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Buck and the Preacher

Play trailer 1:31 Poster for Buck and the Preacher PG 1972 1h 42m Western Play Trailer Watchlist
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84% Tomatometer 44 Reviews 61% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
Following the end of the Civil War, soldier-turned-trail-guide Buck (Sidney Poitier) makes a living by helping former slaves find settlements in the West. Along the way, a con artist, the Preacher (Harry Belafonte), joins the group, and constantly clashes with Buck. But when a gang of bounty hunters, led by the fiendish Deshay (Cameron Mitchell), attempts to round up the freed slaves to bring them back to Louisiana, the two put aside their differences to fight a common enemy.
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Buck and the Preacher

Buck and the Preacher

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Critics Consensus

Sidney Poitier's directorial debut may be more steady than inspired, but Harry Belafonte's live-wire performance and a Black perspective on classic Western tropes make for a refreshing addition to the genre.

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Critics Reviews

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Kevin Maher The Times (UK) 03/04/2023
4/5
Poitier films himself magnificently as an elegant western vision, whether gliding smoothly by on horseback or stalking desert towns in a natty pink shirt. But the scene stealer is Harry Belafonte... Go to Full Review
Peter Bradshaw Guardian 03/01/2023
4/5
A terrifically enjoyable western adventure bromance, packed with brio and breezy, unreflective energy and tilted to the lighter end of the tonal spectrum. Go to Full Review
Judith Crist New York Magazine/Vulture 05/31/2022
Send the kiddies to see this slick western with Sidney Poitier. Go to Full Review
David Harris Spectrum Culture 04/11/2023
Buck and the Preacher exists at an interesting point in Poitier’s career. It’s a revisionist western that could have never been made in the ‘60s. But it doesn’t go as far as some of its contemporaries, especially the blaxploitation films of the era. Go to Full Review
Brian Susbielles InSession Film 02/15/2023
It’s part-Western, part-comedy with a twist of Black Power in a still-divided nation in which African-Americans were seen as the heroes in a genre that never gave a socially conscious idea of civil rights before. Go to Full Review
James Kendrick Q Network Film Desk 09/14/2022
3.5/4
goes against the grain, rewriting one of Hollywood’s most storied genres—the Western—through the lens of neglected black history Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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j F. @LiberteBurrows Jul 30 Belafonte is crazy good See more 11/12/2023 Really good western here Sidney Poitier did an excellent job. Highly recommended James Welch, Henderson, Arkansas November 11, 2023. See more Steve D 08/01/2023 I expected a lot more given the talent and story. See more delysid d 12/17/2021 so funny to see 70s black folks in the old west See more 11/13/2021 This was a fantastic film. I am a bit unsure of why the audience score is so low. The film encapsulates the more diverse history of the American west with some comedic flair as is found in western films. The complexity of the dynamics between the newly freed Black U.S. citizens and of the white westerners is still fresh even in 2021. I thought it was great that they showed the length to which one of the white men went, such as murdering the sheriff, because of his racial views. I think what would've tied together the film would've maybe been more emphasis on Manifest Destiny mentality, but that truely is a hard concept to convey to many even when looking purely at historical facts. This is now one of my favorite movies and a wonderful piece of Americana. See more deke p 02/11/2021 Very interesting. POITIER as a Cowboy. HARRY good as phony PreAcher. RUBY DEE, too. I may have started to watch a few times b4, but the terribly hokey saw/banjo music made it seem like a joke. But it was serious. X-SLAVES teaming up with INDIANS to elude the always evil WhiteSkins. Glad finally saw it on THE MOVIE CHANNEL 2.10.21, 'SIDNEY POITIER NITE' & HE DIRECTED! WHOOOOOOOLE Lotta shootin and killin. See more Read all reviews
Buck and the Preacher

My Rating

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Movie Info

Synopsis Following the end of the Civil War, soldier-turned-trail-guide Buck (Sidney Poitier) makes a living by helping former slaves find settlements in the West. Along the way, a con artist, the Preacher (Harry Belafonte), joins the group, and constantly clashes with Buck. But when a gang of bounty hunters, led by the fiendish Deshay (Cameron Mitchell), attempts to round up the freed slaves to bring them back to Louisiana, the two put aside their differences to fight a common enemy.
Director
Sidney Poitier
Producer
Joel Glickman
Screenwriter
Ernest Kinoy
Production Co
Columbia Pictures Corporation, Belafonte Enterprises
Rating
PG
Genre
Western
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Apr 16, 2012
Runtime
1h 42m
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