The Green Pastures (1936)

ALL BLACK MUSICAL ABOUT BIBLE STORIES, INCLUDING AN ALL BLACK HEAVEN

THE TRAILER IS ALL WHITE, NOT A BLACK IN IT, NOR ANY REFERENCE TO THE CAST, ITS ALL WHITE CREWS BUILDING, CONSTRUCTING SETS FOR HEAVEN AND EARTH.

3:48 | Trailer
Approved | 1h 33min | Drama | 1 August 1936 (USA)

1 VIDEO | 12 IMAGES

God, heaven, and several Old Testament stories, including the Creation and Noah's Ark, are described supposedly using the perspective of rural, black Americans.

Directors: Marc Connelly, William Keighley

Writers: Roark Bradford (suggested by: Southern Sketches "Ol' Man Adam and His Chillun'"), Marc Connelly (a fable by)

Stars: Rex Ingram, Oscar Polk, Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson | See full cast & crew »

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0027700/

https://www.imdb.com/video/vi1801979161?playlistId=tt0027700

Preview Clip: The Green Pastures (1936, Rex Ingram, Edna Mae Harris, James Fuller)
•Feb 15, 2018

Department of Afro-American Research Arts Culture

https://www.daaracarchive.org

A preacher in a small African-American church in Louisiana tells his Sunday school class stories from the Bible as if the characters were part of a local fish fry. He starts with the creation of the world by God, known as "De Lawd" (Rex Ingram), and tells how God went on to create heaven, which is just like their farmland, and then created man and woman, followed by their fall and finally the coming of Jesus Christ. The film is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning play. **

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In 1936 director Marc Connelly adapted his Pulitzer prize-winning play The Green Pastures from the stage to the screen with an all-black cast that included the talents of Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, Oscar Polk, Edna Mae Harris, and Rex Ingram as De Lawd... The New York World Telegram called it "a beautiful film," while other publications like The Nation were quick to note its rather awkward stage-bound origins. In recent years, the film has come under fire for perpetuating the negative stereotypes surrounding African-American culture." (Turner Classic Movies)

NOAH AND DE LAWD 






Author and historian Damon L. Fordham speaks on the inspirations behind the 1936 motion picture on Black Folklore and religion "The Green Pastures," which include the writings of Roark Bradford, and the sermons of a black minister named Rev. John Wesley Henning. Filmed in Mt. Pleasant, SC, June 1, 2017.



The second half of the 1959 production of The Green Pastures. It was broadcast in color, but B&W kinescope seem to be the only preserved copies . To my best knowledge, it was not recorded on Color Videotape (NBC began recording shows in color in 1958. This was done for CBS). This is incomplete, transferred from 16mm film elements. I don't know if there are any copies of the full show in existence. This footage is very rare. Another gem from the Out of The Woods Collection. ----- Credited cast: William Warfield William Warfield ... De Lawd Rest of cast listed alphabetically: Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson ... Noah Vinnette Carroll Vinnette Carroll ... Angel Terry Carter Terry Carter ... Gabriel Bill Dillard Bill Dillard ... King of Babylon (as William Dillard) Sheila Guyse Sheila Guyse ... Zeba Hilda Haynes Hilda Haynes ... Angel Estelle Hemsley Estelle Hemsley ... Mrs. Deshee Earle Hyman Earle Hyman ... Adam The Leonard De Paur Chorus The Leonard De Paur Chorus ... Themselves Avon Long Avon Long ... First Gambler Mantan Moreland Mantan Moreland Frederick O'Neal Frederick O'Neal ""The Hallmark Hall of Fame, for the first time in its distinguished history, will repeat a show next Monday, March 23. The play is Marc Connelly's adaptation of his stage play "The Green Pastures." Mildred Freed Alberg, Hall-mark's executive producer, ex-plained the reason for the repeat. "The number of phone calls, wires and letters after the first show was overwhelming. Also, a lot of people didn't see the show. You may recall that the first time we did it (Oct. 17, 1957) we were in the same time period as the Mike Todd party from Madison Square Garden. Mike outdrew us almost two to one. We thought it especially ap-propriate to offer this drama again during the Easter season." Most of the show's all-Negro cast assembled for the first TV production will be in the repeat showing. William Warfield again will play De Lawd, and Eddie (Rochester) Anderson will be back as Noah. Connelly's play opened in New York Feb. 26, 1930, winning the Pulitzer Prize that year. It ran for 640 performances before going on the road for five years, when it was reportedly seen in 112 cities. Abroad, the play ran into dif-ficulty. It was banned from Eng-land by virtue of an old law for-bidding portrayal of God by an actor. In Stockholm the actors were pelted with garbage for what an irate Swedish press called "religious lampoonery." The play has been revived on Broadway twice and was made into a movie in 1936. Eddie Anderson played Noah in the film too. This second time on TV will be a duplicate of the first as far as cast size (80), expensive sets and production staff are concerned. Miss Alberg expects one change: a tremendously increased audience. " - TV Guide March 21, 1959 Shared for historical purposes. I do not own the rights. ##### Reelblack's mission is to educate, elevate, entertain, enlighten, and empower through Black film. If there is content shared on this platform that you feel infringes on your intellectual property, please email me at Reelblack@mail.com and info@reelblack.com with details and it will be promptly removed.