I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Fireworks of imagination in an intoxicating phantasmagoria of splendid innovations, Lena Horne and Duke Ellington crowning the show both musically and dramatically - the grand scene at John Henry's bar transcends most musicals in sheer flippant enthusiasm. The story is a kind of mental experiment, playing with life and death, and the gamble is high as you don't really know which is which. Rex Ingram is marvellous as Lucifer Junior, laughing his sides off throughout the picture, and the musical numbers are the real treats, especially the church scene in the beginning apart from the grand finale at the bar. The dialogue is ingenious throughout, and just to follow the witty argument makes it worth returning to the film to study it more in detail - there are so many fantastic details to catch up on the way, as the film practically is overloaded with splendid whims, and while it's all too realistic in its drama of life and death, it's at the same time like a fairy tale or parable, from which you can learn a great deal. This was only one out of many films by Vincente Minnelli over-proving that he was a genius.

Absolutely, a superb motion picture of 1943. Ethel Waters is an absolute standout as the devoted wife, a Lord fearing woman who will go to any extreme to save her husband, Eddie Rochester Anderson, a compulsive gambler winding up dead and given a second chance to redeem himself.Waters throws herself into the part of Petunia, his loving, faithful wife. Her rendition of Happiness is Just A Thing Called Joe was forever endearing. Remember the way Susan Hayward sang that song in 1955's "I'll Cry Tomorrow?" I now realize that Hayward was emulating Ms. Waters when she belted out that song in that magnificent film.This was certainly a great opportunity for Anderson, the sidekick of Jack Benny on radio and television for so many years and he makes the most out of it.The way the dream sequence was done was phenomenal and with an outstanding supporting cast, this picture was just marvelous. Lena Horne, as the devil's worker, was also fantastic.

Just a delightful and still fresh film after sixty plus years, with an all black cast that does a great job with the material. I remember the principal players from TV variety shows of the later 1950's, and who can forget Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson from the Jack Benny Program? I'd only seen Anderson in minor movie roles before (1938's "You Can't Take It With You" and 1939's "You Can't Get Away With Murder"), so to see him in the lead here with Ethel Waters was a nice treat. It was also cool to see him display an all around talent with his singing and dancing, something you rarely got during his association with Benny. Still, the scene where he and Waters sang the title song left me wondering whether he might have been dubbed, as it didn't feature his unique gravelly voice, although his rendition of 'Consequences' later in the story and the duet with Lena Horne surely did.And Lena Horne - modern day viewers might compare her to Halle Berry in the looks department, but if truth be told, Ms. Horne had it all over Berry in terms of talent. I did more than one double take as well when her character Georgia Brown appeared almost topless from the back and with midriff exposed upon securing that sexy halter top. Then when she got a leg up on Little Joe (Anderson), I had to wonder how he contained himself.As a musical, the picture really got into high gear during the second half, with virtually number after number showcasing a variety of talent, not the least of which was the legendary Ethel Waters. As the 'terrific prayin' wife of Little Joe, Ms. Waters was a stand-out in every one of her scenes. Throw Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong into the mix, and you have a veritable lock on virtually all the black talent in Hollywood at the time.As for the comedic interludes, it was great to see some of my all time favorite black actors of the era as part of the Lucifer Jr. bunch - Mantan Morelan and Wille Best, a duo that appeared somewhat regularly in the Monogram run of Charlie Chan films during the late Forties. As Lucifer Jr., Rex Ingram had one of the picture's most telling lines when he remarked that he was stuck with a bunch of 'B' idea men because all of his 'A' men were over in Europe. Released in 1943 during the height of World War II, that reference presumably related to Satan's cultivation of future citizens of Hell, namely Hitler and Mussollini. Considering that type of company, there was just no way that Little Joe Jackson would ever fall victim to any trap set for him by the devil's minions.

Okay, continuing the reviews of movies that involved African-Americans in chronological order for Black History Month, we're now in 1943 with the release of Cabin in the Say. This was a very enjoyable movie with the three stars: Ethyl Waters, Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson, and Lena Horne playing their roles to the hilt. And what a supporting cast: Rex Ingram, Oscar Polk, Kenneth Spencer, Butterfly McQueen, Louis Armstrong, and Mantan Moreland. All involved made this one of the most entertaining and inspirational films I've ever seen. "Happiness is a Thing Called Joe" "Life's Full of Consequences" "Taking a Chance on Love" "Cabin in the Sky" "Honey in the Honeycomb" Classic songs all. Vincente Minnelli did fine for his directing debut. Plus there's Duke Ellington, the Hall Johnson Choir, and dancer 'Bubbles' John W. Sublett performing "Shine". Nice mix of humor and near-tragedy. Dorothy Dandridge's mother Ruby is listed in the credits as playing Mrs. Kelso. I think that's her in the church sequence talking about Joe repenting to the preacher at the door. And the guy tap-dancing to "Taking a Chance on Love" is Bill Bailey, Pearl Bailey's brother. Like I said, this was very enjoyable. So on that note, I highly recommend Cabin in the Sky. P.S. Only disappointment is we're deprived of Armstrong's number "Ain't It the Truth" that was cut from general release and supposedly is forever lost with only stills and his recording existing.