Buck and the Preacher (PG) Borderlines Film Festival

Sidney Poitier’s vigorous and entertaining directorial debut helped to rewrite the history of the western, bringing Black heroes to a genre in which they had always been sorely underrepresented.

Poitier stars as a tough, tight-lipped wagon master in the post-Civil War era who joins forces with Harry Belafonte’s rascally con-man preacher. Together they confront the white bounty hunters who threaten a caravan of people recently emancipated from slavery on their journey west. Combining boisterous buddy comedy with blistering, Black Power– era political fury, it succeeds in subverting Hollywood conventions and reclaiming the western genre in the name of Black liberation.

“Harry and I wanted Black people to see the film and be proud of themselves, be proud of their history.” Sidney Poitier, This Life

DIRECTOR: Sidney Poitier
STARRING: Sidney Poitier, Harry Belafonte, Ruby Dee, Cameron Mitchell
US, 1972
1 HOUR 42 MINUTES

Please note: All entry to Malvern Cinema is currently through the fire exits located at the front (Grange Road) side of the building. For audience members entering through the rear (Park) doors, entry to the Cinema is via the corridor adjacent to Door 6 of the Forum Theatre. We very much regret that, for reasons of safety, there will be no wheelchair access to Malvern Cinema until further notice.  Because of this we will be substantially increasing the number of film screenings in the Forum Theatre, which remains accessible to wheelchair users.  For more access information please click HERE.