A gorgeous, all-black masterpiece. King Vidor directs a group of (mostly) non-actors to depict a picture of black life in the South. Daniel L. Haynes stars as Zeke, a none-too-smart cotton farmer who is tricked into wasting half a year's pay on gambling by a sexy little hoochie (Nina Mae McKinney). When Zeke gets in a fight with the man who cheated to win his money, tragedy strikes. In a fit of grief, he begins to belt out a gospel song and the people around him think he should become a priest. Not only is this a great gospel musical, it's a great religious drama, one where the emotions of faith seem deeply felt and real. Vidor's direction is as good as it ever was. When a lot of the films of 1929 were clunky and static, this one has a beautiful visual and aural flow with only a couple of small stumbles along the way.

Hallelujah is not perfect and is an acquired taste, with the quite long length for the time, some leaden and thinly plotted pacing in the first half-hour and for some people's taste some crude(and racist for some) stereotypes it is understandable why they would find Hallelujah challenging.

For this viewer, Hallelujah has faults but is a fascinating film and one of those ahead-of-its-time films that is still well worth the look. The production values have real charm and the film's well photographed. The picture quality's good too and the sound while primitive at times is also not bad at all. A high point is the music and songs, which are not only ones that are easy to remember but are filled with energy and emotion, and once the story gets going the story is attention-grabbing with the drama genuinely affecting.

Another high point is the stylish and thoughtful direction of King Vidor, he got an Oscar nomination here and it is easy to see why. The acting is not some of the best I've ever seen but it's fine enough, Nina Mae McKinney in fact is wonderful and brings warmth and nuanced emotion to her part. Daniel L Haynes is charming and moving too while Fannie Belle DeKnight is nobly dignified. Overall, a ground breaking film and while not for all taste-buds and far from flawless it is well worth watching still. 7.5/10 Bethany Cox

Even after over 80 years this early sound film is still quite an achievement with an unknown black cast. Though many of these people got work in the black cinema in the future, none of them ever appeared in anything as good as Hallelujah.

I think for just taking on the daunting task of directing a cast of unknowns and mostly untried King Vidor merited and was given the only recognition that Hallelujah got from the Academy with his nomination for Best Director.

You can see elements of future work like Carmen Jones, Porgy And Bess, and Cabin In The Sky. Mostly Porgy And Bess. Hallelujah has minimal dialog and the story is mostly told in the singing and in the pantomime style of acting. Remember we were just briefly out of the silent era and everyone in film was feeling their way through the new process.

Sharecropper brothers Daniel Haynes and Everett McGarrity bring in their hard earned cotton crop. But Haynes is stuck on a slinky temptress Nina McKinney who with her confederates cheats these guys out of their money. McGarrity is shot and killed by William Fountaine and Haynes goes off beaten and dejected.

But he comes back a gospel preacher and the revival scenes even today are quite powerful. Although he's got a nice girl who really likes him Haynes still has one powerful and understandable yen for McKinney. As for her she likes more than one person scratching her itch. She's still got her yen for the gambler Fountaine as well as preacher Haynes. Note the gleam in her eye and her actions in general during the full immersion baptism in the long revival sequence. McKinney really carries off that scene well.

Hallelujah is a film both enjoyed and studied for decades. With a few bumps King Vidor got sound remarkably right here.