Wednesday, March 16, 2022, 7:30 p.m., Dryden Theatre
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Hallelujah! (1929)
(King Vidor, US 1929, 109 min., 35mm)
After three years of trying to convince Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to make the film, director King Vidor finally broke through with his first sound film. Zeke (Daniel L. Haynes), a tenant farmer, takes the family’s cotton crop to market and sells it for one hundred dollars. When Zeke loses all the money in a craps game and tragedy strikes, he returns home determined to repent by becoming a preacher. But he can’t escape his troubles that easily. Featuring both traditional spirituals and new songs by Irving Berlin, this landmark of African-American cinema was a critical and financial success.
Post-film discussion with Michael Lasser.