User reviews

"The Green Pastures" is a far from perfect film and I am pretty sure quite a few folks would be offended by the picture. In fact, the DVD begins with a written disclaimer that explains that the content is offensive when seen today. Obviously, times have changed and the film's patronizing style is out of style in the 21st century--but it's also a film you should see as there really isn't anything like it--even MGM's "Cabin in the Sky". And, in some ways, it's rather beautiful.

The film features an all-black cast--something very unusual for a production from a major studio. It consists of young black children listening to Bible stories and shows the kids' conception of what these events must have been like. The stories are seldom literal--and are quite different from the Biblical originals (such as having only one plague instead of the ten from the story of Moses). But there is also a certain beauty in the stories that show a literal physical God interacting with angels and people on Earth. Sure, it's NOT something that seminary professors would heartily endorse, but the film isn't meant to be literal.

As I said above, the stories are all done with a black cast--even Rex Ingram as God (called 'Da Lawd'). And, although patronizing in style and possessing a few awful stereotypes (such as folks shooting dice), the film is also gentle and good-natured and I assume the film was NOT intended to harm anyone. In other words, the manner is not one to put down black America but perhaps unintentionally minimizes them by often portraying them with a certain child-like innocence. You just have to see it to know what I mean.

So how did this film manage to still get an 8. After all, it surely has a lot of problems! Well, the artistry is the reason. Along with some very nice acting, the film has terrific sets, nice direction and is just lovely. See this one.

I watched this movie late at night with a bunch of munchkins and wondered why more of the adults didn't come watch it with us... It is a unique, well-made, unassuming, enjoyable, surprising, well-told "story." I say "story," because it is a description more than a tale of one way to conceive of the "Lawd of heaven." Gotta love the southern accents. They did a great job and left me rethinking the way I thought of things and smiling as I thought of the way they portrayed it all. It was also curious to me to see how society's perception of music, race, and Sundays has changed, but how some things never change.

Favorite quote... by "The Lawd" - "I'm going ta make me a miracle"

When you pop either THE GREEN PASTURES or HALLELUJAH in your DVD player, Warner Brothers' disclaimer comes up, stating these films "are a product of their time.... it does not express Warner Brothers' opinion....." Okay, they're setting the record straight. They want to present two excellent movies, without offending anyone. The "warning" is eclipsed by two factors. These two films, both with all black casts, showcase amazing talent often smothered by the then Hollywood studio system. They also both carry a message of faith told in a very entertaining manner.

THE GREEN PASTURES opens with a Sunday School sermon in the deep south. The classroom is made up of attentive black children asking some pretty intelligent questions about the Bible. We peek into one child's view of heaven. Since this child probably knows very little of the world outside her community, heaven is one big fish-fry with plenty to eat, where the adults get to hangout and smoke ten-cent "see-gars".

It's here where God (referred to in the film as "De Lawd") makes an appearance. This is an Oscar worthy performance by Rex Ingram, one of many black actors at the time who seldom received decent film work from Hollywood. Ingram plays "De Lawd" in a sweet, soft-spoken manner, never talking down to the humans he created. "Now you're just doing fine," he tells Adam. "But there's just one thing missing. You need a family." Ingram's quiet tone always tells us this guy has things in order. Film fans may remember Rex Ingram as Jim in HUCKLEBERRY FINN (1939) and as the laughing, constantly sarcastic genie in THE THIEF OF BAGDAD (1940). Not only was Ingram an accomplished stage actor, but he was a certified MD as well!

Ingram also plays Adam and Hezdrel. During the later performance, GREEN PASTURES most memorable time-tested message comes across very simply. We realize this is truly a cinematic classic. The Bible stories are depicted here in pseudo 20th century settings with old world behavior. (Much like the villages in the first three FRANKENSTEIN films) Moses is a modern-day "trickster" who gives Pharaoh's top magician a run for his money. In another scene, a pistol packing gangster in a double breasted suit mouths off to Noah.

I realize that many modern audiences might be turned off by this film due to the politically correct times we live in--probably moreso for the religious references than for the racial stereotypes. Nonetheless, it's a genuine feel-good movie full of love, kindness, and yes, morality. I'd first read the play for a drama class many years ago, and I was absolutely stunned by it, although I figured that I'd never get to see a production of it. Imagine my delight finding it in the video store and actually taking all of it in. BTW--regarding the racial issues here: it continually amazes me how so many people in the African-American community would find this film and "Song of the South" offensive, yet these same people praise Nelly for "Pimpin'" and Ludicrous touting "Ho's in the bedroom." Maybe I'm missing something here, but I don't like itwhen whites tout ghetto stereotypes, and it's just as offensive to me when blacks do it. Yet, we MUST protect the children from "Green Pastures" and "Song of the South" because they perpetuate "racist stereotypes." Okay, I'm off my soap box--rent this film--it's a masterpiece.

Enjoyable movie about a preacher telling his Sunday school class Bible stories about Adam & Eve, Noah, Moses, and more, putting his own distinct spin and flavor on these well-told tales. It's a film that's notable for featuring an all-black cast at a time when such a thing was very uncommon. Today, sadly, the focus for many is on the negatives. Yes, there are stereotypes at play and yes, there's a patronizing tone to the film at times. But rest assured there are no Stepin Fetchits here. One aspect many will flinch at is the stereotyped black voice, which is really more of a white writer's perception of the black voice. That was a common problem back then and, frankly, it often still is today.

Fine performances all around with the great Rex Ingram a standout playing several roles. Special mention to George Reed, an actor who doesn't receive much praise but I've enjoyed him in many films. Some of you might recognize him as Conover from the Dr. Kildare series. Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson also appears as Noah. It's an important movie historically and culturally, not just for African-Americans but for everybody. Quality production with a good script and solid direction. Flawed, yes, but heartwarming entertainment that will put a smile on the face of most discerning viewers.

The Green Pastures enacts Old Testament Bible stories as seen through the eyes of rural black children. The movie begins in a ramshackle church, generations ago, presumably in the Deep South. As the Sunday School teacher relates the Bible stories we are transported to Heaven to witness the Creation, the Banishment from the Garden of Eden, the Flood, and the Exodus. An all-black cast, speaking in the rural idiom, and set in modern day (1930s) surroundings makes for one of the most unique movies you will ever see.

All the pieces fit together perfectly. It's a joy to watch, deeply spiritual, and the gospel choir accompaniment is an added treat. Grade A.

The origins of The Green Pastures are from the anthology of stories published by writer Roarke Bradford who entitled his volume Ol Man Adam An' His Chillun. Written in 1928 it was adapted into a play by Algonquin Round Table member Marc Connelly and for an incredible 640 performances during the height of the Depression. In 1936 Warner Brothers purchased the rights and did this film version of the play utilizing a whole load of black players in the film colony.

The Green Pastures got two revivals on Broadway, but you don't hear of it being revived in the post Civil Rights era. It hasn't had the staying power at all of Porgy and Bess which had similar origins.

The story is told from the eyes of a child in a rural black church's Sunday school who is hearing the story of Genesis and imagining what the people would be like in her mind. De Lawd is played by Rex Ingram and this would become two of his career roles, the other being the genie in The Thief Of Bagdad. Personally I can imagine him being God far better than George Burns.

The characters of the Bible are for these people invested with a lot of human qualities, more like the Greek and Roman deities of antiquity than the traditional white Christian view. My favorite scene is the one where the only good man in a world awash with sin is that preacher Noah played by Eddie Anderson. When Ingram visits him and tells him he's starting over and to build an ark and take male and female of everything for breeding, Anderson starts haggling with De Lawd over the amount of spirits to be taken on this sea voyage for medicinal purposes only you understand.

Of course the Ark does its 40 days and 40 nights thing and then just sails around until some land starts to emerge. Personally back in those days polygamy was in and I never understood why Noah and the boys didn't have some extra wives along. The task before them might have been fun, populating the earth again, but it sure put a strain on their wives.

A film like The Green Pastures has a childlike innocence about it, it would have to in order to succeed on stage and screen. It's not likely to see any revivals due to changing times and sensitivities. But it remains an entertaining if quaint vehicle today.

I first saw "The Green Pastures" quite by accident as a 13 year-old while visiting grandparents in Detroit, Michigan many, many years ago...I never forgot it.

Years later, in college, while on a date, I was telling my date about it and we stopped by the school library so I could find a copy of the play to show her...she loved it, too. I've since bought the tape and watch it every now-and-then when I want to smile and feel good.

I remember asking my mom about the movie when I first saw it and always remembered her response..."how do you think the little black children in the movie pictured God and others in the Bible?" And that, of course, is exactly what Marc Connelly was trying to get us to think about.

Though the original play/movie may have met resistance in the South, it was a hit in New York. To the eternal historical revisionists of today who see nothing but stereotypes and negative images, I'd suggest you take another look.

Country folk of the early part of this century did talk with accents and few had much education (whites as well as blacks). The dialog of the film is less a contrived stereotype than it is a snapshot of what the simple life was like. It's not hard for me to imagine a dedicated Mr. Deshee teaching kids in Sunday School about the good book. Nor is it hard to understand why they might picture pharoe's guards in double-breasted suits like the gangsters in the news of their youth, or relating any number of other scenes to what was familiar to them.

Connelly was not trying to convert viewers to religion...he was trying to get those already converted to see the personal relationship with God enjoyed by all his children, regardless of their station in life.

There are no whites in the movie, just as there were no whites in the immediate community where the story takes place. This movie was not made with the burden of every social dilemma we've struggled with over the years. To blindly force modern perceptions and racial baggage on it does nothing but dampen the simple joy of this unique gem.

Marc Connelly co-directed and penned this adaptation of his play, based on Roark Bradford's stories of "Ol' Man Adam and His Chillun'", about Louisiana Sunday School youngsters imagining a fanciful Heaven of fish fryin', choir singin', and the Lord God Jehovah performing miracles--including the creation of Earth to drain off all the fermentation! "De Lawd" creates man and woman, but is soon displeased with the way the human race is carrying on, flooding the world after making a pact with poor preacher Noah. All-black variation on Biblical stories might strike some today as a stunt, yet the gloss and professionalism of the Warner Bros. studio is in full evidence. Lots of good humor and intentionally broad strokes make the holy teachings vivid and entertaining--and still their message comes through clearly. "De Lawd" likes his ten-cents cigars, and a little liquor is OK, but He wants to see the folks in church on the Sabbath and not gambling or messing about! Highly enjoyable movie-making, with a hypnotic edge that touches the viewer and tempers the exaggeration in the acting and writing. *** from ****

Old-time movie buffs - and anyone interested in the Bible - should not miss this film if they have the chance to see it. It tells the stories of the Old Testament, with an all African American cast, with the gloss typical of 1930's Warner Brothers.

Highlights include the first scenes in Heaven and just about anything with Rex Ingram. He gives The Almighty great weight & serenity; he also plays Adam.

Acting is good throughout and some of the special effects are still fun to watch.

In New Orleans, a Christian teacher tells Biblical stories to his "Sunday School" children. From then, we see a series of sequences depicting events from The Bible. One of the kids asks, "What does God look like?" The explanation is, "God appears in many forms to those who believe in Him. Thousands of Negroes in the Deep South visualize God and Heaven in terms of people and things they know in their everyday life. 'The Green Pastures' is an attempt to portray that humble, reverent conception."

A condescending attitude can be read into this "Negroes in the Deep South" fable, but you can sense the intended dignity in the overall production. "The Green Pastures" was based on a successful collection of stories and stage play. It was well-received at the time, and considered a positive reflection of "Colored People" and Christian values. Admittedly, many "People of Color" did not envision a "Heaven" would include cigars, whiskey and other jive. But, the reverence seems sincere.

"The Green Pastures" was included in several "Ten Best" lists, including three of the biggest - those complied by "The New York Times" (which placed it at #7), "The Film Daily" (at #9), and "The National Board of Review" (at #10). As "De Lawd" and others, Rex Ingram and the cast make the most of a relatively rare motion picture project. Through the years, there has been understandable criticism leveled at this film. But, on balance and in context, there is enough to admire.

****** The Green Pastures (7/16/36) Marc Connelly, William Keighley ~ Rex Ingram, Oscar Polk, Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson, George Reed

Before I get into the film itself, here's the little known back-story. Roark Bradford, a white Tennesseean, was mesmerized as a boy by the sermons of a black preacher named John Wesley Henning (aka "Preacher Wes). Rev. Henning entertained and educated his audiences with imaginative biblical tales done in a fashion in which his rural black audiences could relate. Years later in 1928, Henning's twists on biblical tales were the basis of Bradford's book "Ol Man Adam and His Chillun." Marc Connely enjoyed the book, and the result was the play and film "The Green Pastures." The film and play adds the charming frame device of Mr. Deeshay, a black Sunday school teacher telling the Biblical tales from Bradford's text with Noah, Adam. Moses, et.al. as Southern rural blacks. Much has been said about the dialect and stereotypes. Fact is, the dialect is pretty close to the truth of this time and place, as my parents were of that generation (there is a reference to "Sonny Kick Mammy Wine." My parents would make me laugh at their description of a popular moonshine called "Fight Your Mama" that was supposed to have been so potent that it would make the drinker do as the title suggested).

However, the film, as well as much of Bradford's work, is filled with moving truths about the human condition. Witness the dialog between a pre-Rochester Eddie Anderson as Noah and the dignified Rex Ingram as God, as well as the observations about human nature made throughout the film. As for ending, I won't spoil it, but the final scene before the credits says the true message of the film without saying a word. Watch it with an open mind, enjoy, and think.

Incidentally, in 1963, the great comedian Mantan Moreland (who had a bit part as an angel in "The Green Pastures") went back to the source and recorded an album of tales from the source "Ol Man Adam And His Chillun." It's as delightful as the film and along with the original books, make a great addendum to the film.

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.

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

This is one of those films from the 30s and 40s that is hard to watch without wondering if it is racist. While there is nothing blatantly racist about it, one might think the cast is shown as being somewhat simple or backwards, not generally considered to be positive traits. But maybe that is appropriate for a religion-themed picture? Regardless, I found it all rather enjoyable. This genre (or subgenre?) is not my favorite, but I found this to be one of the better entries, perhaps because it offers unconventional spins on well-known tales. And the subtle humor (Noah and God arguing over kegs) is a nice touch.

acknlowedging the individual from pine grove, ca, who is an agnostic, this has absolutely nothing to do with the content, intent, or production of this film that broke all barriers regarding race and blacks in leading roles. additionally, this film was banned in certain southern theaters because of it's theme. most directors and actors today refer to this film as a bellweather production. it has been included as one of the best american films and is so registered in the library of congress' archives.

Man, is this different! This is a "Biblical" account as seen through the eyes of black people during the earlier days of the 20th century. I put "Biblical" in quotes because, if you HAVE read the Bible you know that most of the stuff in this film is hardly an accurate account of the Bible.....but it's more of a parable, I think, than any literal translations.

No, they did NOT wear suits and ties and carry guns around in Old Testament days. Trust me. Better yet, look it up! And God is portrayed near the end of the film as a confused, almost stupid Being. That part disturbed me, but most of this is very good entertainment and meant to be that, period.

I just enjoyed it for the musical comedy it was, nothing more. The grammar in here is so bad, and the story so ludicrous.....you just have to laugh out loud. A few decades ago, the word "camp"" came out to describe certain overly-corny things. This movie is camp: it's so bad, it's good.

This classic all-black adaptation of Marc Connelly's play attempted to break some ground for the role of blacks in film, but it comes through today in a mixed mode. There are some touching moments in the simplicity of faith. But my agnostic feelings interfered with the total enjoyment of the film. Also, most of the cast perpetuate the stereotyping at the time - that of blacks being simpleminded human beings. Still, there is much to enjoy, especially if you are religious minded.

Excellent screenplay, music, singing and acting. The subject matter was difficult, but the screenwriter and actors pulled it off. An excellent film, minus the stereotypes, which were a necessary evil in the 1930s. A film well worth the risk by a major studio.

The Green Pastures (1936) : Brief Review -

I could have never fantasised about Biblical tales with "Black People" if I hadn't seen this movie. William Keighley and Marc Cornelly teamed up for a gutsy film on the Bible and named it "The Green Pastures." While racism was one of the most controversial and daring topics to handle at the time, this film dared to convert the Bible into a Black People's World. It looked cute, by the way. I am far from these racism fights since I live in India, and this thing is more relatable to Americans who have been through those times decades ago. So, it became easy for me to watch this film and enjoy it fully. The Green Pastures tells several stories from the Bible, as the Good "Lawd" (Lord) is seen creating and setting up the earth. He starts with Adam and Eve and leaves them to make a society. Years later, he returns to see how people are sinning and destroying the world he wanted to create. He tries a few tricks, such as wrath and Moses, but things don't change much. He abandons the people and is called back years after his decision by the Jerusalem people. There is a lesson for God too, and that's how the film ends on a powerful note. Rex Ingram is seen leading the force with three characters, but the Lawd one is the best. I always have fluency issues listening to their accent, but this time it sounded cute and pure. Mainly because it was a very positive movie. Oscar Polk as Gabriel was neat and sound too. The cast has done well; even those small roles are so good. We all know those biblical tales, but The Green Pastures presents them as fairy tales, just like Granny tells her grandchildren. That's why you can't stop grinning. Those choirs sound wonderful, but they do take longer than necessary. The directors have kept the heart and soul in the right place and didn't forget to put some faith in as well. Overall, it's a lovely attempt at exploring the Bible in a children-oriented way so that they could understand it better for their own good.

RATING - 7/10*

By - #samthebestest.

I've never seen a movie like this. It's probably one of the most interesting Biblical movies I've ever seen. I'm black and I didn't think it was too offensive, considering the time period that it came from. In fact, my whole family liked it. This is one movie you really have to give a chance before you watch it. Unfortunatelly, movies like this and Disney's "Song of The South" are thrown among the wayside so they won't "corrupt" our "politically correct" society.

I first saw this film as a small child and it made a great impression on me---the nearness of God, the effects of our actions, like ripples in a pond. But most of all,the lesson in this film is God's Love and compassion for his creations. Eternal fountain of eternal love! I encourage everyone to watch this film---it will lift your heart, ease a troubled mind and bring you closer to God. I have seen this film many times over the years,each time there seems a new message or sight I had missed, before. The acting is delightful--- it is set in the country, and the actors (who may never have been out of the city, before!) are so natural, and most believable in this rural setting. Their struggles with temptation and the small everyday sins are depicted in a realistic way, and I love the angelic interaction! This film is a classic treasure, and should be shown in movie houses around the world.