“Song of Freedom” New Robeson Spectacle

Manawatu Times, Volume 62, Issue 4, 6 January 1937, Page 5

“Song of Freedom” New Robeson Spectacle

FOUR NEW SONGS IN COLOURFUL ENGLISH FILM. (State: Screening Saturday.) “Song of Freedom” is the first British film in which Paul Robeson has starred since “Sanders of the River.” When the story by Major Claude Wallace, probably the most famous authority in the world of Africa, and Dorothy Holloway, was submitted to Paul Robeson, and he agreed that it was an ideal vehicle for British Lion-Hammer embarked on the production of a picture which they realised would take months of work in two continents, and would involve a record expenditure. The story, part of which is based on a legend known to tens of thousands of natives in Africa, handed down to them from the slave trading days, involved sequences in the African interior, shots in all parts of Europe’s capitals, and the engagement of hundreds of extras, both black and white. James Elder Wills, the director, spent six weeks in Africa, finally selecting Tasso Island, on the West Coast as being an ideal locale for shooting. Untouched by civilisation, the natives there proved to be excellent camera material, and the expedition returned with many unique shots of native rites and customs never witnessed by white people before. Continuing work at the Beaconsfield studios, J. Elder Wills began the “Western Hemisphere” sequences with Paul Robeson, Elisabeth Welch, George Mozart, Esme Percy, Joan Fred Emney, and a score of other well-known players. Enormous crowds of negro extras for the opera scene, one of the highlights of the picture. The four songs provided for Robeson —“Lonely Road,” Song of Freedom,” “Sleepy River,” and “Stepping Stones” —were written for him by Eric An sell, with lyrics by Henrik Ege, and it is claimed that seldom since “Ol’ Man River” have such ideal songs been provided for the acknowledged greatest actor-singer of the age. There will be a special late session premiere on Friday night.