God, heaven, and several Old Testament stories, including the Creation and Noah's Ark, are described supposedly using the perspective of rural, black Americans.God, heaven, and several Old Testament stories, including the Creation and Noah's Ark, are described supposedly using the perspective of rural, black Americans.God, heaven, and several Old Testament stories, including the Creation and Noah's Ark, are described supposedly using the perspective of rural, black Americans.
- Awards
- 1 win
Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson
- Noah
- (as Eddie Anderson)
Frank H. Wilson
- Moses
- (as Frank Wilson)
Edna Mae Harris
- Zeba
- (as Edna M. Harris)
Charles Andrews
- Flatfoot
- (as Chas. Andrews)
Billy Cumby
- Abraham
- (as William Cumby)
- …
- Directors
- Writers
- Roark Bradford
- Marc Connelly
- Sheridan Gibney(uncredited)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe studio's anxiety about this film's all-Black cast is evident in the film's 3:48 minute trailer. It consists of white actor Dick Powell talking directly to the camera, white workers preparing costumes and props, and author Marc Connelly explaining the rationale for the bare sets to a studio executive. According to Connelly, it is how a "simple, devout" people would imagine heaven. At no time are Rex Ingram or any of the film's other stars shown in the preview, and there is only a brief sequence of black extras in a long shot.
- GoofsOne of Noah's son's rides a zebra that is clearly a donkey or mule made to look like a zebra. Two real zebras are loaded while he rides the fake.
- Crazy creditsGod appears in many forms to those who believe in Him. Thousands of Negroes in the Deep South visualize God and Heaven in terms of people and things they know in their everyday life. The Green Pastures is an attempt to portray that humble, reverent conception.
- ConnectionsEdited into Governing Body (2023)
- SoundtracksHave You Got Good Religion (Certainly, Lord)
(uncredited)
Traditional spiritual
Performed by the Hall Johnson Choir
Featured review
Don't Make The Mistake Of Judging This Movie Too Quickly
I first saw "The Green Pastures" quite by accident as a 13 year-old while visiting grandparents in Detroit, Michigan many, many years ago...I never forgot it.
Years later, in college, while on a date, I was telling my date about it and we stopped by the school library so I could find a copy of the play to show her...she loved it, too. I've since bought the tape and watch it every now-and-then when I want to smile and feel good.
I remember asking my mom about the movie when I first saw it and always remembered her response..."how do you think the little black children in the movie pictured God and others in the Bible?" And that, of course, is exactly what Marc Connelly was trying to get us to think about.
Though the original play/movie may have met resistance in the South, it was a hit in New York. To the eternal historical revisionists of today who see nothing but stereotypes and negative images, I'd suggest you take another look.
Country folk of the early part of this century did talk with accents and few had much education (whites as well as blacks). The dialog of the film is less a contrived stereotype than it is a snapshot of what the simple life was like. It's not hard for me to imagine a dedicated Mr. Deshee teaching kids in Sunday School about the good book. Nor is it hard to understand why they might picture pharoe's guards in double-breasted suits like the gangsters in the news of their youth, or relating any number of other scenes to what was familiar to them.
Connelly was not trying to convert viewers to religion...he was trying to get those already converted to see the personal relationship with God enjoyed by all his children, regardless of their station in life.
There are no whites in the movie, just as there were no whites in the immediate community where the story takes place. This movie was not made with the burden of every social dilemma we've struggled with over the years. To blindly force modern perceptions and racial baggage on it does nothing but dampen the simple joy of this unique gem.
Years later, in college, while on a date, I was telling my date about it and we stopped by the school library so I could find a copy of the play to show her...she loved it, too. I've since bought the tape and watch it every now-and-then when I want to smile and feel good.
I remember asking my mom about the movie when I first saw it and always remembered her response..."how do you think the little black children in the movie pictured God and others in the Bible?" And that, of course, is exactly what Marc Connelly was trying to get us to think about.
Though the original play/movie may have met resistance in the South, it was a hit in New York. To the eternal historical revisionists of today who see nothing but stereotypes and negative images, I'd suggest you take another look.
Country folk of the early part of this century did talk with accents and few had much education (whites as well as blacks). The dialog of the film is less a contrived stereotype than it is a snapshot of what the simple life was like. It's not hard for me to imagine a dedicated Mr. Deshee teaching kids in Sunday School about the good book. Nor is it hard to understand why they might picture pharoe's guards in double-breasted suits like the gangsters in the news of their youth, or relating any number of other scenes to what was familiar to them.
Connelly was not trying to convert viewers to religion...he was trying to get those already converted to see the personal relationship with God enjoyed by all his children, regardless of their station in life.
There are no whites in the movie, just as there were no whites in the immediate community where the story takes place. This movie was not made with the burden of every social dilemma we've struggled with over the years. To blindly force modern perceptions and racial baggage on it does nothing but dampen the simple joy of this unique gem.
helpful•606
- Greg-83
- Dec 13, 1998
- How long is The Green Pastures?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Runtime1 hour 33 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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