Rex Ingram dominates the film with his virtuoso turn in three roles as De Lawd, Adam, and Hezdrel. The first Black to receive the Phi Beta Kappa key at Northwestern University, Ingram quickly proved himself more creative and unpredictable than his academic record indicated. Instead of pursuing a career as a doctor upon graduating from medical school, Ingram went into film. He was often compared to Paul Robeson, as both possessed a regal quality that demanded respect from their counterparts. While Robeson was generally considered the better actor, Ingram had a unique quality that Robeson lacked and that was his ability to express compassion, gentleness, and a genuine interest in his fellow man.
The Green Pastures received generally mixed notices from the press during its original film release. The New York World Telegram called it "a beautiful film," while other publications like The Nation were quick to note its rather awkward stage-bound origins. In recent years, the film has come under fire for perpetuating the negative stereotypes surrounding African-American culture. Black film historian Donald Bogle in Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies & Bucks wrote: "It is new evident that The Green Pastures rested on a cruel assumption: that nothing could be more ludicrous than transporting the lowly language and folkways of the early twentieth-century Negro back to the high stately world before the flood....And in this juxtaposition of low with high, there were implied Negro ignorance and inferiority." Despite his criticisms of the film, Bogle also added "Few film casts have ever equaled the sheer dynamics and unabashed delight that these actors showed."
Director: Marc Connelly, William Keighley
Producer: Henry Blanke, Jack L. Warner (uncredited)
Screenplay: Roark Bradford, Marc Connelly, Sheridan Gibney (uncredited)
Cinematography: Hal Mohr
Music: Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Art Direction: Stanley Fleischer, Allen Saalburg
Principal Cast: Rex Ingram (Adam/Delawd/Hezdrel), Oscar Polk (Gabriel), Eddie "Rochester" Anderson (Noah), Frank H. Wilson (Moses/Sexton), George Reed (Mr. Deshee/Aaron)
BW-93m. Closed captioning.
by Kerryn Sherrod
