CABIN IN THE SKY
Starring Ethel Waters and Eddie "Rochester" Anderson
with Rex Ingram, Lena Horne, Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington!
NOTES ON THE AUDIO COMMENTARY TRACK TO THE DVD
Boy oh boy is this some good stuff. For starters, this definitely has an above average actual story as far as movie musicals go, in that it was based on a Broadway play. There's a good simple morality play as an average Joe struggles against temptation with active intervention from Lucifer and his son, the Lord, a loving wife trying to keep him on the straight and narrow, and Satan's favorite daughter - 26 year old Lena Horne as Georgia Brown.
Mostly though, this was a musical and the movie has three additional songs by Harold Arlen and ever lovin' Yip Harburg besides what was in the stage play. This includes one of their biggest hits, "Happiness Is a Thing Called Joe." But my favorite by far is "Consequences." Eddie Anderson's famous hoarse voice struggled to carry the tune, but he knew how to sell it and it makes a perfect effect of struggling against temptation as Lena Horne is urging him to "sip the honey while it's sweet." The best part of the movie musically, however, was probably the extended section at the Paradise bar with Duke Frickin' Ellington in full effect - and some awesome dancers doing stuff that would scare Fred Astaire.
It's unfortunate that black performers in those days didn't get near the film opportunities that they should have, which is our loss. But one sort of benefit of this was that when there came up an all black movie like this, they had lots of top talent in music and acting. Besides being the best singer in the movie, Ethel Waters was an excellent dramatic actress and a pretty fair dancer. Eddie Anderson was remarkable here as Joe in his ability to keep the comedy and the pathos going simultaneously. Plus he could do some stepping in the limited bit of that he got. Kenneth Spencer was utterly beautiful, and wonderfully upright with distinctly different personalities as the family minister and as the Lord's angelic General. John Sublett as the wicked Domino Johnson really knocked my socks off with his featured dance segment. And if making it to heaven involved resisting the active advances of young Lena Horne "throwing nature at your feet", I'm thinking that Jesus himself might not have made it.
Special mention must be made for the cameo appearance of Louis Armstrong. He had one scene, and just got to blow maybe one quick bar of trumpet before his boss Lucifer Jr (the absolutely delightful Rex Ingram) shows up. So there's Louis Armstrong with Mantan Morland and several other demons or "imps" as they're described at one point with horns on their heads, working in the "Ideas Department" in hell. Turns out that Louis was the one what came up with the idea of getting Eve to talk Adam into eating the apple. "That's how I started my career!" Then there's all the boys crowded around the phone while Lucifer Jr talks to "Pappy". It's worth watching the movie even just for this scene.
This movie works beautifully on about every level. It's a good story most especially held together by the acting and singing performance of Ethel Waters. It works as drama and comedy. Then there's all that great music, and some outstanding dancing. If you're even vaguely interested in movie musicals or jazz, Cabin in the Sky is a must own.
CABIN IN THE SKY TRAILER, PAGE 1 2 3 4
HELL IDEAS DEPARTMENT IMAGES, PAGE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
LENA HORNE "AIN'T IT THE TRUTH" 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
AL BARGER'S CRUSADE FOR MOORISH DIGNITY
JAZZ/R&B VOCALISTS
ETHEL WATERS "DARKIES NEVER DREAM" PAGE 1 2 3 4 5
MARTHA DAVIS IMAGES, PAGE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
DOROTHY DANDRIDGE IMAGES, PAGE 1 2 3
DINAH WASHINGTON IMAGES, PAGE 1 2 3
VANITA SMYTHE IMAGES, page 1 2 3 4 5 6
RUTH BROWN IMAGES, PAGE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
LENA HORNE "AIN'T IT THE TRUTH" 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
NINA SIMONE PICTURES 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
Link Soup
morethings master
photo gallery index
boutique
MP3
new album
releases
sammy davis
shirley temple
photos
little richard photos
buddy holly pictures
fats domino images
chuck berry pictures Jesus
pictures
leann rimes
24
lucille ball images
clint eastwood pictures lena
horne images beach
boys
janis joplin
images
team
america pictures
robert mitchum photos
bruce springsteen pictures bugs
bunny pictures
mariah carey pictures
ann coulter photos
loretta lynn pictures
kanye west images
beatles pictures
white stripes pictures
andy griffith pictures
kill bill pictures
beverly hillbillies pictures
michael jackson
robin williams
frank zappa pictures
jerry lee lewis pictures
richard pryor photos
june carter johnny cash pictures u2 photos
four seasons images
james cagney images
pulp fiction pics
snoop
dogg
elvis presley pictures
dolly parton pictures
olsen twins photos
brandy cheech&chong
tori amos pictures David
Bowie photos
roger rabbit
reese witherspoon pictures rolling
stones photos
fiona apple images kim
novak images ray charles photos marx
brothers pictures
prince rogers nelson pictures blazing
saddles images steve
martin
eddie murphy photos aretha
franklin photos
south park pictures homer
simpson images
bob dylan pictures elizabeth
taylor photos alice
in wonderland pictures madonna
images
saturday night live pictures jewel
kilcher photos willie
nelson images
india.arie pics
lynyrd skynyrd
hee
haw pictures james
brown images pete
townshend photos
tina turner pictures
dixie chicks photos bill murray pictures
elton john
images
emmylou harris images in living
color pictures
guns
n roses pictures
jodie foster photos
eminem
frank sinatra photos
van
halen images
satan
blondie photos
merle haggard
images
rocky horror pictures
monty
python martin luther king
watchmen pictures
sarah
palin