It is typical of the unfathomable decisions sometimes made by MGM in its early musicals that it cast Victoria Spivey (1906-76) in a non-singing role in Hallelujah!. In her day job Spivey was a notable blues singer and songwriter who went on to work with artists ranging from John Lee Hooker to Bob Dylan, and whose personality bore no resemblance to Missy Rose. Hallelujah! was her only acting credit.
Very little is known about Harry Gray. It is probable he was born in the 1840s and lived the first decades of his life as an enslaved person. He was apparently working as a porter when he was cast as the patriarch in Hallelujah, joining a number of other non-professional actors. Gray has two subsequent credits, but remains something of a mystery.
Hallelujah was the last of the handful of films made by William Fountaine (1897-1945), starting with the lead in Oscar Micheaux’s Uncle Jasper’s Will (1922). He was forthright about his refusal, along with other performers, to speak the racist language originally included in Hallelujah!‘s screenplay.
Nina Mae McKinney (1913-67) was one of the many Black performers–talented and beautiful–whose careers were stifled by Hollywood racism.
After relocating from South Carolina to New York, McKinney was only 15 when she was cast in the all-Black Broadway musical revue Blackbirds of 1928. Her performance was noted by King Vidor, who subsequently cast her as the female lead in Hallelujah. She replaced his original choice, who was rejected by Irving Thalberg as lacking sex appeal.
McKinney received glowing reviews for her performance as Chick and it secured her a five-year contract with MGM, but no further roles of substance. She made an uncredited appearance as a singer in They Learned About Women, and eventually walked out on MGM. Richard Watts of The New York Herald Tribune wrote at the time that her “exile from the cinema is the result entirely of narrow and intolerant racial matters.”
She made only a few films thereafter, perhaps most notably as Paul Robeson’s queen in Sanders of the River (1935) and as Rozelia in Pinky (1949).
Daniel M Haynes (1894-1954) was a successful stage actor working as Jules Bledsoe’s understudy in Show Boat when he was offered the lead role of Zeke in Hallelujah. The part had been intended for Paul Robeson, but he was unavailable.
Inevitably, given the times, Haynes’s powerful performance did not open the door to a film career. King Vidor used him again in So Red the Rose, but further down the cast list. Other than that, Haynes’s film work was mostly uncredited bits, and he eventually gave up acting to become a Baptist minister.
Cast
| Daniel L. Haynes | Zeke |
| Nina Mae McKinney | Chick |
| William Fountaine | Hot Shot |
| Harry Gray | Parson |
| Fanny Belle DeKnight | Mammy |
| Everett McGarrity | Spunk |
| Victoria Spivey | Missy Rose |
| Milton Dickerson | Johnson Kid |
| Robert Couch | Johnson Kid |
| Walter Tait | Johnson Kid |
| Dixie Jubilee Singers | Vocal Ensemble |
| Matthew ‘Stymie’ Beard | Child (uncredited) |
| Evelyn Pope Burwell | Singer (uncredited) |
| Eddie Conners | Singer (uncredited) |
| William Allen Garrison | Heavy (uncredited) |
| Eva Jessye | Singer (uncredited) |
| Sam McDaniel | Adam (uncredited) |
| Clarence Muse | Church Member (uncredited) |
| Arvert Pott | Black Child (uncredited) |
| Madame Sul-Te-Wan | Church Member (uncredited) |
| Blue Washington | Church Member (uncredited) |
| Georgia Woodruff | Singer (uncredited) |
Synopsis
[Old Folks at Home]. Zeke Johnson, his brother Spunk and the rest of their family pick cotton on a big plantation. The two brothers are about to go into town to sell their family’s share of the latest crop. A late supper [Dance 1] is interrupted by Adam, Eve and their 12 children. Adam and Eve ask Mr Johnson to marry them.
While the ceremony is taking place, Zeke forces himself on his adopted sister Missy Rose and kisses her. He immediately apologizes, claiming the devil was in him. [Dance 2].
The next day, Zeke and Spunk sell the cotton [Waiting at the End of the Road]. Zeke collects $100 and resists the temptation to join a dice game. But he sees a young woman named Chick dancing [Dance 3]. Chick is not interested in him, until she sees his money. Spunk waits for his brother, but he does not return.
Chick takes Zeke to a night spot where she performs [Swanee Shuffle]. Chick introduces Zeke to Hot Shot, a gambler for whom she shills. Hot Shop plays dice with Zeke. Spunk, meanwhile, is searching for his brother. Zeke quickly loses all the money. Zeke accuses Hot Shot of cheating. Spunk enters while they are fighting and is shot and killed.
Zeke arrives home the next morning with Spunk’s body in the wagon. After the funeral, Zeke repents of his sins and leads the people in prayer [Swing Low, Sweet Chariot].
Some time later, Zeke has become the prophet Zekiel, a travelling preacher. He arrives in a new town and Chick and Hot Shot are in the crowd. They heckle Zeke, but he confronts and cows them. Zeke preaches to the crowd [(Gimme Dat) Old Time Religion], and Chick begins heckling again, but is eventually moved by Zeke’s preaching [Waiting at the End of the Road]. Later, Mrs Johnson and Missy Rose are shocked when Chick volunteers for baptism in the river. Zeke is tempted by Chick’s presence, but his mother intercedes.
That evening, Zeke asks Missy Rose to marry him. Elsewhere, Hot Shot tries to stop Chick going to the service, telling her she will always be a sinner, but she beats him with a poker and gets away. At the service, Missy Rose sees that Zeke is still drawn to Chick, and she to him. In an apparent religious ecstasy, Chick seduces Zeke and takes him away with her.
Months later, Zeke is working in a log mill and living with Chick. But Hot Shot has tracked down Chick and wants her to go with him [St Louis Blues]. Zeke is suspicious, but he still cannot resist her. When Zeke falls asleep, Chick packs a bag and leaves with Hot Shot in his buggy. Zeke chases them, and catches up when the buggy loses a wheel. Chick is thrown from the buggy and seriously injured. She begs Zeke’s forgiveness and dies in his arms. Zeke pursues Hot Shot through a swamp and kills him.
Zeke spends time in prison doing hard labour. He is released on probation, and returns to his family [Goin’ Home]. They all welcome him back.
