Say Amen, Somebody

Documentaries really don't get much better than this. It's a look behind the scenes at a world few (particularly white) viewers get to see unless it appears on a religious TV show if you like in a town with a black population. We see the lives and performances of two gospel greats, Willie May Ford Smith and Thomas Dorsey. The documentary follows their lives from the early days and leads up to a big conference when the two dynamic subjects share an auditorium. The documentary shows the joy of gospel music in an age of cynicism. We feel the purity of expression here and see very little of the commercial trappings we see in so much of organized religion. People are singing because it feels good! People are responding to these singers because it feels good! People are saying amen because it feels good! Recommended as an antidote to the blahs.

My review was written in October 1982 after a New York Film Festival screening.

"Say Amen, Somebody" is a superb documentary feature about the key progenitors of gospel music. Directed by George T. Nierenberg and his team of collaborators have fashioned a model of emotional communications in the non-fiction feature realm, deserving of the widest possible exposure in all media.

In contradistinction to 20th Century Fox''s "Gospel", a well-regarded performance film also headed for the marketplace, "Say Amen" emphasizes the people who sing (and live) the gospel, with the music itself featured amidst footage of their home life and recollections.

Two towering figures are at the film's core: "Mother" Willie Mae Ford Smith (with her family) and Thomas A. Dorsey. Both were instrumental five decades or so ago in bringing the rhythmic "ragtime" form of secular music called gospel into the spiritual church environment, over the resistance of religious figures. Important for the film, both are natural spellbinders in conversation (and in song), communicating colloquially to the camera with an uncanny mixture of humor and emotional fervor.

Nierenberg minimizes his reliance upon still photos and vintage footage, including a performance of the late Mahalia Jackson for historical purposes. Dorsey expounds on the tough early days of his music, his career as a popular blues singer and his writing of standard gospel songs. In a delightful scene, he is upstaged by Smith and his 87-year-old singer/accompanist Sallie Martin, as the women argue over whether the first gospel choir convention originated in Chicago or St. Louis.

Also revealing and moving are scenes of Smith and her family, recalling the old days and pointing up the deep religious faith of gospel practitioners. Despite the proselytizing of the lyrics, the film does not make a sales pitch but wisely stresses the emotional content over the religious.

Performance footage in churches and at a convention spotlights Dorsey, Smith and especially two younger groups. The Barrett Sisters deliver upper-register close harmonies. Sure to rouse any audience, while the O'Neal twin brothers display a rhythmic style closer to popular music (and discuss in bull sessions the need to "come down the middle" to reach the younger people with their music).

Nierenberg has enough coverage (using a 22:1 shooting ratio) to not only keep the film free of filler but to create pointed inserts to listeners with separate sound sources to match. This expertly underlines the basic call-and-response nature of the music, and the viewer of the film is engaged actively in the proceedings by use of surrogate, on-screen interplay. For example, whether listening to a song or a speaker, Mother Smith invariably will interject a pointed comment or verbal endorsement, with her uncanny timing matched by a camera and mic there to record it. Film's title comes from this responsiveness, as Dorsey in the midst of one of his passionate monologues declares: "Say amen, somebody" to the silent film crew. Despite this call, Nierenberg wisely lets his subjects do the talking, fulfilling his role as chronicler and organizer.

Among the top-notch technical credits, editor Fred Barnes deserves singling out for brilliant execution of the director's concepts. Particularly good is a perfectly-matched cut from Mother Smith privately chanting Dorsey's lyric: "Remember me, not just for me but for the work I've done" to her continuing the song in church as the picture's stirring finale. Still awaiting a pickup deal for domestic release, "Say Amen" should sustain a blowup to 35mm and is a clear frontrunner for Academy Award consideration as best documentary.

I happened to read about George Nierenberg's "Say Amen, Somebody" in a list of 1982 releases. Not knowing what it was, I decided to watch it. This look at gospel music pulls out all the stops. Having never listened to gospel music, I didn't know who any of the singers in the documentary were. But damned if they don't give it their all! I don't think that I've ever seen any performer put the effort into their performance that the people in this documentary put into singing gospel music.

True, the lyrics won't mean much to you if you're not a member of the religion, but you can still feel the energy, emotion and passion. If you consider yourself a music lover, then you definitely have to see this documentary. I don't know if any streaming service is showing it, so you might have to check out a neighborhood video store.

I first saw this movie on Bravo or A&E and was instantly captivated. I found it a year or so later on VHS and almost wore the tape out. I showed it to as many of my friends and family who would watch it. I am elated to finally see it released on DVD with bonus material and an accompanying soundtrack CD. This is my favorite movie/documentary of all time, bar none. It inspires me, and moves me. People don't sing like that anymore. Mother Willie May Ford Smith is absolutely a joy to listen to and watch. All of the persons featured are amazing. I just wish I could have heard Mother Smith in her prime. Mr. Dorsey is the Father of Gospel and I loved watching him sing and talk. This is Gospel 101. Everyone who aspires to be a Gospel singer should watch this. Everyone who loves history/music should watch this. It is a Master's Class in performance. Enjoy.

March 30, 1983 "Say Amen, Somebody" Four stars

Movies / Roger Ebert "Say Amen, Somebody" is the most joyful movie I've seen in a very long time. It is also one of the best musicals and one of the most interesting documentaries. And it's also a terrific good time. The movie is about gospel music, and it's filled with gospel music. It's sung by some of the pioneers of modern gospel, who are now in their 70s and 80s, and it's sung by some of the rising younger stars, and it's sung by choirs of kids. It's sung in churches and around the dining room table; with orchestras and a capella; by an old man named Thomas A. Dorsey in front of thousands of people, and by Dorsey standing all by himself in his own backyard. The music in "Say Amen, Somebody" is as exciting and uplifting as any music I've ever heard on film. The people in this movie are something, too. The filmmaker, a young New Yorker named George T. Nierenberg, starts by introducing us to two pioneers of modern gospel: Mother Willie May Ford Smith, who is 79, and Professor Dorsey, who is 83. She was one of the first gospel soloists; he is known as the Father of Gospel Music. The film opens at tributes to the two of them - Mother Smith in a St. Louis church, Dorsey at a Houston convention - and then Nierenberg cuts back and forth between their memories, their families, their music and the music sung in tribute to them by younger performers. That keeps the movie from seeming too much like the wrong kind of documentary - the kind that feels like an educational film and is filled with boring lists of dates and places. "Say Amen, Somebody" never stops moving, and even the dates and places are open to controversy (there's a hilarious sequence in which Dorsey and Mother Smith disagree very pointedly over exactly which of them convened the first gospel convention). What's amazing in all of the musical sequences is the quality of the sound. A lot of documentaries use "available sound," picked up by microphones more appropriate for the television news. This movie's concerts are miked by up to eight microphones, and the Dolby system is used to produce full stereo sound that really rocks the theater. One of the phenomenons during screenings of this film is the tendency of the audience to get into the act. Willie May Ford Smith comes across in this movie as an extraordinary woman, spiritual, filled with love and power. Dorsey and his longtime business manager, Sallie Martin, come across at first as a little crusty, but then there's a remarkable scene where they sing along, softly, with one of Dorsey's old records. By the end of the film, when the ailing Dorsey insists on walking under his own steam to the front of the gospel convention in Houston, and leading the delegates in a hymn, we have come to see his strength and humanity. Just in case Smith and Dorsey seem too noble, the film uses a lot of mighty soul music as counterpoint, particularly in the scenes shot during a tribute to Mother Smith at a St. Louis Baptist church. We see Delois Barrett Campbell and the Barrett Sisters, a Chicago-based trio who have enormous musical energy; the O'Neal Twins, Edward and Edgar, whose "Jesus Dropped the Charges" is a show-stopper; Zella Jackson Price, a younger singer who turns to Mother Smith for advice; the Interfaith Choir, and lots of other singers. "Say Amen, Somebody" is the kind of movie that isn't made very often, because it takes an unusual combination of skills. The filmmaker has to be able to identify and find his subjects, win their confidence, follow them around, and then also find the technical skill to really capture what makes them special. Nierenberg's achievement here is a masterpiece of research, diligence and direction. But his work would be meaningless if the movie didn't convey the spirit of the people in it, and "Say Amen, Somebody" does that with great and mighty joy. This is a great experience.