Customer Reviews
Classic African-American Film 
2008-06-09
Daniel L. Haynes, the actor portraying the lead character of "Zeke" was a Denzel Washington born ahead of his time. The same is true of the captivating Nina Mae McKinney, a forerunner of say Dorothy Dandridge or Halle Berry. Two powerful screen performances from one of Hollywood's first talkies(1929). Sure the stereotypes are evident, but with story telling that is still relevant for today. Especially in our modern society of loose morals and uncontrolled passions. Zeke's innocent and somewhat gullible character is tempted after the delivery in town of his poor families cotton farming endeavors, by the allurements of a beautiful young woman(Ms. McKinney), known simply as "Chick, who flirts with him and seduces him into a crooked fixed-dice gambling loss with her accomplice and apparent lover "Hot Shot". All the families hard earned money is squandered away. Seeking revenge, Zeke overpowers the conman's gun and fires it wildly into the bar crowd. Whether by his own rage or from the initial shots of his crooked intended target, his younger brother "Spunk" is killed. He returns home to his worried mother and father the next morning, a broken man, with his dead brother lying in the back of the wagon. During a mournful funeral service in which he couldn't find self-forgiveness to enter the church, his forgiving father exits the church and finds Zeke lying prostrate with grief. Looking to the heavens, his father encourages him to look to the deliverer for forgiveness.
Zeke finds "religion" and we flash forward to his extremely popular evangelistic efforts as "the prophet." And while parading through the streets on the back of a donkey, cheered on by hundreds, he is mocked by the same young temptress and Hot Shot. She even heckles him while he's preaching in a later scene, until the conviction of being the only soul left in the audience not to respond to brother Zeke's altar call. She is brought to tears, and cries out for bro. Zeke to save her from the devil as well. But as we are taken to the baptism of converts, Ms. McKinney at her loveliest, adorned in a white robe awaiting her turn to be baptized in the river, is caught up in the spirit of emotion and sinks into the arms of the prophet, who, under a hypnotic spell, carries her away into a nearby tent, in full view of the multitude, with not so religious intent. His Godly mother soon follows them inside the tent, and pulls her wayward son back to his senses. And at a later church revival, Bro. Zeke again loses all sense of moral judgement, when he spies her in the congregation "caught-up in the Spirit" and steps from the pulpit, into the ecstatic crowd where they meet, as she, under the guise of emotionalism, lures him out the church door, and they run away together hand-in-hand into a life of sin. Zeke's fiance, "Missy Rose" franticly follows them into the woods, searching in vain and crying out: "Don't leave me Zeke!" But their's is not a happy ending; tragic even. I won't spoil the rest of the story. If for no other reason, a unique addition of historic value to any film lover's collection. Director King Vidor's first talkie and Hollywood's first major African-American production. Originally released by M-G-M, a very decent transfer to DVD of this nearly 80 year old movie.
Truly Hallelujah 
2008-01-12
This was a truly fabulous movie. It was so good to see the cinematic efforts from so far back (1929). The commentary from the movie added to its historical impact. We have made tremenous progress since those days and our stars today should be proud to stand on their shoulders. I would reccommend this to all old cinema buffs.
How much Black nationalism has aged !!! 2007-10-30
First talky by Vidor with only Black Afro-American actors. The second film of a quadrilogy that intended to reflect the great 1929 depression that was to throw the US into the arms of history, of reformism and social progress that will have to go through WW2 to finally come to a real leap forward that has never been finished nevertheless. The film shows first of all how much the US owed to the Blacks they had imported as enslaved cattle and that were starting to conquer a human position in a deeply unjust society, through the cultural development they brought and invested in US music. The musical side of the film is fascinating especially how all the gospels, blues and other songs are entirely integrated in real life in the very story of the film. They are part and parcel of it all and that shows how music, poetry, religion are one only thing that gets its life from and gives life to the real world. But... The desire to give a picture of the Black world in America as being an entirely self-contained society leads to two regrettable elements. For one the Blacks are not exploited by banks, by white society, by white capitalism. Then they have to contain the causes and reasons of all that is evil in their midst. And we have it all indeed. The main poor character gambles the money of the cotton harvest of his family and loses it to a Black cheater who uses fake dice and is using a woman to bait and trap Zeke into the game. Then Zeke will kill his brother in the ensuing brawl. Then he will become a preacher and will finally marry the woman who had gotten him into the dice game when she pretends to have changed and repented her evil ways. Yet she will try to elope with the gambler. Zeke will chase them, kill his wife and then the man. He will end up in a force labor camp, still with no whites anywhere. He will be paroled and go home to find all his family happy and forgiving. We then understand and have to admit the fable is naïve and even vicious since it exonerates the whites of all their responsibility for the morally and socially deprived Black community they relentlessly exploit, down to their very bones and blood. It may represent the Black nationalist movement of the time (the 1920s) but it shows how artificial and racist in the end this vision can be. Does the music save this tale? Probably not, even if it shows how much the music is embedded and encrusted in both the Blacks and the US.
Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne & University Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines
Hallelujah! 2007-06-20
Warner Home Video wisely places an opening disclaimer on this 75 year old chestnut, acknowledging that the portrayal of blacks is of its own time, and inevitably reflects some outdated racial stereotypes. This is simply for context, and should not discourage game viewers from staying put. "Hallelujah!" is a fascinating sociological document, and a deftly executed early talkie that tells a universal human story. We get a rare, tantalizing glimpse of Nina Mae McKinney, a charismatic singer/entertainer who enjoyed considerable success off-screen. The spiritual-style music is also first-rate, with two songs contributed by Irving Berlin.
A Little Archaic, Hard to Watch 
2007-05-14
I have watched several movies, all from Amazon, that could be in this same category: "Green Pastures" - one of our family's all time favorites; "Purlie Victorious" - not a great movie, but a lot of fun and causing us to buy these other movies; "Cabin in the Sky" - looked to be a lot of fun, with a famous cast, but the apparently defective DVD would run about fifteen minutes and then just lock up and finally fail. Next time it would play through the failure point and fail somewhere else, enough that we finally had to give up.
This brings me to Hallelujah, which is the earliest of all these movies. This also failed similar to "Cabin", but less often, so we were able to watch it through. It appears to be of historical interest and reminds me of movies, perhaps themselves old at that time, that I saw on TV over fifty years ago when a child.
Does this movie depict early black culture more accurately than do today's movies about the same period? I suppose in some ways it might, since it was made closer to the times it depicts. In other ways it probably does not, probably because the people of that time, whether blak or white, did not have the time or wherewithal to really understand what was strong or weak about the black culture in America.
There are certainly depictions that our modern American culture would see as demeaning or disrespectful, more so in this movie than the others mentioned above. Maybe there were enough of these that it was just kind of tiring and wearing to watch for me. I don't know that I learned a lot of historical interest, either. The movie is pretty primitive, and the plot utterly predictable. I suppose it would be of interest to students of film history.
I can't really recommend Hallelujah, but don't let that stop you from seeing "Purlie" or "Cabin", assuming the latter DVD will play for you. There is a disclaimer about possible material prejudicial of black cuture at the start of "Green Pastures", but I see nothing of the sort. It makes me feel good about being human every time I watch it.
American Realism and the Prodigal Son Revisited 2007-04-26
Hallelujah is a cinematic milestone: the first all-black feature from a major studio and famed director King Vidor's (The Champ The Big Parade) first talkie. But the film surpasses its historical significance telling a story of such profound dignity and understanding that it as fresh and moving as the day it premiered. Featuring a largely unknown cast and infused with spirituals folk songs blues and jazz (Irving Berlin provided two songs for the production) Hallelujah follows the fortunes of Zeke (Daniel L. Haynes) a poor cotton farmer. He succumbs to the temptations of Chick (Nina Mae McKinney) a mercenary honky-tonk girl finds salvation in religion and falls again when his obsession for Chick overpowers his better self. Love loss passion redemption and brilliant moviemaking: Hallelujah has it all.Running Time: 100 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: MUSICALS/MUSICALS UPC: 012569676763 Manufacturer No: 67676
King Vidor's first talkie is a great story of human redemption 2006-12-23
This early talkie was advertised as being a musical even though it is actually a drama with some very good musical numbers included. The movie was set and filmed in Memphis with an all black cast and directed by King Vidor. In fact, this is King Vidor's first talking picture. By today's standards, it overflows with stereotypes. Yet, as Warner says in its disclaimer, these images should be kept alive rather than hidden away so that we may learn from them. By the standards of 1929, Vidor was actually sympathetic in his treatment of the characters considering the times. If you want to see really horrific jaw-dropping stereotypes, go watch the best picture of 1930-1, "Cimarron". It is not at all atypical of what went on in motion pictures in those days in how African Americans were portrayed. Apparently King Vidor was quite insistent on not giving in to these commonly accepted stereotypes as much as was possible in the late 1920's, since he even agreed to direct the film for free in order to tell the story he wanted to tell the way he wanted to tell it. This film is actually not about race at all. Instead Vidor intended it to be a look into rural African American culture as he observed it growing up in the South himself set within the context of a morality play.
The plot is this - A family of sharecroppers, the Johnsons, have just finished harvesting the year's cotton crop. Being the oldest son, Zeke (Daniel L. Haynes) is responsible for selling the crop at market. Younger brother Spunk (Everett McGarrity) tags along. Zeke does as he is instructed, and gets good money in return for the family's cotton. However, things go wrong when Zeke is tempted by beautiful grifter Chick (Nina Mae McKinney) before he can return home with the cash. She and her partner "Hot Shot" procede to cheat Zeke out of his money. Zeke reacts violently when he discovers that he has been had both romantically - hurting his pride, and financially - hurting his entire family. Violence begets violence, and a tragedy ensues that brings about Zeke's religious conversion. He becomes a preacher, and takes up with a girl that is on the straight and narrow, much to the approval of his parents, his own father being a preacher himself. However, Chick soon returns to Zeke's life, at first mocking his conversion, then experiencing conversion herself while listening to Zeke preach. However, it seems Chick is just born to be bad. She tempts Zeke away from his devout girlfriend and his preaching, and eventually leads him to tragedy once again. After Zeke finishes his prison sentence for the violence he has wrought, he is seen being welcomed back into the loving arms of his family - a prodigal son returning.
Although the movie does give us a rare glimpse into Black culture in the south during the early twentieth century, the story being told transcends race and time. It has much to say about how men and women of the cloth are only human and religious conversion often has only a temporary effect on changing a person's behavior when it comes to the temptations of everyday life. Extras include commentary by black cultural scholars Donald Bogle and Avery Clayton and there are two musical numbers sung by Nina Mae McKinney. One is "Pie, Pie Blackbird" and the other is "The Black Network". These two musical numbers have nothing to do with the film. The only connection to "Hallelujah" is that the featured performer just happens to be one of the leads in this movie. Finally there are some theatrical trailers for the film.
DOCUMENTO PARA LA HISTORIA... 2006-08-26
AleluyA!!!!, MARAVILLOSO TENER LA OPORTUNIDAD DE DISFRUTAR DE ESTE FILM DE KING VIDOR QUE HACE MUCHOS AÑOS QUERÍA VER. VIDOR NOS PINTA DE UNA MANERA SENCILLA EL AMBIENTE DE ESTA COMUNIDAD AFRO AMERICANA DE COMIENZOS DEL SIGLO XX,LA COSECHA DE ALGODÓN, SU COMERCIO, LOS CANTOS RELIGIOSOS (GOSPEL SONGS), LAS BANDAS DEL NACIENTE JAZZ (DIXIELAND), LA INFLUENCIA DE LO COUNTRY O RURAL, CON EL BANJO Y EL BAILE TAP, EN LAS CELEBRACIONES FAMILIARES Y LA FUERZA DE LA RELIGIÓN BAUTISTA, EN LA LUCHA DEL BIEN Y EL MAL REPRESENTADO POR EL JUEGO, LA AMBICIÓN DE DINERO Y LA ATRACCIÓN SEXUAL, CON EL FINAL FELÍZ CARACTERÍSTICO DE LAS PELÍCULAS DE ÉPOCA.
LOS AMANTES DEL JAZZ, DEL CINE Y SU HISTORIA, VAN A TENER MÁS QUE UNA PELÍCULA, UN DOCUMENTO CON UNA EXCELENTE FOTOGRAFÍA Y BUEN SONIDO. ¡ALELUYA!!!!
more than just an artifact 2006-08-03
king vidors "hallelujah" was the only hollywood mainstream film with a black cast until the 1940s. as such, it has historical signicance, but it merits viewing on its own terms as well. while it seems patronizing to todays culture, it is rather progressive about racial stereotyping for its day. strong performances by a now mostly forgotten cast, and a great musical score. definitely worth a view.
Good One!! 
2006-06-23
What a gem of a movie! I purchased it only because I wanted to see more of Nina Mae McKinney and it was certainly worth it. The extra footage of the Nicholas brothers makes this one a keeper!
