Cabin in the Sky (1943)

Director:

Vincente Minnelli

Writers:

Lynn Root (play)
Joseph Schrank (writer)

Release Date:

9 April 1943 (USA)

Genre:

Musical | Fantasy

Tagline:

Broadway's big, fun-jammed music show is on the screen at last--crowded with stars and songs and spectacle in the famed MGM manner!

Plot:

A compulsive gambler dies during a shooting, but he'll receive a second chance to reform himself and to make up with his worried wife.

Plot Keywords:

It Was All A Dream | Religion | African American | Angel And Devil | Angel

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 nomination

US TV Schedule:

Wed. July 16

11:00 PM

TCM

Cast

Ethel Waters	...	Petunia Jackson
Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson	...	Joseph 'Little Joe' Jackson
Lena Horne	...	Georgia Brown
Louis Armstrong	...	The Trumpeter
Rex Ingram	...	Lucifer Jr. / Lucius Ferry
Kenneth Spencer	...	The General / Rev. Greene
John William Sublett	...	Domino Johnson (as 'Bubbles' John W. Sublett)
Oscar Polk	...	The Deacon / Fleetfoot
Mantan Moreland	...	First Idea Man
Willie Best	...	Second Idea Man
Fletcher Rivers	...	Third Idea Man (as Moke [Fletcher Rivers])
Leon James Poke	...	Fourth Idea Man (as Poke Leon James)
Ford Washington Lee	...	Messenger Boy (as 'Buck' Ford L. Washington)
Bill Bailey	...	Bill
Butterfly McQueen	...	Lily

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

MGM recycled some of its tornado footage from The Wizard of Oz (1939) for a key scene in this movie.

Goofs:

Continuity: After Domino Johnson accidentally shoots Petunia in the nightclub, she drapes her right arm over the staircase twice.

Quotes:

Petunia Jackson: [after she runs Jim Henry and his crony off] Oh, Lord! Please forgive me for backsliding, but sometimes when you fight the Devil you've got to jab him with his own pitchfork!

Movie Connections:

References King Kong (1933)

Soundtrack:

Going Up

Enjoy the DVD... Beware the commentary!

This exquisite first film by Vincente Minnelli just came out on DVD along with another all-Black musical of the period starring Lena Horne, "Stormy Weather". As delightful as both those films are, and although they are produced by two different companies, their DVD presentation is marred by audio commentaries by the very same Dr. Todd Boyd, Professor of critical studies at USC. To call the man a pompous bore would be to imitate him by stating the obvious. These commentaries, which are all about painfully deconstructing every single aspect of the racial clichés and supposedly harmful depictions of Black people contained in those films and are full of precious profundities like "Notice how the dancers smile too much, which is a hateful racial stereotype", were evidently put together in a commendable spirit of political correctness. Unfortunately, the good Doctor has a tendency to repeat every worthwhile point he makes at least five times and is totally blind to the wonderful qualities of those films, with the end result that he robs the viewing experience of all joy, discovery, wonderment and spontaneity. He also fails to point out the qualities and positive aspects of each production and is totally unreliable when it comes to identifying wonderful performers (and performances) who will otherwise remain eternally nameless, undocumented and unpraised. The harm done is less pronounced on the "Cabin in the Sky" DVD, where his debunking and killjoy duties are somewhat mitigated by the presence of his colleague Prof. Drew Casper, who is at least knowledgeable about the films of Minnelli, and relatives of Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, who do a good job describing the human side of the real star of the film. "Cabin in the Sky" is one of the best fantasy-comedy-musical films ever made and boasts some of the best stage and recording talents of the XXth Century. When you watch it, do yourself a big favour: Enjoy it for what it is - a masterpiece - and turn Professor Boyd's platitudes off!!!