Due cuori in cielo

From director Vincente Minnelli. Little Joe (Eddie "Rochester" Anderson) is an inveterate gambler who is desperate to change his ways almost as much as his wife Petunia (Ethel Waters) wants him to. Little Joe has a run-in that leaves him on the brink of death, and the demonic Lucifer Jr. (Rex Ingram) can't wait to take his soul to Hell. However, an angel called The General (Kenneth Spencer) appears and gives Little Joe six more months of life in order to clean up his act. Little Joe tries to take the straight and narrow road, but temptress Georgia Brown (Lena Horne) may be his undoing. Also featuring John William Sublett, Louis Armstrong, Mantan Moreland, Willie Best, Butterfly McQueen, Oscar Polk, Bill Bailey, Juanita Moore, and Duke Ellington and His Orchestra.

Based on a stage production, this movie marked the first credited feature directing assignment for Minnelli, who does a terrific job. Some extra sensitive viewers may see this movie as pandering to outdated stereotypes, but I think it avoids that trap, despite the broad nature of the characters. The cast is a fantastic assemblage of many of the best black performers of the day, and Waters, Anderson, Ingram and Horne are all tremendous. The petty bickering among the angels & demons is a trope continued to this day in fantasy storytelling. I'm not generally a musical fan, but I liked this one. It received an Oscar nomination for Best Song ("Happiness Is a Thing Called Joe").

This exquisite first film by Vincente Minnelli just came out on DVD along with another all-Black musical of the period starring Lena Horne, "Stormy Weather". As delightful as both those films are, and although they are produced by two different companies, their DVD presentation is marred by audio commentaries by the very same Dr. Todd Boyd, Professor of critical studies at USC. To call the man a pompous bore would be to imitate him by stating the obvious. These commentaries, which are all about painfully deconstructing every single aspect of the racial clichés and supposedly harmful depictions of Black people contained in those films and are full of precious profundities like "Notice how the dancers smile too much, which is a hateful racial stereotype", were evidently put together in a commendable spirit of political correctness. Unfortunately, the good Doctor has a tendency to repeat every worthwhile point he makes at least five times and is totally blind to the wonderful qualities of those films, with the end result that he robs the viewing experience of all joy, discovery, wonderment and spontaneity. He also fails to point out the qualities and positive aspects of each production and is totally unreliable when it comes to identifying wonderful performers (and performances) who will otherwise remain eternally nameless, undocumented and unpraised. The harm done is less pronounced on the "Cabin in the Sky" DVD, where his debunking and killjoy duties are somewhat mitigated by the presence of his colleague Prof. Drew Casper, who is at least knowledgeable about the films of Minnelli, and relatives of Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, who do a good job describing the human side of the real star of the film. "Cabin in the Sky" is one of the best fantasy-comedy-musical films ever made and boasts some of the best stage and recording talents of the XXth Century. When you watch it, do yourself a big favour: Enjoy it for what it is - a masterpiece - and turn Professor Boyd's platitudes off!!!

Ethel Waters, you hear her singing style in almost all early singers from the late 20's and 30's. Mildred Bailey, Billie Holiday. She had the clearest voice and such enunciation. She was a miserable woman tho and thats why you never hear other singers give her praise. In this film her singing is as tear jerking today as it was on those old 78's. She sings and you understand every word and in this movie you even can see her do a little shimmy for which she was renowned for early in her career. A great cast. Lena is superb as always and Bubbles from the vaudevillian team "buck and bubbles" along with earl snake hip tucker. These are Harlem legends that ruled 133rd street (the real swing street) in their day. My mother never tires of this movie as she was a devout Ethel fan all her life (she was born in 1923) so she grew up listening to this legend. Get this bit of American history

My grandfather, Arthur Freed, (and Louis B Mayor) took great financial risks bringing the Broadway play to the big screen. At the time this movie was made, 'black' films were made by black producers, with black directors, and only appeared in black only cinemas. This was the very first movie of its kind to be made for white audiences.

My grandfather brought many talented people to Hollywood including Minnelli and Gene Kelly.

For me the greatest joy is seeing such wonderful performers.

This wonderful musical has a LOT going for it: a great cast of noted black actors from stage and screen, songs by Vernon Duke and Harold Arlen, the directorial debut of Vincent Minnelli, etc. But above all, you have a chance to see and hear the matchless singer/actress Ethel Waters in top form, and perhaps begin to understand why many consider her the greatest and most influential jazz/pop vocalist of all time...yes, every great singer who came later, including Sinatra, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, etc. had a style which came out of Ethel Waters...and that goes as well for her beautiful co-star in this film, Lena Horne. A must for fans of musicals, jazz, and great music!