What are the 5 American western films that deal with slavery according to Tarantino?

I recently watched The Hateful Eight by Quentin Tarantino and became highly interested in his work. As a result I began researching his other films and came across a mashup interview featuring him in relation to Django Unchained. During this interview, he states:

There's only been five American movies, that have truly dealt with slavery in the western format...

_{Video starts at the point of reference for the quote.}

I looked around but I couldn't find the movies he was referring to.

What are the five American western films that deal with slavery that Quentin Tarantino is referring to during that interview?

_{For the sake of being on-topic, please supply a link to Tarantino's list in your answer.}

western quentin-tarantino

Best Answer

I'm not sure which movies Tarantino had in mind, but some possibilities are (compiled from this list)

Santa Fe Trail - Dramatizes the events leading up to John Brown's failed rebellion against slavery
The Scalphunters - A comedy where a fur trader is robbed and "given" a highly educated runaway slave in return. The two spend the rest of the movie trying to reclaim the furs.
Skin Game - A western comedy about slavery

Quincy Drew (Garner) and Jason O'Rourke (Gossett) travel from town to town in the south of the United States during the slavery era. A flashback in the movie shows both men first met when Quincy sold Jason a horse- a stolen horse belonging to the local Sheriff. They meet again in jail after pulling various con jobs [in comic relief both end up with an Ace of Spade card from a crooked deck[!]; both then develop a con together in which Quincy claims to be a down-on-his-luck slave owner who is selling his only slave [Jason]. Quincy gets the bidding rolling, selling Jason, and the two later meet up to split the profit. Jason was born a free man in New Jersey and is very well educated. The twist comes when Jason is sold to a slave trader who is very savvy and intent on taking him down south to make a profit.

One not mentioned there (probably due to it being newer) could be Quigley Down Under (1990). It's set in Australia, but it's very much a Western in every other sense and there is clear slavery. The primary dispute arises when Quigley learns the man who wanted to hire him wants him to snipe aborigines.

The problem is (as Tarantino noted) that most westerns did not have slaves. This Indiewire list of spaghetti westerns that might have influenced Tarantino (warning: some movies have names with racial epithets) has movies that are westerns and movies that are about slavery, but none that intersect both. Some of that might have to do with the fact that slaves were not as common in the western US (not as many agricultural needs, and not as much population either).

Pictures about "What are the 5 American western films that deal with slavery according to Tarantino?"

What are the 5 American western films that deal with slavery according to Tarantino? - Crop anonymous diverse women shaking hands together on blurred background of contemporary office

What are the 5 American western films that deal with slavery according to Tarantino? - A Two Men Doing Shake Hands

What are the 5 American western films that deal with slavery according to Tarantino? - Diverse coworkers shaking hands after meeting

What kind of a western is Django Unchained?

Set in the Old West and Antebellum South, it is a highly-stylized, heavily-revisionist tribute to Spaghetti Westerns, in particular the 1966 Italian film Django by Sergio Corbucci, whose star Franco Nero has a cameo appearance.

Why were Spaghetti Westerns so called?

Spaghetti westerns, also called Italian westerns or western all'italiana, are a subgenre of western films. The term \u201cspaghetti western\u201d was coined by Spanish journalist Alfonso S\xe1nchez to describe the low-budget films being made in Italy during the 1960s and early 1970s.

What were western films called?

Western films have also been called the horse opera, the oater (quickly-made, short western films which became as commonplace as oats for horses), or the cowboy picture.

What do we consider the first Western movie in the US?

Within a decade of Edison's early documentaries, Edwin S. Porter directed the first feature Western, The Great Train Robbery (1903). Eleven minutes in length, this film tells the story of a violent robbery aboard a moving train.

The Hateful Eight TRAILER (HD) Quentin Tarantino Western Movie 2015

Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Images: August de Richelieu, Alexander Suhorucov, RODNAE Productions, Sora Shimazaki