The Green Pastures (1936)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Directors:

Marc Connelly
William Keighley

Writers:

Roark Bradford (novel) and
Marc Connelly (play)
(more)

Release Date:

27 January 1937 (Denmark)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

God | African American | Color In Title | Religion | Pulitzer Prize Source

Cast

Rex Ingram	...	Adam / De Lawd / Hezdrel
Oscar Polk	...	Gabriel
Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson	...	Noah (as Eddie Anderson)
Frank H. Wilson	...	Moses / Sexton (as Frank Wilson)
George Reed	...	Mr. Deshee / Aaron
Abraham Gleaves	...	Archangel
Myrtle Anderson	...	Eve
Al Stokes	...	Cain
Edna Mae Harris	...	Zeba (as Harris, Edna M.)
James Fuller	...	Cain the Sixth
George Randol	...	High Priest
Ida Forsyne	...	Mrs. Noah
Ray Martin	...	Shem
Charles Andrews	...	Flatfoot / Gambler (as Chas. Andrews)
Dudley Dickerson	...	Ham
Jimmy Burress	...	Japheth
Billy Cumby	...	Abraham / King of Babylon / Head Magician (as William Cumby)
Ivory Williams	...	Jacob
David Bethea	...	Aaron
Ernest Whitman	...	Pharaoh
Reginald Fenderson	...	Joshua
Slim Thompson	...	Master of Ceremonies / Man on Ground
Clinton Rosemond	...	Prophet
Hall Johnson Choir	...	Vocal Ensemble
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
John Alexander	...	Dancer #1 (uncredited)
Willie Best	...	Henry, the Angel (uncredited)
Dorothy Bishop	...	Mrs. Japheth (uncredited)
William Broadus	...	Mr. Randall (uncredited)
Ben Carter	...	Gambler (uncredited)
Lillian Davis	...	Viney Prohack (uncredited)
Amanda Drayton	...	Mrs. Randall (uncredited)
Jesse Graves	...	General (uncredited)
Minnie Gray	...	Mrs. Ham (uncredited)
Bessie Guy	...	Mrs. Shem (uncredited)
Jester Hairston	...	Member of Hall Johnson Choir (uncredited)
Philip Hurlic	...	Carlisle Randall (uncredited)
Johnny Lee	...	Angel (uncredited)
Bessie Lyle	...	Mrs. Prohack (uncredited)
Etta McDaniel	...	Heckler at the Ark (uncredited)
Mantan Moreland	...	Angel Removing Hat (uncredited)
Charlotte Sneed	...	Carlotta Prohack (uncredited)
Fred 'Snowflake' Toones	...	Zubo (uncredited)
Duke Upshaw	...	Abel / Dancer #2 (uncredited)
Rosena Weston	...	Zipporah (uncredited)

Directed by
Marc Connelly
William Keighley

Writing credits
Roark Bradford		(novel "Ol'Man Adam and His Chillun'")
Marc Connelly		play
Marc Connelly		screenplay
Sheridan Gibney		uncredited

Produced by
Henry Blanke	....	supervising producer
Jack L. Warner	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Erich Wolfgang Korngold		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Hal Mohr

Film Editing by
George Amy

Art Direction by
Stanley Fleischer
Allen Saalburg

Costume Design by
Milo Anderson		(uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Sherry Shourds	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Nathan Levinson	....	sound

Special Effects by
Fred Jackman	....	special photographic effects

Music Department
Leo F. Forbstein	....	musical director
Hall Johnson	....	conductor: Hal Johnson choir
Hall Johnson	....	music arranger: choral arrangements
Hugo Friedhofer	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. Pictures

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1936) (USA) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. First National Films (1938) (Austria) (theatrical)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1993) (USA) (VHS)
• Key Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Warner Bros. Pictures  copyright holder (as The Vitaphone Corporation)
• Hall Johnson Choir  choral music performed by
• Turner Entertainment  VHS package design

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono | Vitaphone

Certification:

Finland:(Banned) (1936) | Finland:K-16 (1945)

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Recreated on the radio on "Cavalcade of America" in 1940 and 1941, both times featuring Juano Hernandez as De Lawd.

Goofs:

Factual errors: In the scene where Noah is loading animals onto the ark, four sheep are shown entering instead of the prescribed two of every animal. However, Genesis 7:2 of the Bible says that Noah was to board two of every "unclean" animal and seven of every "clean" animal. Sheep are considered "clean".

Quotes:

Gabriel: Gangway for the lord god, Jehovah!

Movie Connections:

Version of "BBC Sunday-Night Theatre: The Green Pastures (#9.37)" (1958)

A movie (not only) children should see as part of their education

It seems almost incredible that this film was made in 1936, when the almost invariable tendency in Hollywood was to portray negroes as (perhaps) lovable, but mostly inept, submissive, rather primitive creatures, good for a laugh and musical entertainment but for not much else. Here we see, in primitive guise but with great delicacy, feeling, seriousness and depth (even the difficult theological problem of the doubting God is touched on towards the end) the events of the New Testament as seen through the eyes of negro believers. This is one of the very few movies I have insisted on that my children see as part of their education, and this should apply to many grownups too.