Buck and the Preacher is a 1972 Western film directed by Sidney Poitier and starring Poitier, Harry Belafonte, and Ruby Dee. The movie is set in the 1860s after the Civil War and follows the story of Buck (Harry Belafonte), a wagon master, and the Preacher (Sidney Poitier), a con-man preacher, who help a group of newly freed slaves travel to western Kansas to start a new life.
As they travel west, the group faces numerous challenges, including attacks by cheap-labor agents who try to lure the former slaves into exploitative labor contracts. Buck and the Preacher use their wits and their skills with guns to protect the group and ensure their safe arrival in Kansas.
Along the way, the group also encounters a young woman named Ruth (Ruby Dee) who has been separated from her husband while fleeing from a plantation in Alabama. Buck and the Preacher take Ruth under their wing and help her reunite with her husband.
Buck and the Preacher is a powerful and thought-provoking film that explores themes of freedom, justice, and equality in the aftermath of slavery. Poitier and Belafonte deliver engaging performances, and the stunning landscapes of the American West serve as a beautiful backdrop to this compelling story.