Cabin In The Sky (1943)

A shiftless gambler by the name of Little Joe (Eddie "Rochester" Anderson) is shot during a card game and as he lies dying, the agents of Heaven (Kenneth Spencer) and Hell (Rex Ingram, THE THIEF OF BAGDAD) fight for his soul. A deal is brokered whereupon Little Joe is given another six months of life to redeem himself or literally, go to Hell. This rather grim synopsis disguises the fact that this is one of the great delights of the 1940s Hollywood musical. A whimsical fantasy bolstered by Vincente Minnelli's expert direction (amazingly, this was his first film) and terrific performances. When you hear Ethel Waters crooning Happiness Is A Thing Called Joe, you know the definition of sublime. But then there's John William Sublett strutting his stuff to Shine, Lena Horne crooning Honey In The Honeycomb, Duke Ellington's swing music and Archie Savage's choreography to sweeten the pot. Curiously, instead of feeling "dated", there's a timeless quality to this cinematic fable, most likely because it is an illusion. The songs are by Harold Arlen & E.Y. Harburg and Vernon Duke & John La Touche. With Louis Armstrong, Butterfly McQueen, Mantan Moreland, Ruby Dandridge and Willie Best.