I'm hesitant to call "Band of Angels" a masterwork or one of Raoul Walsh's best. I just saw it for the first time and I felt that it could have been better after all the hoopla and praises I have read about it.
A Warner Bros extravaganza based on the novel by Robert Penn Warren, "Band of Angels" is a grand and episodic Civil War epic, a lyrical love story between a virile slave owner named Hamish Bond (Clark Gable) and half-white, half-black southern belle Amantha Starr (Yvonne deCarlo). "Band of Angels" begins with Amantha as a young girl whose wealthy white father is a recently deceased plantation owner in New Orleans. Shocked and heartbroken, Amantha discovers that she is mulatto and her mother is long departed black nanny. To pay off her family debts, Amantha is forced into slavery. At the auction, Hamish, out of nowhere, buys Amantha, brings her to his mansion and treats her like a lady, regardless of her stubbornness. Initially uncertain, both soon grow into one another and they discover that they can't live without each other. The 30-year-old Sydney Poitier provides good supporting role as Rau-Ru.
"Band of Angels" has a striking Technicolor photography and rich, untamed emotions that are captured by Max Steiner's wistfully searing score. It is a warm nostalgic piece, slightly unfocused at times, but well handled by Walsh, though it is nowhere near his best.
Not a classic but it's worth seeing for Gable, DeCarlo, Poitier, and Max Steiner's music.
A Warner Bros extravaganza based on the novel by Robert Penn Warren, "Band of Angels" is a grand and episodic Civil War epic, a lyrical love story between a virile slave owner named Hamish Bond (Clark Gable) and half-white, half-black southern belle Amantha Starr (Yvonne deCarlo). "Band of Angels" begins with Amantha as a young girl whose wealthy white father is a recently deceased plantation owner in New Orleans. Shocked and heartbroken, Amantha discovers that she is mulatto and her mother is long departed black nanny. To pay off her family debts, Amantha is forced into slavery. At the auction, Hamish, out of nowhere, buys Amantha, brings her to his mansion and treats her like a lady, regardless of her stubbornness. Initially uncertain, both soon grow into one another and they discover that they can't live without each other. The 30-year-old Sydney Poitier provides good supporting role as Rau-Ru.
"Band of Angels" has a striking Technicolor photography and rich, untamed emotions that are captured by Max Steiner's wistfully searing score. It is a warm nostalgic piece, slightly unfocused at times, but well handled by Walsh, though it is nowhere near his best.
Not a classic but it's worth seeing for Gable, DeCarlo, Poitier, and Max Steiner's music.