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Hallelujah! (1929)
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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writers:
Release Date:
20 August 1929 (USA)
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Tagline:
HEAR AND SEE 100 JUBILEE SINGERS! (original poster - all caps) more
Plot:
In a juke joint, sharecropper Zeke falls for a beautiful dancer, Chick, but she's only setting him up for a rigged craps game...
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Plot Keywords:
Awards:
Nominated for Oscar.
Another 1 win
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User Comments:
Way ahead of it's time. A work of genius.
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Cast
(Complete credited cast)| Daniel L. Haynes | ... | Zekial 'Zeke' Johnson | |
| Nina Mae McKinney | ... | Chick | |
| William Fountaine | ... | Hot Shot | |
| Harry Gray | ... | Pappy 'Parson' Johnson | |
| Fanny Belle DeKnight | ... | Mammy Johnson | |
| Everett McGarrity | ... | Spunk Johnson | |
| Victoria Spivey | ... | Missy Rose | |
| Milton Dickerson | ... | Johnson child | |
| Robert Couch | ... | Johnson child | |
| Walter Tait | ... | Johnson child | |
| Dixie Jubilee Singers | ... | Group performers |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
109 min | USA:100 min (Turner library print) (re-edited version) (re-release) | Argentina:106 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.20 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Sound System)
Certification:
Filming Locations:
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
King Vidor had been hoping to make the film for several years, and jumped at the chance to make it with the advent of sound. He so wanted to produce the picture that he offered to give up his salary.
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Movie Connections:
Referenced in A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies (1995) (TV)
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Soundtrack:
Bridal Chorus (Here Comes the Bride)
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FAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (24 total)
Message Boards
Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Hallelujah! (1929)| Recent Posts (updated daily) | User |
|---|---|
| Photography, directing, and sound are excellent, actually | mapsnmad |
| problems | bgbadkevin |
| Out now, on DVD | meinhardjensen |
Recommendations
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| Full cast and crew | Company credits | External reviews |
| IMDb Musical section | IMDb USA section | Add this title to MyMovies |

In 1929, MGM began the process of converting to sound. They were almost the "latecomers" of sound conversion compared to their competitors over at the Warners lot; Warners' Vitaphone was pretty much in full swing by 1929 after having experimented with orchestral sound on film in 1926 in "The Better 'Ole" and "Don Juan" and then with actual voice embedment on film in "The Jazz Singer" the following year.
Even for such a major film studio like MGM, the cost was almost prohibitive, so Louis B. Mayer was skeptical about financing a major film epic featuring an all black cast. In the first half of the 20th Century, the major film studios catered mostly to white audiences, so a project of this nature was almost unheard of. Director, King Vidor was personally convinced that this film would be a success at the box office that he offered to match MGM dollar for dollar in producing this film. That said, the executives at MGM agreed, reluctantly, to take on this project.
I was totally surprised by the candidness of the material. From the way the major studios depicted black people as individuals of little or no importance, usually portraying them in a very negative way, I was at first skeptical. I expected more singing, dancing and stereotyping. Little did I know what a surprise I was in for! MGM could not have done a better job at portraying individuals with such humanistic qualities. As with most backdrops featuring blacks, it takes place in the cotton fields of the South; the motion picture industry failed miserably to depict black urban or middle class life until decades later.
Amazingly, most, if not all, of these actors were untested individuals on the screen or stage. Vidor's direction, along with these actors' willingness to succeed on the screen, created a work of art for the cinema. A huge box office success, "Hallelujah" was an oasis in an otherwise all-white world of big business cinema. It is a shame that the movie moguls at the time did not take further advantage of the acting talents of minorities.
Leonard Maltin could not have put it more succinctly when he said about Hallelujah: "King Vidor's early talkie triumph, a stylized view of black life focusing on a Southern cotton-picker who becomes a preacher but retains all-too-human weaknesses." Definitely a home run! A must see!