00:00How do you do, ladies and gentlemen? I've been asked by Warner Brothers to tell you about a motion picture they just produced entitled The Green Pastures.
00:18I think it is one of the most unusual pictures ever made in Hollywood, and I'd like to tell you something of its history.
00:24In 1930, the play opened in New York City. Overnight, it became the sensation of Broadway. Critics raved about it. People came from all over the world to see this miracle of the theater.
00:33It won the Pulitzer Prize. And then, after thrilling New York City for 18 solid months, started on a nationwide tour that lasted well over five years.
00:42In short, The Green Pastures ceased to be a show and became a national institution. Naturally, in bringing a picture of this type to the screen,
00:51many unusual production problems were faced. For instance, the studio's wardrobe department was overwhelmed with an order to manufacture 3,000 angels' wings to be worn in the heaven sequence,
01:03one of the many spectacular scenes of the picture. Another peculiar request was for the construction of a wagon to carry a pair of aardvarks,
01:11the first animals to enter Noah's Ark in the scenes depicting the destruction of the universe. And it was no small task to get these aardvarks, one male and one female.
01:21But these and many other problems were overcome as the actual filming got underway. And to the charm and beauty of the stage play were added illusions and effects that only the magic of the movie camera can create.
01:33To assist in the filming of the green pastures, Warner Brothers brought its author, Mark Conley, to Hollywood. Here he is in his studio office.
01:42Mr. Conley, I have the model of Noah's house here.
01:46Well, that will be the kitchen and this will be the bed. And the Lord and Noah will enter through here and sit on those two chairs. How's the model of the Ark coming along?
01:55Well, we have it ready if you'd like to see it today.
01:59I've got the Hall Johnson choir at 3 o'clock. What about 4?
02:02That's fine.
02:03I'll be in the art department at 4 o'clock. Did they put the smokestack on the Ark yet?
02:06Oh, yes.
02:07Is it simple?
02:08Kept it very simple. And Mr. Conley, why do we keep the sets all so simple?
02:11Because the green pastures is a story of heaven and of earth, as it might be imagined by very simple, devout people.
02:22And they look at heaven and they look at earth in terms of their own daily experience.
02:28Now, in the picture, we're going to try to convey the impression that the players somewhere in Louisiana found all the settings that we're going to show.
02:36Whether they're the Lord's office in heaven or the big fish fry in heaven or the nightclub in Babylon or the fall of Jerusalem, whatever it might be.
02:44They must look as though they were places that the actors might have found somewhere in the world that they knew.
02:50Otherwise, we won't be able to convey the impression that that heaven is genuine or that earth is genuine.
02:55We may have hundreds of people dancing in a Babylonian revel, but if you look closely, you'll see it's just a little nightclub.
03:02I understand, Mr. Conley, thank you.
03:06At the preview of the green pastures, along with the rest of the audience, I was handed a card on which I was asked to write my opinion of the picture.
03:13I thought of a thousand things to say, but they all seemed inadequate.
03:17It's like trying to describe heaven and earth in 20 words. It just can't be done.
03:21The green pastures is more than a show or an entertainment.
03:25It's an experience that will stay with you for the rest of your life.
03:29I urge you to see it.
03:32ROMCO
03:40.
03:46.
03:48.
03:50.
03:54.
Comments