User:2600:8807:5484:BD00:10F:C57D:3B30:7382/sandbox

Introduction
Buck and the Preacher is an American Western released by Columbia Pictures in America in 1972 written by Ernest Kinoy and directed by Sidney Poitier. Poitier also stars in the film alongside Harry Belafonte and Ruby Dee. This film, along with Poitier’s other Westerns, broke Hollywood Western traditions by casting people of color as central characters and portraying both tension and solidarity between African Americans and Native Americans in the late 1800’s.

Plot
Set shortly after the American Civil War, Buck and the Preacher follows a former soldier named Buck as he leads wagon trains of African Americans from Louisiana west to the unsettled territories of Kansas. In order to ensure safe passage and food for his company, Buck has learned to negotiate with the Native Americans in the area. He pays them, and in turn they allow him to pass through their land with specific time constraints and to kill Buffalo. However, the natives aren’t the only threat to the company.

A group of violent white men being paid by plantation owners in Louisiana have been tasked with raiding African American wagon trains and settlements to either scare them back to Louisiana or kill them. When the raiders find out who Buck is, they attempt to kill him by setting a trap for him at his home. However, he escapes and by chance meets Reverend Willis Oaks Rutherford, a shady individual masquerading as a preacher, and forces the Reverend to switch horses with him. Although the Preacher initially had a desire to bring Buck to the raiders for a five-hundred dollar reward, he decides to work with Buck after seeing the carnage that the white men impose upon the African American travelers. Together, the two characters do whatever it takes to get the wagon train west including robbing a bank and taking on an entire band of armed men.

Background
Poitier wasn’t originally slated as the director of the film. Joseph Sargent, who was known for being a western director, left the project because of some disagreements he had with some of the cast. Even though this would be the first feature he directed, Poitier assumed the role of director. It took Poitier forty five days to shoot the film, and he edited the film during the shooting of The Organization (film).

In regards to how Poitier felt directing his first film, he stated, “I rolled my camera for the first time. I tell you, after three or four takes of that first scene, a calm came over me. A confidence surged through my whole body… and I, as green as I was, had a touch for this new craft I had been courting from a distance for many, many years.”

Black Power
Black Power themes can be seen throughout the film. Many allegorical parallels can be drawn between the film’s plot and the main tenements of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.

The violence of the marauders preventing the former slaves from settling their own land parallels the housing and property issues of the 1960’s. Additionally, the film comments on the systemic racism of the twentieth century by depicting a conversation between the leader of the marauders and a sheriff. Essentially, the point that the conversation conveying is that although there are laws in place to prevent racism, the lack of enforcement of those laws makes them useless, in effect.

The film also has themes shared by other Blaxploitation films in regards to its depiction of white people and how they interact with African Americans. Not only does the film depict white people as being evil, there is a specific scene in which Preacher uses a racist stereotype to fool the night riders into a sense of comfort. He improvises an over-the-top sermon to get the white men to laugh and let their guards down, and as soon as they do, Buck enters and kills everyone at the table.

This usage of racist stereotypes by oppressed people can be seen in other Black Power films such as The Spook Who Sat by the Door.

Exodusters
Following the Civil Car, around 1879, African Americans in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Tennessee fled to Kansas seeking work and new lives away from the South. These migrants are known as “Exodusters.”

While there was work for them in the South and slavery had technically ended, the powerful white leaders of Southern states did all they could to prevent African Americans from owning land. These lawmakers also created sharecropping which, in effect, continued slavery. Also, the Exodusters had no interest in sharecropping or growing cotton and other cash crops for the white people who were once slave owners. The work they sought in Kansas was subsistence farming.

With the independence of Southern African Americans came a violent reaction from Southern whites. The scarce law enforcement of rural areas mixed with Confederates’ bitterness about their loss of the Civil War, which was frequently blamed on African Americans, lead to groups of former Confederate soldiers raiding settlements of African Americans trying to make their own way. These marauders would steal supplies, horses, food, and destroy anything they didn’t take. This violence only gave the Exodusters more reason to flee to Kansas.

Public Reception
According to Poitier, the film wasn’t an immediate success financially. The film was made on a budget of 2 million dollars and Poitier claimed that it broke even at the box office. In fact, the poor financial take back resulted in Poitier losing a film deal with Columbia pictures.

Critics were somewhat split in their reviews. Gordon Gow, a critic for Films and Filming, said that the movie was “breezy stuff and highly entertaining.” He went on to say that Belafonte’s performance was humorous even though it was somewhat over-the-top for the overall historical realism that the film is going for.

Other reviews were not so positive. Writers for Motion Picture Guide focused more on the negative stereotypes presented in the film. “Stereotypes abound in this foolish, witless western, a production misusing the fine black talent in its cast."

The initial lackluster response from the audiences may have been caused by how different Buck was than typical Black Urban Cinema heroes such as Shaft and Coffy who lived in contemporary society. The old west setting may have been too far removed from the African American audiences viewing the film. Additionally, the fact that white heroes were typically the centerpieces of American westerns may have also contributed to the foreignness of the film to its target audience.

Conclusion
No sequels were made to Buck and the Preacher; however, both Sidney Poitier co-star Harry Belafonte remain highly respected in the American film industry.

Not only Poitier did establish himself as a director with this film, but He established his style of filmmaking that can be seen throughout most of his work. He favors close-ups, long takes, and long shots. In all three cases, the decisions are made to benefit the performers. Close-ups allow actors to be subtle with their performances, while long takes and long shots give them the ability to improvise.