"THE GREEN PASTURES"

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 39, 9 November 1937, Page 7

"THE GREEN PASTURES"

at the Copy To-morrow

"The Green Pastures," the film version of the . Marc Connolly's famous play which hag aroused so much controversy both nere and in England, will open its Hastings season at the Cosy Theatre to-morrpw. "The Green Pastures" is a simple tale of simple people j it is, ip dramatic form, a negro coneeption of . incidents - ijpscribed. in the Qlfi Testament. The filni's ppening spenes take ptaee ih a negro Spnday Suhool in the QJd South. Thefe the pa.stpr, a kindly man, describes for hjs warcbi the Old Testa,* ment storips, From there you nr0 transported on the wings pf the simple negro 's imagination to the world of the Old Testament— a bizarre ^orld in which the Babylonian revels are depicted as the equivalent of a "hot" night in a Harlem cabaret; in which Pharaoh's soldiers appear in an array pf uniforms morc befitting modern admirals and fielq-marshals, and heaven geems to be an eyerlasting bgrbecut. feast. ' The film haa evoked cpnsi^orable controversy, and has been strongly Jefended. Among itg defepderg is the Eey, Jasper Calder, Auckland City Missioner, For its criticism of the film, the Auckland Council of Christian Congregations was itgelf taken fo task by Mr Calder, whp was one of thpse prpgent at a preview gome weekg haek* #I am surprised and amazed at thejr attjtude, and I eannot believe that any pf them have seen the picture,'? he said, '■If they are basing their critieism on the stage play or the book, I partly agree with them, but when it comes to the pieture I digagreq y^ith them, definitely and militaatly." Giving hig impressions pf fhe picture; "J'asppr" added that there waq. ondoubtedly an element of quajnt hur mour'tp be' fonnd in ''Tho Qreen Ba?cures"— what else could the proeessioa of animals into the ark be but funnyf Even iiteralistg who insisted that .there was a rpal ark and a real proeessioa. pf animals wqnld have fo admifc that Noah must liavp had a prpfcty idifficnlt time getting them all aboard, and if it came to a point, the man whp quarrelled with No.ah's degire for extra liquor was guarrelling with the 01^ Testament record that Noah was the firBt man in the Bible to get drunk, • Ho was especially gratefql for the faet that Warjier Bfothers had ihgjgted pp an all-negro cast for the film, T'hp plgy was CQnsidered some time ago by an Auckland repertory society, but tho producer turned it doum beeauso pf tho gbgolnte i!SP98gability of prpduciji^ it wif.hput a negro east. With white people actiqg it,' /'The Green Pastures" wopld be blasphomons and a travesty. "ltex Ingram's portrayal of 'Do Lavy-d' is really beautiful,'? said 'UaBper," "and if I woke up niyself in some futurp world and found God was something liko that old negro, I would be quite satisfied." Finajly, said Mr Calder, he wqs of the opinion that "The Green Pagturps, " prefaced, of course, by nn explanation of the film's psychology, should be seen by every child, particularly by secondary school children, and inoreover, if there appeared to be danger of miseonception "on the part of the general public, he would be glad to go and introduee each evening sessipn himself introduce each evening session him- — PJ3.A.