Cabin in the Sky

During the nightclub fight between Domino Johnson and Little Joe, the gunshot he fires accidentally hits Petunia.

She falls down on the steps of the staircase, where she drapes her right arm twice over the side.

Once upon a time the colored folks were all smiles and jolly. Well, not really but what the hell, even if a caricature it was a reflection of a part, if only a part, of their reality.

A compulsive gambler (Eddie Anderson) dies during a shooting, but he will receive a second chance to reform himself and to make up with his worried wife (Ethel Waters).What I find odd about this is that MGM's DVD has a warning before it starts that what you see might be considered racist today.

Never a more beautiful torch song has been sung onscreen than "Happiness Is Just a Thing Called Joe," as rendered by Ethel Waters. Directed by the visionary Vincent Minnelli, this film defied the racial conventions of America before the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.

"Cabin in the Sky" is always a delight to watch. The loving performances are still so fresh.

Little Joe (Eddie "Rochester" Anderson) is a warehouseman in a small African-American town, married to Petunia (Ethel Waters), who falls ill and dreams the Lord and the Devil are testing him by allowing him to win the Irish Sweepstakes and sending him a tempting visitor in the form and person (what form, what person!) of Sweet Georgia Brown (Lena Horne).

After watching Stormy Weather (also released in 1943) first, I was disappointed with this one. Maybe it's not fair to compare them, since this came out first and Stormy Weather has more lively performances (specifically with Bojangles, Cab Calloway and the *Nicholas Brothers* in one the greatest dance finales of all time).

Cabin in the Sky marks the debut of director Vincente Minnelli, one of cinema's greatest and most prolific directors of musicals. Already an experienced stage director, pianist and perhaps most importantly of all a painter, Minnelli came to Hollywood as the protégé of lyricist-turned producer Arthur Freed – one of the most significant names in the development of the screen musical.

Genius director Vincente Minnelli's debut remains a wonderful celebration of the talent of his all-black cast. It's also interesting showcase of the technique he would fully use later in his career in integrating musical numbers with plot seemingly effortlessly.

A milestone in the history of the film musical and the first film of Vincente Minnelli is cause for double celebration. Adapted from the Broadway show with added songs by Harlen and Yarburg and loosely based on the Faust legend this splendid entertainment boasts a very talented cast notably Ethel Waters and Rex Ingram who reprise their stage roles, Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson and the divine Lena Horne.