(1943, 1h 38min)

When Cabin in the Sky arrived in 1943, many theaters still refused to screen films featuring black performers in central roles, making its release a considerable gamble for MGM — and one that happily paid off with an Oscar-nominated hit. While the film’s racial dynamics have aged about as well as you might expect given its vintage, it was admirably forward-thinking in some respects given the context of its time, and it offered a richly deserved spotlight to a roster of performers that included Lena Horne and Louis Armstrong. “Cabin in the Sky,” crowed The New York Times, “is a bountiful entertainment.”

Artwork: Julie Sevilla Drake, Bear Falls Apart, 2020. Courtesy of the Artist.