Band of Angels
Amantha Starr (Yvonne De Carlo) is the privileged daughter of a Kentucky plantation owner. However, after he dies, a shocking secret is revealed: unbeknownst to Amantha, her mother had been one of her father's black slaves. Legally now property, she is taken by a slave trader to New Orleans to be sold. On the riverboat ride there, he makes it clear that he intends to sleep with her, but desists when she tries to hang herself; as a beautiful, cultured young woman who can pass for white, she is far too valuable to risk losing.
Amantha is put up for auction. When she is callously inspected by a coarse potential buyer, she is rescued from further humiliation by Hamish Bond (Clark Gable), who outbids the cad, paying an exorbitant price for her. Expecting the worst, Amantha is surprised to be treated as a lady, not a slave, by her new owner. At his city mansion, she meets his key slaves, his housekeeper (and former lover) Michele (Carolle Drake) and his conflicted right-hand-man Rau-Ru (Sidney Poitier). Rau-Ru is grateful for the kindness, education and trust Hamish has bestowed on him, but hates him anyway.
As time goes on, Amantha and Hamish fall in love. He arranges to send her to freedom in the North, but she decides to remain with him. To complicate matters further, Hamish harbors a terrible secret from his past that troubles his conscience.
Then, the Civil War breaks out, and New Orleans eventually falls to the Union. Hamish becomes a wanted man when he joins the other plantation owners in burning their crops in defiance. He and Amantha are helped to escape by Rau-Ru, who had fled and joined the Union Army.
revenge, romantic, melodrama