Buck and the Preacher

Buck and the Preacher, Sidney Poitier's first film as director as well as star, is a loose, amiable, post-Civil War Western with a firm though not especially severe Black Conscience. Read full review

This is one of very few westerns that casts African-Americans in the lead roles. [27 Jun 2015, p.32]

Directed by and co-starring Sidney Poitier, it is at least competently made and has a few, fleeting moments of genuine fun. Read full review

It is pleasant enough, but somehow - despite excellent performances by Poitier (the intrepid wagonmaster) and Belafonte (a roguish preacher) - it never quite clicks. Read full review

As a director, Poitier hasn't come up with any startingly new twists on the old Western cliches. [11 May 1972, p.14]

With all due respect to Poitier as a dramatic actor, "Buck and the Preacher" is as bad a Western as many of the routine white-made Westerns. Its only redeeming feature is Belafonte, who steals the picture from the stone-faced Poitier with an engaging clever comic performance of the likable scraggly bearded rapscallion. [05 May 1972, p.51]