The Blood of Jesus
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | The Blood of Jesus |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1941 |
| length | 57 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Spencer Williams |
| script | Spencer Williams |
| production | Spencer Williams Alfred N. Sack |
| music | Reverend RL Robinson's Heavenly Choir and a jazz band |
| camera | Jack Whitman |
| occupation | |
| |
The Blood of Jesus is a 1941 religious race film . The film was produced by Sack Amusement Enterprises . Spencer Williams wrote the script, directed, and supported Ras Jackson. The film was considered lost for many years until a copy of the film was found in the 1980s. The film was shown in numerous Southern Baptist Convention churches and in theaters.
action
A small African American village: the whole congregation is gathered here to witness Sister Martha Ann Jackson's baptism by the lake. However, her husband Ras Jackson prefers to hunt wild boars rather than witness this event.
After the baptism, an accident occurs in which Ras Jackson's rifle falls over and Martha falls into a coma. The whole church stands by her husband and keeps watch over her. Meanwhile Martha sees the gate of heaven . She finally stands in a field and a female angel appears to her. The angel exhorts them to stay on the right path towards heaven and leaves them.
The devil uses this chance and instructs Judas Green to destroy her soul with it. He leads her to the city where she gets to know the sinful life . There he takes them to a nightclub where jazz music is played and acrobats perform.
This visit to the nightclub is not without consequences, because she has owed Judas Green. He suggests that she work for the roadhouse owner Rufus Brown. It is supposed to seduce and steal from men. Her conscience refuses so much that she flees. However, a visitor to the roadhouse is robbed. He and his friends take up the persecution of the believing woman. Martha trips over a cross and the men try to stone her. She cries. The Jesus Christ figure on the cross weeps blood and speaks to the attackers: “If you are without sin, throw the first stone.” Martha wakes up from the coma and sees her husband praying for her and the parishioners supporting him.
Soundtrack
The film's soundtrack consisted mostly of ghospel songs sung by the Reverend RL Robinson's Heavenly Choir . The remaining three songs Run, Child, Run , Swing Low, Sweet Chariot and Weary Blues were played by a jazz band.
- All God's Children Got Shoes
- Amazing grace
- Go Down, Moses
- Good news!
- I've Heard of a City Called Heaven
- On Jordan's Stormy Banks I booth
- Run, child, run
- Swing low, sweet chariot
- Weary blues
- Were You There When They Crucified My Lord?
Background information
The film was shot in Texas on a budget of $ 5,000. The cast was mainly made up of the Reverend RL Robinson's Heavenly Choir . The scenes with the gate of heaven come from the Italian film L'Inferno from 1911. The film was also released under the title The Glory Road .
The script was written by Spencer Williams , who had been in the film business since the 1920s. In 1939 he began working as a race film director. Films that were produced and shot exclusively by African Americans were called race films . The films of the race film are comparable to the independent film .
The film was followed by two sequels Brother Martin: Servant of Jesus from 1942 and Go Down Death from 1944.
The film was considered lost for many years until it was found in a warehouse in Tyler, Texas in the 1980s . In 1991 the film was entered into the National Film Registry . Julie Dash used parts of the film as a source of inspiration for her own film, Daughters of the Dust .
The film is described as one of the most important films in the race film genre.