Band of Angels

1957 "You're no blue blood any more, honey. The master bought you...and now he's waitin'!"
6.5| 2h5m| en| More Info
Released: 03 August 1957 Released
Producted By: Warner Bros. Pictures
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Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Synopsis

Living in Kentucky prior to the Civil War, Amantha Starr is a privileged young woman. Her widowed father, a wealthy plantation owner, dotes on her and sends her to the best schools. When he dies suddenly Amantha's world is turned upside down. She learns that her father had been living on borrowed money and that her mother was actually a slave and her father's mistress.

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Reviews

Stometer Save your money for something good and enjoyable
UnowPriceless hyped garbage
Doomtomylo a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.
Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.
cazbet I love this movie. It's got everything. I've watched it three times. I absolutely fell in love with Clark Gable's house - love the French-style courtyard with the house built around it, the terraces and the big wrought iron gates!! All style!!
HotToastyRag While Band of Angels has a very captivating premise, it's so terrible you'll wonder why you didn't just watch Gone with the Wind for the thirtieth time instead of taking a chance on it. It's another Civil War drama that takes place on a large Southern plantation, starring Clark Gable without a Southern accent. The costumes, designed by Marjorie Best, are breathtakingly beautiful, however, and every bit as lovely and authentic looking as Walter Plunkett's costumes in Gone with the Wind. The clothes are really the only good part of the film, so if you're the type of person who watches movies only to look at the costumes, rent this one.Yvonne De Carlo is a Southern belle, but when her father dies, her mother's race is revealed. Not only is Yvonne the descendant of a slave, but she has lost her inheritance to her father's plantation and fortune, and she's carted off to the selling block and sold as a slave. Wealthy plantation owner Clark Gable buys her with intentions to make her his mistress. I know the plot sounds like something you'd want to watch—it sounded that way to me, too—but there are lots of reasons why the film was so torturous. Either director Raoul Walsh gave his actors atrocious advice on how to deliver their lines, or everyone was naturally atrocious without his help. Clark Gable rattles off his lines the way he always does, quickly, without feeling, and with a sense that he's not really listening to himself. Carolle Drake, Clark's former slave mistress, reads her lines with worse delivery than a cold audition. And, as if to make up for it, Tommie Moore, another of Clark's slaves, hams up every single line as if she belongs in a bad community theater production.If horrible acting doesn't bother you, Max Steiner's score will. Just as an example, when Rex Reason announces he's been recruited to make speeches for President Lincoln, Max's music plays "I've Been Working on the Railroad" as he triumphantly leaves for his assignment. It's classic Max Steiner, which means he'll use silly ditties and score a drama as if it's a cartoon.On a side note, Sidney Poitier plays Clark Gable's "head slave". In the story, he seethes and resents Clark's kindness, and in his major scenes, he plays more a villain than a hero. I can't imagine white audiences in the 1950s were pleased with his character; it's pretty amazing he had a career after this movie.
gkeith_1 Spoilers. Observations. Opinions.American slave trade ended 1807 by Congress. Why was Gable in Civil War era talking about his work in that field? That was an era ending fifty years before, and even Gable didn't look that old.This looked to be historically incorrect, but will be overlooked for the sake of the story. Louisiana became American (from the French; Napoleon) in 1803, so this makes even less sense.Back to the story. A funeral has people singing Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, meaning heaven coming to take Yvonne de Carlo's father away. I looked over Jordan, and what did I see? A band of angels comin' after me. These are lyrics of this old song. The River Jordan is another euphemism for heaven.Bands of angels didn't rescue Manty, de Carlo's character. She was found belatedly to have had an African American mother, and in antebellum times that was a definite no-no.She's sent to a slave auction. She's such a hot tomata that bidders end in none other than Clark Gable, a swell-dressed local Colonel Sanders.Gable purchases her for a large sum of money. On the way to the auction, though, she is assaulted by a bad guy, but is rescued and is to live in a lovely antebellum mansion with Gable. Gable is filthy rich, and Manty has been raised to be a cultured and elegant young woman. Gable dresses her in fine clothes. They make a nice-looking pair.Gable's house slaves are mainly female, but in walks a striking dark man portrayed by Sidney Poitier. Poitier is opinionated and mouthy. He was rescued in childhood by Gable. Gable educated him as his own son, but Poitier's character always resents the way Africans are treated in general.A maid says Poitier will be king of the mansion, some day, and that Gable has willed the abode to him. Later, Union army occupiers want Gable's castle, and, naturally, Poitier has joined their army. The mansion has been ransacked by those darned Yankee invaders, and Poitier is now king of nothing. Gable is still alive, and Poitier sneakily helps him escape the bloodthirsty bluecoats after accusing Gable of giving him such a terrible upbringing.Denouement: Gable and Manty ride off in a boat to further adventures, with Gable's old sea dog friend rescuing them. Meanwhile, Poitier is on the shore, seeing them off.Poitier. Strong characters. Lilies of the Field, 1963. Don't mess with me. They Call Me Mr. Tibbs, 1970. In the Heat of the Night, 1967. Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?, 1967. Civil rights movement era, in the decade or two after Band of Angels, and African Americans demanding humane treatment. Poitier did a great job in explaining reality. Sidney, you are the greatest.I am a degreed historian, actress, film critic and movie reviewer.
MarieGabrielle certainly not "Gone With The Wind" but living in the south, and since yesterday was the anniversary of the Civil War, I watched the TCM marathon.The acting isn't superb and yes, Gable is looking a much older Rhett Butler here, and seems to walk through the part of swaggering blockade blackguard and tradesman, a familiar role. Yvonne DeCarlo though is rather good, and stunning as Amantha Starr, a woman who is sold down the river once it is discovered her background is mixed race. Sidney Poitier is very good here, I will not spoil the ending so you should watch for his performance.But the sets of New Orleans courtyards, balmy evenings, and Spanish moss conjure up the romantic unspoiled south which we no longer see today. Yes, the chanting and singing of slaves is rather Hollywood factitious: and we saw similar productions like this in "Jezebel" with Bette Davis. Also it occurs to me this plot is similar to the Elizabeth Taylor film "Raintree County" although that was based in Kentucky.If you can put aside the race issue and simply take it as a B-picture, no message here, but it does show Technicolor sweeping version of a lush and romantic American South we have never seen, and never will see. 8/10.