Hallelujah 1929

Hallelujah

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Hallelujah Photos

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Movie Info

Zeke Johnson (Daniel L. Haynes) and his brother, Spunk (Everett McGarrity), sell their family's crops for $100. When Zeke manages to lose the money gambling, due to his shifty girlfriend, Chick (Nina Mae McKinney), a fight ensues in which Spunk is killed. This causes Zeke to leave and seek a religious life. Years later, he returns to his hometown as a preacher, bringing his fiancée, Missy Rose (Victoria Spivey). However, Chick is still interested and knows how to manipulate him.

Genre:

musical
Original Language:

English
Director:

King Vidor
Release Date (Theaters):

Aug 20, 1929 wide
Release Date (Streaming):

May 23, 2016
Runtime:

1h 46m
Production Co:

Metro Goldwyn Mayer
Sound Mix:

Mono

Cast & Crew

Daniel L. Haynes
Zekial 'Zeke' Johnson

Nina Mae McKinney
Chick

William Fountaine
Hot Shot

Harry Gray
Pappy 'Parson' Johnson

Fannie Belle DeKnight
Mammy Johnson

Everett McGarrity
Spunk Johnson

Show all Cast & Crew

Critic Reviews for Hallelujah

All Critics (12) | Top Critics (3) | Fresh (10) | Rotten (2)

Vidor's skill as a picturemaker is enough alone to make Hallelujah one of the best films of the year.

September 12, 2019 | Full Review…

TIME Staff
TIME Magazine
A most impressive audible film.

September 12, 2019 | Full Review…

Mordaunt Hall
New York Times
Vidor's strict adherence to realism is so effective at times it is stark and uncanny.

February 23, 2012 | Full Review…

Variety Staff
Variety
Surely no dissenting voice could be raised against the singing.

July 15, 2020 | Full Review…

Ralph Matthews
Baltimore Afro-American
The characters seem to be real human beings... and the action creates the illusion that it is real life unfolded, not a make-believe; ones attention is held fairly tight in the first one-third and very tight in the remainder.

July 15, 2020 | Full Review…

P.S. Harrison
Harrison's Reports
It is good! And Mr. King Vidor and the M. G. M. Studios are to be commended for their courage in affording BLACK TALENT an opportunity to portray its ability before a misinformed public in HALLELUJAH!

September 30, 2019 | Full Review…

John E. Prowd
California Eagle
[What] follows: a plot which is jerky, muddy, full of sounds one expects from senile and ailing phonograph records.

September 12, 2019 | Full Review…

Emjo Basshe
The New Masses
The inventive director King Vidor reeceived a well-deserved Oscar nomination for making MGM's first all-black feature, shot on locations and later dubbed for sound.

July 6, 2011 | Rating: B+ | Full Review…

Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com
It's best looked at as an historical curiosity that gives one an idea of the African-Americans beginnings in the Hollywood movie before even the race films.

May 4, 2006 | Rating: B- | Full Review…

Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews
Vidor elicited performances from the group as good as any you might see in a seasoned troupe. Even today, more than half a century later, this film is not dated.

March 25, 2006 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…

TV Guide Staff
TV Guide
Vidor's gaze can be condescendingly paternal.

February 16, 2006 | Full Review…

Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid
A milestone on the road that led from Stepin Fetchit to Sidney Poitier to Spike Lee...

January 12, 2006

John Beifuss
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)

View All Critic Reviews (12)

Audience Reviews for Hallelujah

May 01, 2016

It is admirable that Vidor wanted to show "the Southern Negro as he is" in this historically important, all-black musical film intended for a general audience as an authentic representation of black culture in the 1920s, but it is also unfortunately very condescending and artificial.

Carlos M Super Reviewer
Oct 08, 2013

Yeah. Not much to mine of interest here. Blacks on screen! Ooh wow! It's a wee bit condescending.

John B Super Reviewer
Oct 17, 2007

won recognition as a best picture by NBR

Byron B Super Reviewer