Cabin in the Sky
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Director: Vincent Minelli
Cast: Ethel Waters, Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, Lena Horne, Louis Armstrong
USA, 1943, 98'
English with Turkish subtitles
The
first film directed by Vincente Minnelli (who directed the original
Broadway version), this musical offers its pleasures, but also may make
you squirm at the racial stereotypes that were considered both
acceptable and entertaining in 1943. A story of the struggle between
good and evil for the soul of a man named Little Joe (Eddie "Rochester"
Anderson), the film plays with the same kind of racial notions that
made Stepin Fetchit a star. Still, there's much to recommend it,
particularly performances by some of the greatest musical stars of the
day: Lena Horne, Ethel Waters, Louis Armstrong, and Duke Ellington,
among others. The film also includes a terrific score, a combination
effort by Ellington, Harold Arlen, Vernon Duke, and E.Y. Harburg that
includes the song "Taking a Chance on Love." |
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