Word: hallelujah
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...Church (not Rome, but H-E) rounds out the weekend with a far less perfect, but still fascinating movie, Hallelujah, I'm a Bum! If you're interested in the Depression film, hit this. And if you're interested in Harry Langdon, hit this. And if you're interested in the musical comedy form, likewise. Rodgers and Hart did the music and lyrics, and the whole picture is done in talking rhyme, which you will either find maddening or charming. Wonderful montage touches from a usually staid director, Lewis Milestone. It's all right to confuse this with Hallelujah, because...
...people in the family are not the hallelujah holy-rollers I would imagine them to be. They are all young, middle-class, well-educated people. Many are Ivy leaguers, many M.A.'s and PhD's were amongst the family. Despite their education, however, these people were drawn together by factors quite common in young people--dissatisfaction with their lives and a search for truth and direction. The movement fulfills these needs; it tells you what you want to hear and "proves" that there is a God, there is meaning in this crazy life, there is heaven, there is love...
...robbing thugs with monikers like "the Professor," "the Reverend" and "Mammy" (Jeremy Geidt), who are all kept in line by Dr. Nakamura. Made up to look like Dr. Fu Manchu and with an accent to match, Alvin Epstein plays this role with hysterical finesse. Enter a Salvation Army lassie, "Hallelujah Lil" (Stephanie Cotsirilos). She falls for Bill, and redeeming social values ensue...
...stake; his courtiers obligingly find a heretic. Carlos is aroused; from beneath his twenty-foot high royal robes emerges a golden phallus fully ten feet in diameter which extends across the stage at a stately pace until it reaches from side to side as the court sings Handel's Hallelujah Chorus...
...robe and white slacks, and topped by his shiny black Afro, Ingraham and the dashiki and and Afro-garbed choir exuded a contagious joy and enthusiasm in their singing. The audience forgot its own troubles for three hours and stood up and clapped and chanted and shouted amen and hallelujah with the Kuumbas. Despite the hard work, lack of support and other problems, Walters's evaluation of the group's growth seemed quite appropriate: "They still make beautiful music and that's what it's all about...