Hallelujah Cast

Hallelujah Cast

Lights, camera, action! 🎥🎬
As Hollywood gears up for Oscar night, we’re rolling the tape back to 1929, when a Memphis-made movie bucked the rules of the Jim Crow South and attempted to change Hollywood.

King Vidor was one of the most successful directors of silent films in the 1920s. When he decided to make his first “talkie”, he also wanted his script, Hallelujah, to be the first Hollywood film featuring an all-African American cast.

In the ‘20s, there was a whole cinematic world of “race films” made by Black directors, with Black casts, marketed to Black audiences. But Hallelujah, backed by the prestigious MGM Studios, with a White director at the helm, was the first time Hollywood tried to cross the color line in a meaningful way.

In Oct 1928, the director arrived in Memphis to begin production. They filmed on location in Memphis and Arkansas, and even shot an elaborate baptism scene on the Mississippi River. Most of the cast came from New York and Chicago, but there were an astounding 340 extras, so quite a few Memphians made their way onto the big screen!

On Aug. 20, 1929, Hallelujah simultaneously premiered in two NYC venues: the Embassy Theatre on Broadway and the Lafayette Theatre in Harlem. At the 3rd Academy Awards Ceremony in 1930, Vidor was honored for his work on the film, securing a nomination for Best Directing.

Elsewhere, the film was shut out completely. The Southern Theater Federation banned Hallelujah, and Chicago movie houses refused to show it for fear of “race mixing.” The backlash significantly impacted the studio’s bottom line and scared producers from backing other similar projects.

To learn more, check out the Hallelujah! Collection. The physical collection includes clippings, promotional stills, production photographs, and more. You can view some of the digitized material in the online Hallelujah!

1: Cast with King Vidor. Hallelujah057
2: “Zeke,” “Chick,” & “Hot Shot” in a Publicity Shot. Hallelujah099
3: Camera Crew with King Vidor. Hallelujah088
4: Cast on Location. Hallelujah023

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