IMDb RATING
6.6/10
2.8K
YOUR RATING
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.
Kenneth Menard
- Little Henry
- (as Ken Menard)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaOn 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.
- GoofsAfter the Preacher sees Buck saddling his horse to steal it, he puts on his hat. There is grass on the hat, but in the next shot it is gone.
- 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 creditsOpening 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.
- ConnectionsFeatured in The Dick Cavett Show: Episode dated 1 May 1972 (1972)
Featured review
Poitier plays a wagonmaster who never gives up.
Poitier plays Buck, one of few blacks who are qualified to be wagonmasters. It is after the Civil War and he is helping escort former slaves into the west. This is not an easy task. They face nature, bounty hunters, racist settlers, robbers, and Indians. The movie is brutally honest with the hatred that these brave men and women faced, but the film has a strong sense of hope. They are not quitters, they raise money workers for sharecroppers along the way. Harry Belafonte has the most colorful role as The Preacher - a reformed thief who befriends Buck when given no one else to trust. The movie is bleak, yet hopeful, well-acted, and exciting. It deserves to be remembered with the best of westerns from that era. Much more historical importance than its predecessor, "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" with its sappy, happiness and handsome boy wonders. And Poitier rivals George Roy Hill as a director any day. Cool folksy-jazz score. Recommended to anyone who enjoys a fresh, historical angle with their westerns.
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- GoatPoda
- Aug 10, 2004
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Details
Box office
- Budget
- $2,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross worldwide
- $2,762
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