vincentlynch-moonoi I had never seen this film, perhaps because years ago I began to watch it on television, and the print was in horrible condition. But, I caught it recently on TCM, and I can honestly say that this film borders on brilliance. Vincente Minelli deserves a great deal of credit here, because he realized the impact of an allegorical film so brilliantly.But, for me, the real gem of the film is the performance of Ethel Waters! What a treasure! Eddie "Rochester" Anderson is fine as Little Joe, but I will always remember him best as Jack Benny's manservant. Don't think that's a racial put down. As the family used to watch the Benny program, Rochester was always the character we looked forward to. We loved him.It's interesting to watch Lena Horne in this film, compared to her performance in other films (such as "Stormy Weather"). Let's face it, in many films she was very light complected, but in this film the opposite seemed to be true. Here she plays the evil seductress in league with the devil, and is quite impressive. It was also a treat to finally see John Bubbles.

MartinHafer This is the sort of film that you'd certainly NOT see being made today and I am sure that "Cabin in the Sky" might make a few out there cringe--with its rather stereotypical characters--including several quite shiftless folks. However, if you can hold on to the politically correct voice welling up inside and just accept the film for what it is, then it's well worth seeing.This is a highly unusual film for its time. Despite the leading character being a dice-shooting no account, the fact that White Hollywood would produce a film with an all-Black cast is amazing--even if the characters are all either non-threatening "good Negroes" and the rest are "shiftless"--a rather two-dimensional view (at best). Still, if this film hadn't been made, performances by such greats as Ethel Waters, Lena Horne and Louis Armstrong never would have been seen and appreciated by a wider audience. Sadly, when you watch and see Kenneth Spencer in the film, you think of what a loss it was that Hollywood never gave him much of a chance and that he died so young--he had an absolutely beautiful voice.The film's plot is highly unusual. It's a religious allegory about the soul of one particular shiftless fool (Eddie "Rochester" Anderson). Anderson is given one last chance by God and the angels try to steer him towards good while the devils try to lead him down the path of destruction. And even more unusual is that the film is a singing and dancing musical. Some of the more hilarious performances are by Lucifer, Jr.'s imps. Sure, they are walking stereotypes, but seeing Louis Armstrong, Mantan Moreland and Willie Best acting is very entertaining--the dialog is very funny and original.Overall, the film is very entertaining and a wonderful showcase for some of the best Black entertainers of the day. Well made and certainly not a movie you'll soon forget.

classicsoncall Just a delightful and still fresh film after sixty plus years, with an all black cast that does a great job with the material. I remember the principal players from TV variety shows of the later 1950's, and who can forget Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson from the Jack Benny Program? I'd only seen Anderson in minor movie roles before (1938's "You Can't Take It With You" and 1939's "You Can't Get Away With Murder"), so to see him in the lead here with Ethel Waters was a nice treat. It was also cool to see him display an all around talent with his singing and dancing, something you rarely got during his association with Benny. Still, the scene where he and Waters sang the title song left me wondering whether he might have been dubbed, as it didn't feature his unique gravelly voice, although his rendition of 'Consequences' later in the story and the duet with Lena Horne surely did.And Lena Horne - modern day viewers might compare her to Halle Berry in the looks department, but if truth be told, Ms. Horne had it all over Berry in terms of talent. I did more than one double take as well when her character Georgia Brown appeared almost topless from the back and with midriff exposed upon securing that sexy halter top. Then when she got a leg up on Little Joe (Anderson), I had to wonder how he contained himself.As a musical, the picture really got into high gear during the second half, with virtually number after number showcasing a variety of talent, not the least of which was the legendary Ethel Waters. As the 'terrific prayin' wife of Little Joe, Ms. Waters was a stand-out in every one of her scenes. Throw Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong into the mix, and you have a veritable lock on virtually all the black talent in Hollywood at the time.As for the comedic interludes, it was great to see some of my all time favorite black actors of the era as part of the Lucifer Jr. bunch - Mantan Morelan and Wille Best, a duo that appeared somewhat regularly in the Monogram run of Charlie Chan films during the late Forties. As Lucifer Jr., Rex Ingram had one of the picture's most telling lines when he remarked that he was stuck with a bunch of 'B' idea men because all of his 'A' men were over in Europe. Released in 1943 during the height of World War II, that reference presumably related to Satan's cultivation of future citizens of Hell, namely Hitler and Mussollini. Considering that type of company, there was just no way that Little Joe Jackson would ever fall victim to any trap set for him by the devil's minions.

Neil Doyle Vincente Minnelli's first film for MGM was CABIN IN THE SKY, from the Broadway musical--a film that no other studio at the time would take a chance on producing. A splendid cast does justice to it and it's a rollicking good time to watch ETHEL WATERS, EDDIE 'ROCHESTER' ANDERSON, REX INGRAM, KENNETH SPENCER, Oscar POLK, LENA HORNE and BUTTERFLY McQUEEN have fun with the story and music.Rex Ingram is especially good as the horned Devil wearing black and Kenneth Spencer, using his rich bass baritone voice to good effect, is in excellent shape as The General in white. (Spencer sang 'Old Man River' as Joe in SHOW BOAT on Broadway in '46).Basically, it's the story of temptation coming between Petunia (ETHEL WATERS) and Little Joe (EDDIE ANDERSON) and her crusade to win him away from The Devil and away from the temptress Georgia Brown (LENA HORNE). Lena never looked sexier and plays her sultry role for all it's worth.A few of the musical moments don't come off as well as intended, looking rather awkwardly staged, and Waters has a tendency to overplay her role both in the acting and singing segments. LOUIS ARMSTRONG makes a brief appearance on the trumpet and the DUKE WELLINGTON orchestra gets to get the joint swinging with his big number. The HALL JOHNSON CHOIR does some excellent choral work for some stirring background music.What hurts the film is the pace, a bit too slow in developing its theme and the songs, while fine, are not always given the best possible treatment. I seem to remember seeing this in Sepiatone at one time, but the print on TCM is in B&W.