Right now, there is a hit Broadway play on called Hamilton on Broadway which brings to life an important history lesson with music and a lot of talent. In 1936, Warner Brothers brought this hit Broadway play to the screen the way it should have been done, with an all black cast of hundreds and with the story intact and with elaborate sets and music that is perfect.
It is amazing how much effort Warner Brothers put into getting this right. Unlike the more famous Minelli picture "Cabin In The Sky" later on where special effects were borrowed by MGM from stock footage of the Wizard of OZ to cut costs, WB made a major effort here developing original sets and spending money rarely done on this type of picture in 1936. The results show in the screen.
While sticking with the spirit of the play having an all black cast, the cast here is given good dialog and realism is brought in with the accents used. The school room scenes are very consistent with the times as 1936 is still the era of the one room school house in most of the United States outside the biggest cities. The students are even given good dialog and come off the way they would have in this era.
The most well known today of the cast is Eddie Anderson who became a well known television personality thanks to the Jack Benny program. As you go through this cast, some of them did get small roles later in films like Gone With The Wind, Bogart's Sahara, and Cabin In The Sky. This film is well made when compared to other films made in 1936.
After viewing silent films with all black casts, the message here is consistent. That overall message is that back in this era, blacks were more Conservative and religious than people would believe now. Despite all the discrimination they were still enduring then, Blacks were very religious and family oriented in 1936. Blacks did not look at themselves as victims then, even though they were. That attitude would ironically happen after Civil Rights bills were passed.
Today's folks would argue that there are way too many stereotypes in this movie. That is the Monday Morning Quarterback mentality of today. This movie shows the all too rare view of where blacks were in the real world in 1936, and it is to Warner Brother's credit that they made the investment here to make an "A" feature film in 1936, using a Broadway play, which if anything should be revived on Broadway to teach all of us a valuable history lesson today.
The music here is not as big named as Minelli's "Cabin In The Sky" which came much later, but this movie is more authentic as a Musical Comedy Drama film than that later one, and ends with a more complex story line. This is one of the few films where God teaches and is taught at the same time by those he created in his image. Of course Adam and Eve as portrayed here are fully clothed, but that too is consistent with the Black Conservative values socially in 1936.
The gritty realism value of Warner Brothers production films in this era made this movie possible,
It is amazing how much effort Warner Brothers put into getting this right. Unlike the more famous Minelli picture "Cabin In The Sky" later on where special effects were borrowed by MGM from stock footage of the Wizard of OZ to cut costs, WB made a major effort here developing original sets and spending money rarely done on this type of picture in 1936. The results show in the screen.
While sticking with the spirit of the play having an all black cast, the cast here is given good dialog and realism is brought in with the accents used. The school room scenes are very consistent with the times as 1936 is still the era of the one room school house in most of the United States outside the biggest cities. The students are even given good dialog and come off the way they would have in this era.
The most well known today of the cast is Eddie Anderson who became a well known television personality thanks to the Jack Benny program. As you go through this cast, some of them did get small roles later in films like Gone With The Wind, Bogart's Sahara, and Cabin In The Sky. This film is well made when compared to other films made in 1936.
After viewing silent films with all black casts, the message here is consistent. That overall message is that back in this era, blacks were more Conservative and religious than people would believe now. Despite all the discrimination they were still enduring then, Blacks were very religious and family oriented in 1936. Blacks did not look at themselves as victims then, even though they were. That attitude would ironically happen after Civil Rights bills were passed.
Today's folks would argue that there are way too many stereotypes in this movie. That is the Monday Morning Quarterback mentality of today. This movie shows the all too rare view of where blacks were in the real world in 1936, and it is to Warner Brother's credit that they made the investment here to make an "A" feature film in 1936, using a Broadway play, which if anything should be revived on Broadway to teach all of us a valuable history lesson today.
The music here is not as big named as Minelli's "Cabin In The Sky" which came much later, but this movie is more authentic as a Musical Comedy Drama film than that later one, and ends with a more complex story line. This is one of the few films where God teaches and is taught at the same time by those he created in his image. Of course Adam and Eve as portrayed here are fully clothed, but that too is consistent with the Black Conservative values socially in 1936.
The gritty realism value of Warner Brothers production films in this era made this movie possible,