Hallelujah! (1929)

MGM, 1929
Starring Daniel L. Haynes, Nina Mae McKinney, William Fountaine, and Harry Gray
Directed by King Vidor
Music and Lyrics by Irving Berlin and others

King Vidor wanted to make this one badly for a long time. He grew up in the south, watching black sharecroppers sing and work in the fields, and wondered about their lives and passions. He finally convinced MGM to give it a go after making a series of films that were either hits (The Big Parade), or were at least well-received critically (The Crowd). The arrival of sound gave him some pause, until he opted to film it as a silent and add the sound later. How did this work out, and how well does the tale of a sharecropper who's seduced by a wily woman - twice - fare nowadays? Let's head to the cotton fields of the south and find out...

The Story: Zeke (Haynes) and his little brother Spunk (Everett McGarrity) are cheated out of the 100 dollars they earned for their family's crop by con artists Chick (McKinney) and Hot Spot (Fountaine). Zeke fights Hot Spot for the money, but when Hot Spot retaliates with a gun, Spunk is the one who gets shot. Repentant, Zeke becomes a popular preacher who calls himself Brother Zekiel. Chick and Hot Spot taunt him when he rides through their area at first, but Chick eventually joins the church and claims to be reformed. She manages to seduce Zeke away from his fiancee Missy (Victoria Spivey), but ends up having an affair with Hot Spot again when Zeke ends up working in a log mill. Zeke isn't going to take her betrayal lying down, but his chasing after them ends in tragedy.

The Song and Dance: Vidor's filming this as a silent first, then adding the sound later makes this unique among static early talkies. There's more energy and movement in this film than you'll see in almost any other movie made that year. Hayes and McKinney do fairly well as the repentant preacher-turned-laborer and the lady who switches men as easily as she does silk stockings. There's a lot of complicated revivalist musical numbers and outdoor shooting, including a memorable sequence at Brother Zekiel's big meeting where a church member's baptized in a river and the shadow finale with Zeke pursuing Hot Shot through the swamp.

Favorite Number: The opening sequence is one great one, from the cotton pickers putting over "Old Folks at Home" while working to the kids tapping in two great solos at home to the down-home dancing at the impromptu wedding for a couple with 11 kids. McKinney shows why she became the first African-American woman to be given a contract with a major studio with her sexy, jazzy dance to one of the two Irving Berlin songs in the film, "Swanee Shuffle." Haynes and the chorus put over the other big Berlin song at the revivalist meeting, the dynamic "Waiting at the End of the Road."

Trivia: Like Love Me Tonight, the version currently available is the cut-down re-release from 1939.

The movie ended up being a surprise smash in 1929, one of the biggest hits of the year.

King Vidor so desperately wanted to make this film, he offered to give up his salary.

What I Don't Like: For all the vitality and complicated direction for a movie of this era, this is still an early talkie. The supporting cast is frequently not at the level of the leads and can overdo their southern accents. Syncing is occasionally off, with dialogue not moving in time with people's lips. The silent filming becomes more obvious when you see people moving a heck of a lot faster than they normally would in sound film stock. And there's the plot problems. Despite Vidor's good intentions, it can come off as condescending and annoyingly stereotypical, especially given how easily Chick seduces Zeke.

The Big Finale: If you have any interest in Vidor or the history of black and/or musical cinema, this is still highly recommended despite the dated story and early talkie bugs.

Home Media: It's popularity continues into the streaming era; it's one of the few movies of its time to be easily available on disc and streaming. The most recent DVD is a Warner Archives release.

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