Documentary, Western
Watch The Trailer:
Black Rodeo Trailer
Black Cast
Muhammad Ali, Woody Strode
Release Date
May 01, 1972
Synopsis

A documentary about a rodeo that takes place, for the most part, in Harlem, New York City.

Black Rodeo

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Gil Santos

With over 20 years of experience in various narrative mediums, Gil Santos is the singular mind behind Culture Bay. His journey began as a lyricist and web developer, later expanding into crafting dynamic conference presentations and engaging YouTube sketches. This diverse background has allowed him to hone his storytelling skills across different fields. Santos' lifelong passion for sci-fi and fantasy, combined with his knack for interactive storytelling, culminate in Culture Bay - a fusion of innovative ideas and engaging narratives intended for all to enjoy.

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