''The Green Pastures'' is a 1936 American film depicting stories from the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

as visualized by black characters. It starred Rex Ingram (in several roles, including " De Lawd"),

Oscar Polk Oscar Polk (December 25, 1899 – January 4, 1949) was an American actor. He portrayed the servant Pork in the film '' Gone with the Wind'' (1939). Career His most memorable scene in that film comes when Pork discloses to Scarlett O'Hara, port ...

, and

Eddie "Rochester" Anderson Edmund Lincoln Anderson (September 18, 1905 – February 28, 1977) was an American comedian and actor. To a generation of early radio and television comedy he was known as "Rochester". Anderson entered show business as a teenager on the vaudevi ...

. It was based on the 1928 novel ''

Ol' Man Adam an' His Chillun ''Ol' Man Adam an' His Chillun'' is a collection of pseudo-African American folk tales written by white author Roark Bradford and published in the United Kingdom and the United States in 1928. It was compared to the tales about Uncle Remus and had ...

'' by

Roark Bradford Roark Whitney Wickliffe Bradford (August 21, 1896, Lauderdale County, Tennessee — November 13, 1948, New Orleans, Louisiana) was an American short story writer and novelist. Life He attended University of California, Berkeley, and served as a ...

and the 1930

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

-winning play of the same name by

Marc Connelly Marcus Cook Connelly (December 13, 1890 – December 21, 1980) was an American playwright, director, producer, performer, and lyricist. He was a key member of the Algonquin Round Table, and received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1930. Biogra ...

. ''The Green Pastures'' was one of only six feature films in the Hollywood Studio era to feature an all-black cast, though elements of it were criticised by civil rights activists at the time and subsequently.

Plot summary

An elderly black woman reads from the

Book of Genesis The Book of Genesis (from Greek ; Hebrew: בְּרֵאשִׁית ''Bəreʾšīt'', "In hebeginning") is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its first word, ( "In the beginning") ...

to a group of six young children in her house. She answers their questions about God and creation. One of the girls starts to visualise heaven... We enter the pearly gates to an all-black heaven, with winged angels sitting on clouds. The Lord,

Jehovah Jehovah () is a Latinization of the Hebrew , one vocalization of the Tetragrammaton (YHWH), the proper name of the God of Israel in the Hebrew Bible/ Old Testament. The Tetragrammaton is considered one of the seven names of God in Judais ...

, appears dressed in a black double-breasted jacket. He is given a cup of

custard Custard is a variety of culinary preparations based on sweetened milk, cheese, or cream cooked with egg or egg yolk to thicken it, and sometimes also flour, corn starch, or gelatin. Depending on the recipe, custard may vary in consistency fro ...

to test. This inspires him to create "a whole mess of

firmament In biblical cosmology, the firmament is the vast solid dome created by God during his creation of the world to divide the primal sea into upper and lower portions so that the dry land could appear. The concept was adopted into the subsequent ...

". But the firmament is wet so he creates drainage and mountains to let the water gather in rivers and seas. He leaves Gabriel in charge and goes down to inspect his work. Just before leaving he creates "man". Adam appears next a tree (fully clothed). God walks up and says Adam needs a family. He creates Eve (fully clothed) and tells them to enjoy themselves, but forbids them from eating from one tree. Back in the old lady's house, she quizzes the children and they explain the story of

Cain and Abel In the biblical Book of Genesis, Cain ''Qayīn'', in pausa ''Qāyīn''; gr, Κάϊν ''Káïn''; ar, قابيل/قايين, Qābīl / Qāyīn and Abel ''Heḇel'', in pausa ''Hāḇel''; gr, Ἅβελ ''Hábel''; ar, هابيل, Hāb� ...

. In heaven Jehovah decides to visit earth again and finds a sassy young woman playing music and chastises her for doing this on a Sunday. She gives her name as Zeba. Her boyfriend Cain appears in a zoot suit and Jehovah leaves. He finds a circle of men kneeling and saying "praise the Lord", but they are playing dice, and he is shocked. He bemoans man's sinning. Then he meets a preacher, brother Noah, who invites him to dinner. Noah's wife is cooking chicken. Noah's knee twitches as it is going to rain. This gives Jehovah an idea... he will make it rain for 40 days and 40 nights. He tells Noah that he will destroy the world, but Noah must build a boat and place two of every animal on the boat... even the snakes. He also allows him one keg of liquor. He draws what to build and says he is to call it the Ark. The people laugh at Noah building the Ark. A scuffle starts in the crowd and Cain stabs Big Joe and kills him. Noah starts to load the ark as the rain starts. Back with old lady, she explains that everyone was drowned. On the waters Shem releases a dove from the Ark. The dove returns with a green sprig, proving that it had found land. But the sinning resumes on the new world. Jehovah complains that man takes up too much of his time. He asks for Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (who are older angels). He asks them to help Moses, who is on earth talking with his wife Zipporah. He shows him a burning bush. He asks him to lead his people out of bondage in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

. He gives him a rod... In Egypt the pharaoh is being entertained by magicians. Moses arrives and wants to show him a trick: he lays down the rod and it changes into a snake. He asks Pharaoh to let the Hebrew slaves go. Pharaoh says no and Moses creates a swarm of bees. Moses strikes the Pharaoh's son dead and Pharaoh releases the Hebrews. They go to a mountain. Moses is old because they have been wandering in the wilderness for 40 years. Moses tells them to walk around

Jericho Jericho ( ; ar, أريحا ; he, יְרִיחוֹ ) is a Palestinian city in the West Bank. It is located in the Jordan Valley, with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. It is the administrative seat of the Jericho Gove ...

and blow their ramshorns.

Cast

* Rex Ingram as De Lawd Jehovah /

Adam Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...

/ Hezdrel *

Gabriel In Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), Gabriel (); Greek: grc, Γαβριήλ, translit=Gabriḗl, label=none; Latin: ''Gabriel''; Coptic: cop, Ⲅⲁⲃⲣⲓⲏⲗ, translit=Gabriêl, label=none; Amharic: am, ገብር� ...

Noah Noah ''Nukh''; am, ኖህ, ''Noḥ''; ar, نُوح '; grc, Νῶε ''Nôe'' () is the tenth and last of the pre-Flood patriarchs in the traditions of Abrahamic religions. His story appears in the Hebrew Bible (Book of Genesis, chapters 5– ...

* Frank Wilson as

Moses Moses hbo, מֹשֶׁה, Mōše; also known as Moshe or Moshe Rabbeinu (Mishnaic Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ, ); syr, ܡܘܫܐ, Mūše; ar, موسى, Mūsā; grc, Mωϋσῆς, Mōÿsēs () is considered the most important pro ...

* George H. Reed as Mr. Deshee /

Aaron According to Abrahamic religions, Aaron ''′aharon'', ar, هارون, Hārūn, Greek (Septuagint): Ἀαρών; often called Aaron the priest ()., group="note" ( or ; ''’Ahărōn'') was a prophet, a high priest, and the elder brother of ...

* Abraham Gleaves as

Archangel Archangels () are the second lowest rank of angel in the hierarchy of angels. The word ''archangel'' itself is usually associated with the Abrahamic religions, but beings that are very similar to archangels are found in a number of other relig ...

* Myrtle Anderson as

Eve Eve (; ; ar, حَوَّاء, Ḥawwāʾ; el, Εὕα, Heúa; la, Eva, Heva; Syriac: romanized: ) is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. According to the origin story, "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the ...

* Al Stokes as

Cain Cain ''Káïn''; ar, قابيل/قايين, Qābīl/Qāyīn is a Biblical figure in the Book of Genesis within Abrahamic religions. He is the elder brother of Abel, and the firstborn son of Adam and Eve, the first couple within the Bible. He wa ...

Edna Mae Harris Edna Mae Harris (September 29, 1914 – September 15, 1997), sometimes credited as Edna May Harris was an American actress and singer. Harris was one of the first African–American film actress of the late 1930s and early 1940s, appearing i ...

as Zeba * James Fuller as Cain the Sixth *

George Randol George Randol (1895–1973) was an actor, screenwriter, director, and producer of films in the United States. In 1938 he was honored as an influential film executive in a newspaper writeup of the "Negro" film industry. Randol was born in Buena V ...

as High Priest * Ida Forsyne as Noah's Wife * Ray Martin as

Shem Shem (; he, שֵׁם ''Šēm''; ar, سَام, Sām) ''Sḗm''; Ge'ez: ሴም, ''Sēm'' was one of the sons of Noah in the book of Genesis and in the book of Chronicles, and the Quran. The children of Shem were Elam, Ashur, Arphaxad, L ...

* Charles Andrews as Flatfoot *

Dudley Dickerson Dudley Henry Dickerson Jr. (November 27, 1906September 23, 1968) was an American film actor. Born in Chickasha, Oklahoma, he appeared in nearly 160 films between 1932 and 1952, and is best remembered for his roles in several Three Stooges films ...

Ham Ham is pork from a leg cut of pork, cut that has been food preservation, preserved by wet or dry Curing (food preservation), curing, with or without smoking (cooking), smoking."Bacon: Bacon and Ham Curing" in ''Chambers's Encyclopædia''. Lo ...

* Jimmy Burress as

Japheth Japheth ( he, יֶפֶת ''Yép̄eṯ'', in pausa ''Yā́p̄eṯ''; el, Ἰάφεθ '; la, Iafeth, Iapheth, Iaphethus, Iapetus) is one of the three sons of Noah in the Book of Genesis, in which he plays a role in the story of Noah's drunk ...

* Billy Cumby as

Abraham Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the Jew ...

/ Head Magician / King of Babylon *

Ivory Williams Ivory Williams (born May 2, 1985) is an American sprint athlete who specializes in the 100 meters. Born in Jefferson County, Texas, Williams attended Central High School in Beaumont, where he was a two-sport athlete. As a wide receiver and a ...

Jacob Jacob (; ; ar, يَعْقُوب, Yaʿqūb; gr, Ἰακώβ, Iakṓb), later given the name Israel, is regarded as a patriarch of the Israelites and is an important figure in Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. J ...

* David Bethea as

Ernest Whitman Ernest Whitman (February 21, 1893 - August 5, 1954) was an American stage and screen actor. He was also billed in some Broadway plays as Ernest R. Whitman. Early years Whitman was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and was educated at Tuskegee Ins ...

Pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: ''pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the an ...

Reginald Fenderson Reginald Hartley Fenderson (December 28, 1911 – August 16, 1986) was an American actor in theatrical productions and films in the United States. He appeared in various films with African American casts in the 1930s and 1940s. Reginald Fenderson ...

Joshua Joshua () or Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' lit. 'Yahweh is salvation') ''Yēšūaʿ''; syr, ܝܫܘܥ ܒܪ ܢܘܢ ''Yəšūʿ bar Nōn''; el, Ἰησοῦς, ar , يُوشَعُ ٱبْنُ نُونٍ '' Yūšaʿ ...

* Slim Thompson as Master of Ceremonies *

Clinton Rosemond Clinton Rosemond (November 1, 1882 – March 10, 1966) was an American singer and actor. Born Cresent Clinton Rosemond, he served as a private in the United States Army during the Spanish–American War, and he later sang in the Southern Trio wi ...

as Prophet * Hall Johnson Choir as Vocal Ensemble *

Willie Best William Best (May 27, 1913 – February 27, 1962), known professionally as Willie Best or Sleep n' Eat, was an American television and film actor. Best was one of the first African American film actors and comedians to become well kn ...

as Henry - the Angel (uncredited) *

Jesse Graves Jesse Graves, also known as Jessie Graves or Jesse A. Graves, was an American character actor of the 1930s and 1940s. During his career he appeared in over 100 films. Some of the more notable include: ''After the Thin Man'' in 1936, which stars W ...

as General (uncredited) *

Clarence Muse Clarence Muse (October 14, 1889 – October 13, 1979) was an American actor, screenwriter, director, singer, and composer. He was the first African American to appear in a starring role in a film, 1929's ''Hearts in Dixie''. He acted for ...

as Angel (uncredited) *

Fred Toones Fred "Snowflake" Toones (January 5, 1906 – February 13, 1962) was an American actor and comedian. He appeared in over 200 films in his career spanning 23 years. Career He appeared in over 200 films between 1928 and 1951. His standard ch ...

as Zubo (uncredited) * Lillian Davis as Viney Prohack (uncredited)

Reception

Despite criticisms about its racial stereotyping, ''The Green Pastures'' proved to be an enormously popular film. On its opening day at New York's

Radio City Music Hall Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue and Theater (structure), theater at 1260 Sixth Avenue (Manhattan), Avenue of the Americas, within Rockefeller Center, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Nicknamed "The Showplac ...

, tickets sold at a rate of 6,000 per hour. The film was held over for an entire year's run at some theaters. It remained the highest-grossing all-black-cast film until the release of ''

Carmen Jones ''Carmen Jones'' is a 1943 Broadway musical with music by Georges Bizet (orchestrated for Broadway by Robert Russell Bennett) and lyrics and book by Oscar Hammerstein II which was performed at The Broadway Theatre. Conceptually, it is Bizet's o ...

'' in 1954. Writing for ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''The ...

'' in 1936,

Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquir ...

gave the film a generally good review, speculating that audiences "will find tcontinuously entertaining, if only intermittently moving". Greene praised director Connelly in particular, describing scenes of "excellent" melodrama, his "ingenious

se of SE, Se, or Sé may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Sé'' (album), by Lúnasa, 2006 * Se (instrument), a traditional Chinese musical instrument Businesses and organizations * Sea Ltd (NYSE: SE), tech conglomerate headquartered in Singapore ...

pathos", and the "admirable" restraint evident in the simplicity of the settings. Greene's only complaints about the film was that "one may feel uneasy at Mr. Connelly's humour" and his depiction of "the negro mind". Greene observed "the result is occasionally patronising, too often quaint, and at the close of the film definitely false", but ultimately he concludes that the film is "as good a religious play as one is likely to get in this age from a practiced New York writer". (reprinted in: ) A review in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' under the byline of "B.R.C.," while portraying the "shuffling" of its opening-night audience in terms that might be deemed racist, praised the sincerity of the production's religiosity and the aplomb of its cast, seeing in the movie "not only the 'divine comedy of the modern theatre' but something of the faith that moves mountains."

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Green Pastures, The 1936 films African-American drama films American black-and-white films Films based on the Hebrew Bible Films based on American novels American films based on plays Films directed by William Keighley Warner Bros. films 1936 drama films Cultural depictions of Adam and Eve Cultural depictions of Cain and Abel Cultural depictions of Abraham Portrayals of Moses in film Cultural depictions of Ramesses II Cultural depictions of Noah Fiction about God Films based on adaptations Films scored by Erich Wolfgang Korngold 1930s English-language films 1930s American films

Plot summary

Cast

Reception

See also

References

External links