Review of We Work Again

We Work Again (1937)
8/10
We Work Again is worth seeing for what future stars Juanita Hall and Orson Welles did early in their careers
21 December 2009
Just watched a short version of this documentary of the accomplishments of the Works Progress Administration on YouTube and the original longer version on Internet Archive. The former concentrated on the entertainment side as we see an African-American choir group singing spirituals conducted by one Juanita Hall. Ms. Hall would achieve lasting fame for her roles in a couple of Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals: South Pacific and Flower Drum Song. She'd reprise them for the original film versions as well. Then we watch the last minutes of a Harlem production of Macbeth which takes place in Haiti instead of the original Scotland. This was the version that Orson Welles directed that got him his early fame though his name is not mentioned by the narrator. The first 8 minutes that I saw on IA concentrated on construction of new buildings to replace the torn, dilapidated ones, poor black kids enjoying going in a public swimming pool, and the women of color getting lessons on cooking. For especially the last 7 minutes, We Work Again is worth a look for some early glimpses of what future iconic stars were doing during the early part of their careers.
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