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Soopa Starr’s Blaxploitation Friday: Buck & The Preacher

blame it on Meka January 16, 2009

As always, if you’re digging this, hit up Gangstarr Girl for a fresh take on hip-hop, politics, fashion and other worldly and wordy things through the eyes of a New York-helmed around-the-way girl. Without further adeiu…

1972

I couldn’t think of what to feature today until my iPod randomly skipped to Jodeci’s “Freek’n You (Remix)” yesterday. As soon as Ghostface said “All day like Harry Belafonte” ZING! I had a lightbulb moment and realized I haven’t featured a blaxploitation western. Yep, you heard correct–a blaxploitation western. You can’t possibly be surprised. Come on, this is the genre that brought you Abby, the Black exorcist, but I digress.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IerEp2hXseE]

Synopsis:

Sidney Poitier makes his directorial debut starring as Buck an ex soldier scouting sites for former slaves who want to settle out west. Set during the end of the Civil War era, trouble arises when the fiendish Deshay rounds up his gang to try and stop Buck, because he wants to keep the slaves working down in Louisiana. Buck eventually meets up with the preacher, who is really a con man in disguise, and they overcome initial enmity to unite against Deshay and his henchmen.

Facts:

-Also stars Ruby Dee, who typically didn’t appear in “blaxploitation” flicks.

-The most important aspect of this movie was that it came out around a time when Hollywood was releasing blaxploitation films depicting African-Americans as kick-ass soul brothers and sisters fighting against The Man. But this one focused more on a part of Black History in the United States.

-Jazz legend Benny Carter composed the soundtrack.