Buck and the Preacher
Buck and the Preacher is a 1972 American Western film starring Sidney Poitier as Buck and Harry Belafonte as the Preacher. Buck is a trail guide leading groups of former slaves trying to homestead in the West, immediately after the American Civil War. The Preacher is a swindling minister of the High and Low Order of the Holiness Persuasion Church. Together, they protect a wagon train from bounty hunters.
Buck and the Preacher opens with a deep rhythm and blues soundtrack reminiscent of a John Wayne Western that was given deep soul and harmony from the 1970s. The camera switches scenes to a camp of AfricanAmericans who have been just freed from slavery and are heading West for a better life. A band of men on horseback terrorize the camp by burning wagons and tents and killing men, women and children. The leader of these white bandits, DeShay Cameron Mitchell, is wearing an old cavalry jacket hinting at his military past.Buck Sidney Poitier enters the scene and dismounts his horse to walk up to his home. DeShay makes Bucks wife, Ruth Ruby Dee, wave to him as if everything is all right. Buck begins to approach the house and is then caught in a firefight between DeShays outlaws. Buck remounts his horse and flees after being chased by the bandits. He then stops at an apparently empty campsite with a burning campfire, food and a horse. A naked man, the Preacher Harry Belafonte, is bathing at a nearby stream and approaches the campsite to dress, but Buck steals the Preachers horse and his breakfast at gunpoint. ........
Source: Wikipedia
