Directed by King Vidor • 1929 • United States
Starring Daniel L. Haynes, Nina Mae McKinney, William Fountaine
HALLELUJAH is a cinematic milestone: the first feature from a major studio to star an entirely Black cast, and the first talkie made by titan director King Vidor. Infused with spirituals, folk songs, blues, and jazz (Irving Berlin provided two songs for the production), this groundbreaking musical follows the fortunes of Zeke (Daniel L. Haynes), a poor cotton farmer, as he succumbs to the temptations of Chick (Nina Mae McKinney), a mercenary honky-tonk girl, finds salvation in religion, and falls again when his obsession for Chick overpowers his better self.
Up Next in Rebels at the Typewriter
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Hold Your Man
Directed by Sam Wood • 1933 • United States
Starring Jean Harlow, Clark Gable, Stuart ErwinJean Harlow and Clark Gable cemented their status as MGM’s most bankable star pairing with this sizzling pre-Code tale of love outside the law. A cynical blonde who is not above swindling her dates, Ruby ...
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Midnight Mary
Directed by William A. Wellman • 1933 • United States
Starring Loretta Young, Franchot Tone, Ricardo CortezLoretta Young gets one of her finest showcases in this incident-packed pre-Code tale of a woman’s descent into crime. She stars as the streetwise Mary Martin, who, while on trial for murde...
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Rockabye
Directed by George Cukor • 1932 • United States
Starring Constance Bennett, Joel McCrea, Paul LukasFresh from her success in WHAT PRICE HOLLYWOOD? (also directed by George Cukor), Constance Bennett, one of the most popular Hollywood stars of the 1930s, suffered nobly for this moving maternal me...
