Cabin in the Sky – (1943) In his directorial debut Vincente Minnelli directs an all-black cast with Little Joe Jackson (Eddie “Rochester” Anderson) gambling away his life while his pious wife Petuna (Ethel Waters) prays for his redemption. Three local elbow shakers to whom Little Joe owes money lure him from Reverend Greene’s church service into a crap game with Domino Johnson (“Bubbles” John W. Sublett) at Jim Henry’s Paradise (pair of dice?). Domino shoots Little Joe for playing with loaded dice. As Petuna prays for Little Joe’s life, reminding God that Little Joe hasn’t been wicked just weak, Lucifer Jr (Rex Ingram) and The Lord’s General (Kenneth Spencer) argue over who gets custody of Little Joe’s miserable soul before negotiating a six-month second chance for the sinner.

Georgia Brown (Lena Horne) figures into Lucifer Jr’s scheme to defeat Little Joe’s better intentions to reform his ways. Louis Armstrong blows a little on the trumpet as one of Lucifer Jr’s idea men; Duke Ellington and his band provide some swing for this humorous musical. (This one wasn’t the movie I was looking for either.) Any other suggestions?

Click here for links to places to buy or rent this movie in video and/or DVD format, or to buy the soundtrack, posters, books, even used videos, games, electronics and lots of other stuff. I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

Copyright © 2007 Patrick Ivers. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

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