Buck And The Preacher

Set in post-civil war America, a former Army soldier and gunslinger meets a fast-talking con man in this allegorical comedy. Buck (Sidney Poitier) is guide, wagon master, and guardian for westward bound former slaves hoping to create a new life. The Preacher is a swindler pretending to be minister of the “High and Low Order of the Holiness Persuasion Church.” Buck’s wife (Ruby Dee) and the The Preacher join the settlers and Buck on their journey to find land to homestead. Initially, neither of the two men cares for the other. But the vinegar that is Buck and the oil that is The Preacher do begin to mix in opposition to the nefarious Deshay (Cameron Mitchell). Deshay is a disillusioned southerner and mercenary trying to make what should never have been, happen again. Together with his miserable band of like-minded goons, Deshay attempts to stop the wagon train and return the homesteaders to their previous Louisiana servitude. Slinging guns as quickly as words, and using wit as a weapon against the enemy, and finding allies among the Native Americans they meet along the way, Buck and the Preacher prevail.