The Green Pastures
(1936)

Director: Marc Connelly and William Keighley

Key Cast: Rex Ingram, Oscar Polk, Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, Frank Wilson, George Reed, Abraham Gleaves, Myrtle Anderson, Al Stokes, Edna M. Harris,, James Fuller, George Randol

Rating: Not Rated

Genre(s): Drama

"The Green Pastures" is a deep South folk tale that recreates various Old Testament Stories.  George Reed plays Reverend Deshee who decides to teach his young Sunday School Class in a way that they can more easily relate to.  So, he uses his Black English vernacular to tell them bible stories which includes a heaven where there are Sunday fish fries and angels singing Negro spirituals all day.

The African-American cast includes Rex Ingram starring as De Lawd (and Adam and Hezdrel), Eddie “Rochester” Anderson as Noah, and Oscar Polk as Gabriel.

The Green Pastures is a film of its time.  But like all great art, it transcends it.

• "The Green Pastures" was based on the Pulitzer Prize winning play of the same name by Marc Connelly.  The Broadway play ran for five years and 1,779 performances.  Marc Connelly also directed the movie version with William Keighley.

• "The Green Pastures" was one of the few all-black cast movies made in the 1930s.

•  The Hall Johnson Choir sings on the over 25 African-American spirituals that are in this film.  This choir, named for its leader, Hall Johnson, was very well known in the 1930s and 1940s.  The Hall Johnson Choir sang for a number of movies including Disney films (i.e. Dumbo and Song of the South) and Cabin in the Sky, another Top 100 BlackClassicMovies.com film.

• Hall Johnson is credited with helping to elevated African-American spirituals into the revered art form that they are today.  Click here to view and buy the Hall Johnson Collection Music CD and Book at Amazon.com

Buy The Green Pastures Movie DVD
"The Green Pastures" was one of the few All-Black Cast
movies to be made in the 1930s.

Starring in this film are many African-American acting greats
of the time including Rex Ingram, Eddie Rochester Anderson
and Oscar Polk.

 
Click the above button
for purchase details.

Hall Johnson Collection Music CD and Book
The Hall Johnson Choir sings over 25 African-American spirituals in "The Green Pastures."
The Hall Johnson Choir was one of the most famous African-American choir groups in the
1930s and the 1940s. In fact, many of their music has been used for Disney films,
most notably, "Dumbo" and "Song of the South."

This music CD features some of Hall Johnson’s most inspiring African-American
spirituals and songs (some of which are set to poems by Langston Hughes).  

Buy The Hall Johnson Collection (Music CD and Book)

 
Click the above button
for purchase info.

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(Click on the movie title for details.)

Hallelujah

Cabin in the Sky

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