Hallelujah

Beverly Hills, CA: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer [MGM], Circa 1929. Seven vintage reference photographs from the 1929 film.

The first African American musical, and one of the first all-Black films by a major Hollywood studio, with arguably more depth than its predecessor, Paul Sloane's "Hearts in Dixie," the first all-Black Hollywood film released earlier the same year. Although director King Vidor expressed his intent to honestly portray rural African American life in the south, the film still clearly advanced racial stereotypes of the era—but did, however, depict authentic African American spiritual music from the period, a feat which no other film at that point had achieved.

Shot on location in Tennessee and Arkansas.

One 8 x 10 inches, six 10 x 8 inches. One Very Good plus, with soil to the top right portion of the recto and a short closed tear to the bottom edge, else Near Fine.

National Film Registry. Rosenbaum 1000.

[Book #152722]