Review of Hallelujah

King Vidor had always wanted to make an all-black feature. Hallelujah! was his chance in the early talkie era. Zeke (Daniel L. Haynes), a poor cotton farmer, falls for Chick (Nina Mae McKinney) who's a mercenary honky-tonk girl. After his younger brother gets killed in the line of fire, Zeke repents and becomes a preacher. Chick sees Zeke perform and initially makes fun of him but when she feels alone while the rest of the congregation follows him, she also repents. Zeke falls for Chick again watching her do so. Months later, Chick goes back to her two-timing ways with her previous paramour with Zeke eventually catching them red-handed. She dies in Zeke's arms after falling off paramour's wagon. After killing paramour, Zeke goes to jail eventually going back to work and family as movie ends. The two leads are good although only McKinney got some work in small feature roles and shorts. Her last notable part was in Pinky (1949). If you're interested in early African-American film work, by all means seek this one out!