Top 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsMost Popular Video GamesMost Popular Music VideosMost Popular Podcasts
    Release CalendarBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV NewsIndia TV Spotlight
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsBest Picture WinnersBest Picture WinnersSundance Film FestivalIndependent Spirit AwardsBlack History MonthSXSWSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
Sign In
New Customer? Create account
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

Buck and the Preacher

  • 19721972
  • GPGP
  • 1h 42m
IMDb RATING
6.5/10
2.3K
YOUR RATING
Harry Belafonte and Sidney Poitier in Buck and the Preacher (1972)
AdventureDramaWestern
A wagon master and a con-man preacher help freed slaves dogged by cheap-labor agents out West.A wagon master and a con-man preacher help freed slaves dogged by cheap-labor agents out West.A wagon master and a con-man preacher help freed slaves dogged by cheap-labor agents out West.
IMDb RATING
6.5/10
2.3K
YOUR RATING
    • Sidney Poitier
    • Joseph Sargent(uncredited)
    • Ernest Kinoy(screenplay)
    • Drake Walker(story)
  • Stars
    • Sidney Poitier
    • Harry Belafonte
    • Ruby Dee
    • Sidney Poitier
    • Joseph Sargent(uncredited)
    • Ernest Kinoy(screenplay)
    • Drake Walker(story)
  • Stars
    • Sidney Poitier
    • Harry Belafonte
    • Ruby Dee
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 25User reviews
    • 26Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Videos1

    Buck and the Preacher
    Trailer 2:46
    Watch Buck and the Preacher

    Photos97

    Sidney Poitier and Ruby Dee in Buck and the Preacher (1972)
    Sidney Poitier in Buck and the Preacher (1972)
    Sidney Poitier in Buck and the Preacher (1972)
    Harry Belafonte, Sidney Poitier, and Ruby Dee in Buck and the Preacher (1972)
    Harry Belafonte in Buck and the Preacher (1972)
    Sidney Poitier in Buck and the Preacher (1972)
    Harry Belafonte and Sidney Poitier in Buck and the Preacher (1972)
    Harry Belafonte and Sidney Poitier in Buck and the Preacher (1972)
    Harry Belafonte and Sidney Poitier in Buck and the Preacher (1972)
    Harry Belafonte and Sidney Poitier in Buck and the Preacher (1972)
    Buck and the Preacher (1972)
    Buck and the Preacher (1972)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Sidney Poitier
    Sidney Poitier
    • Buck
    Harry Belafonte
    Harry Belafonte
    • Preacher
    Ruby Dee
    Ruby Dee
    • Ruth
    Cameron Mitchell
    Cameron Mitchell
    • Deshay
    Denny Miller
    Denny Miller
    • Floyd
    Nita Talbot
    Nita Talbot
    • Madam Esther
    John Kelly
    • Sheriff
    Tony Brubaker
    Tony Brubaker
    • Headman
    Bobby Johnson
    • Man Who is Shot
    James McEachin
    James McEachin
    • Kingston
    Clarence Muse
    Clarence Muse
    • Cudjo
    Lynn Hamilton
    Lynn Hamilton
    • Sarah
    Doug Johnson
    • Sam
    Errol John
    Errol John
    • Joshua
    Kenneth Menard
    • Little Henry
    • (as Ken Menard)
    Pamela Jones
    • Delilah
    Drake Walker
    • Elder
    Dennis Hines
    • Little Toby
      • Sidney Poitier
      • Joseph Sargent(uncredited)
      • Ernest Kinoy(screenplay) (story)
      • Drake Walker(story)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    More like this

    Uptown Saturday Night
    6.6
    Uptown Saturday Night
    Duel at Diablo
    6.5
    Duel at Diablo
    A Piece of the Action
    6.4
    A Piece of the Action
    A Raisin in the Sun
    8.0
    A Raisin in the Sun
    Edge of the City
    7.2
    Edge of the City
    A Warm December
    6.1
    A Warm December
    The Organization
    6.0
    The Organization
    Blackboard Jungle
    7.4
    Blackboard Jungle
    Thomasine & Bushrod
    5.9
    Thomasine & Bushrod
    They Call Me Mister Tibbs!
    6.0
    They Call Me Mister Tibbs!
    Let's Do It Again
    6.7
    Let's Do It Again
    A Patch of Blue
    8.0
    A Patch of Blue

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      On the advice of his future wife Joanna Shimkus, Sidney Poitier took over directorial duties from Joseph Sargent when he became dissatisfied with the film's point of view. As a result, this turned out to be Poitier's debut behind the camera and he would go on to direct eight more pictures.
    • Goofs
      When Buck ate part of Belafonte's rabbit, the meat was white. Wild rabbits don't have white meat, only dark.
    • Quotes

      Buck: Which way are you ridin', Preacher?

      The Preacher: Well, that's not exactly settled in my mind yet.

      Buck: Well, you got three possibilities.

      The Preacher: Oh?

      Buck: North, south or east.

      The Preacher: What happened to west?

      Buck: We're going west.

    • Crazy credits
      Opening credits prologue: The Civil War was over and by law the slaves were freed. But when the promise of land and freedom was not honored, many ex-slaves journeyed out of the land of bondage in search of new frontiers where they could be free at last.

      They placed their hopes in the hands of the few black wagonmasters that knew the territories of the West.

      None of this came easy, for for not only did they have to overcome a hostile wilderness, but nightriders and bounty hunters were hired by persons unknown to hunt them down and turn them back to the fields.

      This picture is dedicated to those men, women and children who lie in graves as unmarked as their place in history.
    • Connections
      Featured in The Dick Cavett Show: Episode dated 1 May 1972 (1972)

    User reviews25

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    Unusual Theme, but otherwise ordinary western
    This might possibly be the first Western to feature two black leads with white characters largely relegated to peripheral roles – or stereotypically villainous parts. Sidney Poitier – who replaced Joseph Sergeant as director one week into the shoot – and Harry Belafonte play the leads. Poitier is Buck, a former cavalry man now acting as a wagon-master guiding former slaves to a new life in the west. Belafonte is the preacher, a semi-reformed con man who briefly considers betraying Buck and his charges to the evil nightrider Deshay (a squinting, cigar-chomping Cameron Mitchell) before throwing in his lot with him.

    This being a film of the early 70s, there isn't much of a moral code here. The good guys steal from one another and rob banks, a character defect shrugged off with the explanation that the town folk – who are pre-occupied on a posse-ride to catch the duo as they rob the bank – deserve to be robbed. The film is presumably supposed to be a semi-comic action film but it isn't particularly funny and the action scenes are few and far between. The film is also light on dialogue with lengthy spells played out in silence. This was Poitier's directorial debut and it shows in some glaring narrative gaps and a strange kind of painstaking attention that somehow transmits itself onto the screen so that the film rarely seems to flow the way it should. Poitier never really convinces as an actor either, although Belafonte is a standout as the sneaky, morally dubious preacher.
    helpful•6
    7
    • JoeytheBrit
    • Nov 14, 2008

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • March 17, 1972 (West Germany)
      • United States
      • English
    • Also known as
    • Filming locations
      • Durango, Mexico
    • Production companies
      • E & R Productions Corp.
      • Belafonte Enterprises
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • 1 hour 42 minutes
      • Color
      • Mono

    Related news

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    Harry Belafonte and Sidney Poitier in Buck and the Preacher (1972)
    Top Gap
    By what name was Buck and the Preacher (1972) officially released in India in English?
    Answer
    • See more gaps
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    • Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • IMDb Developer
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Your Ads Privacy Choices
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2023 by IMDb.com, Inc.