Hallelujah

In 1929, King Vidor's "Hallelujah" tells the story of Zeke Johnson (Daniel L. Haynes), a black laborer who turns preacher after accidentally killing a man. After his family's meager cotton crop revenue is stolen from him, Zeke flees and finds solace in God, but eventually becomes embroiled with a seductive woman named Chick (Nina Mae McKinney). As Zeke rises to become a well-known traveling Baptist preacher, he must confront his own moral corruption and the temptations of Chick, who ultimately leads him astray. The film, one of the first with an all-African American cast produced by a major studio, was intended for a general audience and aimed to present a relatively non-stereotyped view of African-American life.