Band of Angels (1957)

Gable, Poitier, DeCarlo are outstanding!, Good Movie!

I am a Clark Gable fan and anytime I can get a movie on dvd I do so to add to my collection and to replace the vhs copy that I probably have already. I noticed this came available after Yvonne DeCarlo passed away. I wanted it of coarse and bought it.
It is wonderful! Made in 1957,3 years before Gable passed away. I won't go into any detail about the story line itself as the other reviewers do a good job of that. What I will say is that the color and quality of the film are fantastic compared to my vhs copy. The sets are superb as only old Hollywood could do. Authentic footage of the south. Max Steiner's score is great and you're reminded of "Gone With The Wind".
Yvonne DeCarlo is good, you see why she is cast here as they needed an actress with a look that would be believable going along with the story line. Clark Gable is great as always and he is my fave actor of all time. But the outstanding performance here is Sidney Poitier, he gives this movie the believable drama that makes you realize he was going to be and was even then a great actor. If you love Sidney Poitier (I have many of his movies my fave being "To Sir With Love") you must see this movie. It is great to see him and Clark Gable on the screen together. Two movie legends, one was already a legend and one was going to be.
One reviewer said they loved this better than "Gone With The Wind". I told my wife that and then she watched the movie with me. As soon as it was over she said "Good movie...but it is not better than Gone With The Wind I'm sorry to tell you". It is true it is not better than than GWTW but it is really a good movie and I am happy to have it in my collection. June 20, 2008

Another Of Clark Gables Best

Clark Gable In A Movie With The Early Begining Actors Sidney Poitier And Yvonne De Carlo In A Great Film About Race, Slavery And Love Conquering All. Based In Civil War Times Its A Classic That Should Be Seen By All March 30, 2008

Once again Clark Gable proves why he was the "King of Hollywood"

I first saw this movie twenty years ago and am thrilled that I see it on DVD. I fell in love with it right away. It's like Gone with the Wind with a happy ending. Movies like this is what made that era so wonderful.I much prefer these to the so call "realistic" movies of today. Like so many reviews before, it's much more that a bodice ripper. It teaching acceptance and forgiveness and doesn't pull any punches about slavery. Can't wait to get the DVD. February 19, 2008

Another Gable Civil War epic

At last, available on DVD! We have quite a range of reactions to this film, from the greatest film ever to the worst film ever seen. I like to see it every now and then. In fact, I prefer it to the more polished "Gone with the Wind". Yes, Clark Gable is no longer the swaggering brawler, man of action and lady killer of the '30s. Here, we have a more mature and weathered Gable who has settled down to the genteel life of a southern plantation owner, after a financially successful life as a rough and tumble Yankee slave trader. Yet, he is still something of a rebel. He has a guilty conscience about his former life as a ruthless slave trader and wants to make partial amends by treating his large group of slaves decently. In fact, he plans to leave his estate to one. He tends to see the born southern aristocracy as decadently effete, as exemplified by his neighbor, who takes a liking to his recent light-skinned mulatto acquisition(Yvonne de Carlo,as Amantha). Clearly, Gable, as Hamish Bond, has no interest in supporting the recent unsettling changes on the political scene and impending Civil War. He recognizes that these events will probably end his idyllic life and that the lives of most of his slaves will likely be changed for the worse if they are liberated by Yankee troops. Perhaps he recognized that secession failed to solve the looming problem of a lack of new territories for the expansion of plantation slavery, thus depressing the value of young surplus slaves. Perhaps he also recognized that a separate South impeded the legal demands slave owners could make in recapturing slaves who escaped the Confederacy. On the other hand, Hamish refuses to support the cause of the Yankee troops who want to sell his soon-to-be harvested cotton. He risks execution in burning his crop and much of his equipment.
Hamish rescues, in dramatic fashion, a beautiful cultivated mulatto(Yvonne de Carlo, as Amantha) from a fate she could not bear, although she initially shows no gratitude. He doesn't require than she become his mistress and in fact gives her a chance to escape his world, but she has a last minute change of heart and remains with him. Amantha has experienced two benevolent slave owners: her father and Hamish. This is in marked contrast to her treatment as a slave on the auction block.The dialogue makes it clear that Hamish and her father were rather exceptional in this regard. Thus, I don't buy the criticism that this film provides an unrealistically rosy picture of the typical lives of slaves. The film makes the viewer feel deeply the horror of a sudden change in status from a southern belle to a life-long slave. If you want a much more extreme example, read the book "Skeletons in the Zaraha", in which shipwrecked Yankee sailors are transformed into barely living slaves of fearsome tribes or Arabs near the coast of northwest Africa.
The relationship between Hamish and his slave and appointed successor Rau-Ru(Sidney Poitier) is another key element of this story. Rau-Ru hates the institution of slavery and Hamish even more for his rather successful attempt to make slavery agreeable to his slaves. The fact that Hamish has willed him as his successor does not change Rau-Ru's attitude. The last portion of the film deals mainly with the back and forth relationships between Rau-Ru, as a now Union soldier, and Hamish and between Amantha and Hamish and a certain Caucasian Union soldier. See the film to find out how this rapidly changing complex of relationships turns out. January 11, 2008

magnificent classic

this exceptionally well done classic is a story of hatred, love and forgiveness. it has a wonderful cast that has done and excellent job of portraying their pre and civil war characters. well worth watching for the young and old alike. December 17, 2007

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