BLOOD OF JESUS by Spencer Williams
Spencer
Williams, who had been an actor and screenwriter since 1929, was one of
the most important African-American filmmakers of the 1940s, producing
dramas with all-black casts that found a ready audience in all-black
movie houses. Williams made his directorial debut with this low-budget
drama, for which he was also the producer, screenwriter, and lead actor.
Highly religious Martha (Cathryn Caviness) is married to Razz
(Williams), a ne'er-do-well who has trouble supporting his family and
rarely goes to church. Razz accidentally shoots Martha while tending to
his hunting rifle, and her fellow parishioners pray over her as she
hovers between life and death. Her spirit leaves her body, transported
to the Crossroads between Heaven and Hell. There, Martha is tempted from
the path of righteousness by Judas Green (Frank H. McClennan), a
smooth-talking demon sent by Satan (James B. Jones) who introduces her
to the pleasures of liquor and dancing and tries to talk her into a new
career as a nightclub hostess, before she realizes that she has begun to
travel the path of sin and degradation. Shot in Texas on a budget of
only $5000, The Blood of Jesus uses both ethereal gospel music and
down-and-dirty blues on the soundtrack is an effective metaphor for the
film's battle of sacred and profane influences. Williams would direct
seven more films before the decade was over, and in the 1950s he gained
fame as Andy on the Amos 'n' Andy TV series.
~ Mark Deming, Rovi
