Slideshow
Vincente Minnelli’s
CABIN IN THE SKY in 35mm
starring Lena Horne
Wednesday, December 13
6:30
Post-film conversation with film historian Donald Bogle, author of the new book Lena Horne: Goddess Reclaimed, moderated by Film Forum Repertory Artistic Director Bruce Goldstein.
Book signing in lobby following event.
U.S., 1943
Directed by Vincente Minnelli
Starring Lena Horne, Ethel Waters, Eddie “Rochester” Anderson, Duke Ellington and his Orchestra, Louis Armstrong, John Bubbles, Rex Ingram, Butterfly McQueen
Songs by Harold Arlen, E.Y. “Yip” Harburg (THE WIZARD OF OZ), Vernon Duke and John Latouche
Approx. 98 min. 35mm.
Mortally shot at a crap game, Eddie “Rochester” Anderson gets a six-month Heavenly reprieve thanks to prayers from his wife and True Believer Ethel Waters, but Rex Ingram’s “Lucifer Jr.” has a secret weapon in the ensuing battle for Anderson’s soul: Lena Horne’s sultry sweet Georgia Brown. But Ethel proves to have “everything you’ve got and a whole lot more.” Minnelli’s first major movie musical features some of the top African American talent of the day, including John Bubbles, Louis Armstrong, and Duke Ellington and his Orchestra, Butterfly McQueen (GONE WITH THE WIND’s Prissy), Mantan Moreland, and Rex Ingram (the giant genie from Michael Powell’s THIEF OF BAGDAD).
Reviews
“Despite its critics, remains one of the most entertaining and best-made musicals in the history of American movies.”
– Donald Bogle.