The Blood of Jesus
Encyclopedia
The Blood of Jesus is a 1941 American race film written, directed, and starring Spencer Williams
. It was also released under the alternate title of The Glory Road.
population, a church
group is holding a riverside baptismal service, and one of the faithful being immersed is the recently-married Martha (Cathryn Caviness). However, Martha’s husband Ras (Spencer Williams
) is absent from the service – he claims he was hunting, but he actually poached a neighbor’s boar
. At home, Ras accidentally shoots Martha when his rifle
drops on the floor and discharges. The church congregation gathers at Martha’s bedside to pray for her recovery, and during this period an angel
(Rogenia Goldthwaite) arrives to take Martha’s spirit from her body. She is brought to the Crossroads between Heaven
and Hell
, and initially she is tempted by the slick Judas Green (Frank H. McClennan), who is an agent for Satan (James B. Jones). Judas takes Martha to a nightclub
, where the floor show includes an acrobat and a jazz
singer. Judas arranges to have Martha employed by the roadhouse owner Rufus Brown, but the angel returns and advises Martha to flee. As she is escaping, a nightclub patron mistakenly believes Martha is a pickpocket who robbed him. A chase ensues and Martha races back to the Crossroads, where Satan (along with a jazz band on a flatbed truck) is waiting for her arrival. The angel appears to protect Martha from the mob, who are driven away. The sign at the Crossroad is transformed into the vision of Jesus Christ being crucified, and Christ’s blood drips down on Martha’s face. She awakens to discover she is home and her health is restored. Martha is reunited with her husband, who has now embraced religion. The angel who took Martha on her journey returns to bless the marriage.
-based production/distribution company Sack Amusement Enterprises, to write and direct a series of all-black films that would be released to the U.S. cinemas catering to African American audiences.
The Blood of Jesus was produced in Texas
on a budget of US$5,000. To present the afterlife, Williams used scenes from a 1911 Italian
film called L'Inferno that depicted souls entering Heaven.
In addition to Williams, the cast was made up of amateur actors and members of Reverend R.L. Robinson's Heavenly Choir, who sang the film’s gospel music score. The film’s soundtrack included the songs ""All God's Children Got Shoes," "Amazing Grace,""Go Down, Moses," “Good News!", "I've Heard of a City Called Heaven," ""On Jordan's Stormy Banks I Stand," "Run, Child, Run," "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,"Weary Blues" and "Were You There When They Crucified My Lord?"
(1942) and Go Down Death
(1944).
For years, The Blood of Jesus was considered a lost film
until prints were discovered in the mid-1980s in a warehouse in Tyler, Texas
.
Critical appraisal of The Blood of Jesus has been positive, with Dave Kehr of The New York Times
calling the film “magnificent” and J. Hoberman of The Village Voice
stating it is “a masterpiece of folk cinema that has scarcely lost its power to astonish.” Time
magazine counted it among its “25 Most Important Films on Race.” Historian Thomas Cripps, in his book Black Film as Genre, praised The Blood of Jesus for providing “a brief anatomy of Southern Baptist folk theology by presenting Christian
myth in literal terms. From its opening voiceover, the film became an advocate for the most enduring traditions of Afro-American family life on Southern ground.”
Filmmaker Julie Dash
cited the baptismal sequence in The Blood of Jesus as the inspiration for a similar scene from her 1991 feature film Daughters of the Dust
. In 1991, The Blood of Jesus became the first race film to be added to the U.S. National Film Registry
.
Spencer Williams (actor)
Spencer Williams was an African American actor and filmmaker. He was best known for playing Andy in the Amos 'n Andy television show and for the directing the 1941 race film The Blood of Jesus. Williams was a pioneer African-American film producer and director.-Early career:Williams...
. It was also released under the alternate title of The Glory Road.
Plot
In a small rural village with an African AmericanAfrican American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
population, a church
Church service
In Christianity, a church service is a term used to describe a formalized period of communal worship, often but not exclusively occurring on Sunday, or Saturday in the case of those churches practicing seventh-day Sabbatarianism. The church service is the gathering together of Christians to be...
group is holding a riverside baptismal service, and one of the faithful being immersed is the recently-married Martha (Cathryn Caviness). However, Martha’s husband Ras (Spencer Williams
Spencer Williams (actor)
Spencer Williams was an African American actor and filmmaker. He was best known for playing Andy in the Amos 'n Andy television show and for the directing the 1941 race film The Blood of Jesus. Williams was a pioneer African-American film producer and director.-Early career:Williams...
) is absent from the service – he claims he was hunting, but he actually poached a neighbor’s boar
Boar
Wild boar, also wild pig, is a species of the pig genus Sus, part of the biological family Suidae. The species includes many subspecies. It is the wild ancestor of the domestic pig, an animal with which it freely hybridises...
. At home, Ras accidentally shoots Martha when his rifle
Rifle
A rifle is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a barrel that has a helical groove or pattern of grooves cut into the barrel walls. The raised areas of the rifling are called "lands," which make contact with the projectile , imparting spin around an axis corresponding to the...
drops on the floor and discharges. The church congregation gathers at Martha’s bedside to pray for her recovery, and during this period an angel
Angel
Angels are mythical beings often depicted as messengers of God in the Hebrew and Christian Bibles along with the Quran. The English word angel is derived from the Greek ἄγγελος, a translation of in the Hebrew Bible ; a similar term, ملائكة , is used in the Qur'an...
(Rogenia Goldthwaite) arrives to take Martha’s spirit from her body. She is brought to the Crossroads between Heaven
Heaven
Heaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...
and Hell
Hell
In many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...
, and initially she is tempted by the slick Judas Green (Frank H. McClennan), who is an agent for Satan (James B. Jones). Judas takes Martha to a nightclub
Nightclub
A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
, where the floor show includes an acrobat and a jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
singer. Judas arranges to have Martha employed by the roadhouse owner Rufus Brown, but the angel returns and advises Martha to flee. As she is escaping, a nightclub patron mistakenly believes Martha is a pickpocket who robbed him. A chase ensues and Martha races back to the Crossroads, where Satan (along with a jazz band on a flatbed truck) is waiting for her arrival. The angel appears to protect Martha from the mob, who are driven away. The sign at the Crossroad is transformed into the vision of Jesus Christ being crucified, and Christ’s blood drips down on Martha’s face. She awakens to discover she is home and her health is restored. Martha is reunited with her husband, who has now embraced religion. The angel who took Martha on her journey returns to bless the marriage.
Cast
- Cathryn Caviness as Sister Martha Ann Jackson
- Spencer WilliamsSpencer Williams (actor)Spencer Williams was an African American actor and filmmaker. He was best known for playing Andy in the Amos 'n Andy television show and for the directing the 1941 race film The Blood of Jesus. Williams was a pioneer African-American film producer and director.-Early career:Williams...
as Ras Jackson - Juanita Riley as Sister Jenkins
- Reather Hardeman as Sister Ellerby
- Rogenia Goldthwaite as The Angel
- James B. Jones as Satan
- Frank H. McClennan as Judas Green
- Eddie DeBase as Rufus Brown
- Alva Fuller as Luke Williams
Production
The Blood of Jesus was the second film directed by Spencer Williams, who was one of the few African American directors of the 1940s. Williams began his career in the 1920s as an extra, and was later able to move up into writing scripts for all-black short comedies produced by the Al Christie studio. In 1928 he directed the silent film Tenderfeet, which was released by Midnight Productions. In 1939, he wrote two screenplays for the race film genre, the Western Harlem Rides the Range and the horror-comedy Son of Ingagi, and he also acted in these films. Williams was invited by Alfred N. Sack, president of the Dallas, TexasDallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
-based production/distribution company Sack Amusement Enterprises, to write and direct a series of all-black films that would be released to the U.S. cinemas catering to African American audiences.
The Blood of Jesus was produced in Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
on a budget of US$5,000. To present the afterlife, Williams used scenes from a 1911 Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
film called L'Inferno that depicted souls entering Heaven.
In addition to Williams, the cast was made up of amateur actors and members of Reverend R.L. Robinson's Heavenly Choir, who sang the film’s gospel music score. The film’s soundtrack included the songs ""All God's Children Got Shoes," "Amazing Grace,""Go Down, Moses," “Good News!", "I've Heard of a City Called Heaven," ""On Jordan's Stormy Banks I Stand," "Run, Child, Run," "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,"Weary Blues" and "Were You There When They Crucified My Lord?"
Release and critical appraisal
The Blood of Jesus was screened in cinemas and in black churches. The film’s commercial success enabled Williams to direct and write additional feature films for Sack Amusement Enterprises, including two films with religious themes: Brother Martin: Servant of JesusBrother Martin: Servant of Jesus
Brother Martin: Servant of Jesus is a race film directed and written by Spencer Williams. The film featured an all-black cast and was produced exclusively for exhibition in U.S. cinemas serving African American communities...
(1942) and Go Down Death
Go Down Death
Go Down, Death! is a 1944 race film directed by and starring Spencer Williams. The film’s title derives from a poem by the African American writer James Weldon Johnson.-Plot:...
(1944).
For years, The Blood of Jesus was considered a lost film
Lost film
A lost film is a feature film or short film that is no longer known to exist in studio archives, private collections or public archives such as the Library of Congress, where at least one copy of all American films are deposited and catalogued for copyright reasons...
until prints were discovered in the mid-1980s in a warehouse in Tyler, Texas
Tyler, Texas
Tyler is a city in and the county seat of Smith County, Texas, in the United States. It takes its name from President John Tyler . The city had a population of 109,000 in 2010, according to the United States Census Bureau...
.
Critical appraisal of The Blood of Jesus has been positive, with Dave Kehr of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
calling the film “magnificent” and J. Hoberman of The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
stating it is “a masterpiece of folk cinema that has scarcely lost its power to astonish.” Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine counted it among its “25 Most Important Films on Race.” Historian Thomas Cripps, in his book Black Film as Genre, praised The Blood of Jesus for providing “a brief anatomy of Southern Baptist folk theology by presenting Christian
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
myth in literal terms. From its opening voiceover, the film became an advocate for the most enduring traditions of Afro-American family life on Southern ground.”
Filmmaker Julie Dash
Julie Dash
Julie Dash is a United States filmmaker. She directed Daughters of the Dust, which in 1991 became the first full-length film with general theatrical release in the United States by an African American woman...
cited the baptismal sequence in The Blood of Jesus as the inspiration for a similar scene from her 1991 feature film Daughters of the Dust
Daughters of the Dust
Daughters of the Dust is a 1991 independent film written, directed and produced by Julie Dash. It tells the story of three generations of Gullah women at the turn of the 20th century and focuses on the family's migration from the Sea Islands to the American mainland.Featuring an unusual narrative...
. In 1991, The Blood of Jesus became the first race film to be added to the U.S. National Film Registry
National Film Registry
The National Film Registry is the United States National Film Preservation Board's selection of films for preservation in the Library of Congress. The Board, established by the National Film Preservation Act of 1988, was reauthorized by acts of Congress in 1992, 1996, 2005, and again in October 2008...
.