Cabin in the Sky

A corny but charming tale of the Devil and God fighting for "Little Joe's" soul A delightful musical If for nothing else worth a watch for the music talents of Lena Horne, Duke Ellington, and Louis Armstrong

At a time when musicals were dominated by the likes of Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Fred Astaire, and Ginger Rogers a low key, predominantly black musical had some stiff competition. And that's without southern racism prohibiting several cities from even playing the movie. But as a matter of quality, it's simply not as good as the classics that litter the 40's, even if it has a good deal of charm, a fun story, and some competent music.

Uma cabana no céu estreava há 80 anos nos EUA. A gente sabe que com Minnelli não tem erro e vendo como um filme de 1943 é um filme bastante progressista em termos de um protagonismo negro, porém ele também não escapa de certos estereótipos raciais da época, né. Box Versátil Cinema Musical.

If you thought positive segregation movies such as Black Panther (2018) was a new things, you're mistaken. They actually did all-black movies back in old Hollywood too. One of them was MGM's Cabin in the Sky (1943). A fun loving "ethnic" picture of the trial and errors morals, featuring some of the funniest black character actors and musicians the US had to offer. There weren't many main stream pictures like this being done and it's great to see such neglected talent get their time to shine.

Minnelli appears, fully formed.

The preachiness doesn't work for me, but it's an entertaining musical with good music, surprisingly effective comedy, and a nice visual style.

Star Rating: ★★★★1/2

"There you go. I think he's pretty, uh, pretty, uh, pretty good." http://illusionpodcast.blogspot.com/2014/06/episode-18.html

Great soundtrack from Armstrong and Ellington, delightful performances and a decent love story. There's a few stereotypes, as expected in a film from this era, but they weren't nearly as bad as I anticipated. The battle for Little Joe's soul between Heaven's angels and Lucifer Jr.'s gang was nicely done and entertaining. The song & dance numbers were well choreographed and full of energy. Definitely recommended to fans of jazz and musicals, keeping in mind the time period this was a product of.

A cute little Faustian musical. The songs aren't particularly memorable but the performances are charming and it has a kind of sincere sweetness to it. Also notable for having an all-black cast; there are shades of stereotyping (this is early 1940s Hollywood after all) but its heart is very much in the right place.

Don't let the racist poster fool you. The film has some great comedy, an unforgettable climax, and great performances by Rochester, Horne, and Ingram. Most of all, Ethel Waters shines as the beleaguered wife.

The musical aspect of it was terrible. All of the songs were awful, the singing ok at best for some of them, and the dancing sequences were too silly and staged. Eddie Anderson's singing was painful. Ethel Waters was really annoying, especially with that annoying smile she kept making. The humour wasn't really funny, but it wasn't horrible either. The film also reeks of that saccharine 40s smell. The story is still sort of fun to watch, but it's far from great and it hasn't aged too well.

watched: 2012, 2020