The Green Pastures

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.

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.

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'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.