Main Cast: Clark Gable, Yvonne De Carlo, Sidney Poitier, Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., Patric Knowles
Release Year: 1957
Country: US
Run Time: 125 minutes
Plot
Based on a novel by Robert Penn Warren, this Southern potboiler stars Yvonne DeCarlo as Amantha Starr, the daughter of a wealthy Louisiana plantation owner. When her father unexpectedly dies, Amantha discovers that her father was deep in debt and the family is penniless, and she is forced to drop out of the exclusive girls' school she was attending. What's more, it is discovered that Amantha has a small amount of African-American blood, and under the laws she is to be sold into slavery in New Orleans. Amantha is purchased by Hamish Bond (Clark Gable), a dashing, wealthy, but mysterious landowner. While Amantha is at first terrified by her new situation, in time she grows fond of Hamish and becomes romantically involved with him. However, the outbreak of the Civil War leads to Union forces taking New Orleans; RauRu (Sidney Poitier), Hamish's trusted overseer, joins the Northern forces as the Rebels go down in defeat. RauRu hates Amantha for literally sleeping with the enemy, and Hamish for the corrupt system he represents, but his last remaining threads of loyalty prevent him from taking them prisoner. With his crops destroyed, Hamish must rebuild his empire from the ground up, and, as he joins forces with his former associate Capt. Canavan (Torin Thatcher), he must reveal a shameful secret to Amantha: he once earned his living as a slave trader. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
A toned-down version of Robert Penn Warren's accusatory novel of plantation slavery, miscegenation, and black empowerment, Band of Angels nonetheless generated significant controversy upon its release. In the hands of studio veteran Raoul Walsh, the story is more a costume melodrama than a socio-political treatise. Fortunately, it's a well-mounted historical melodrama, with Lucien Ballard's cinematography aptly showcasing Franz Bachelin's set design and Marjorie Best's lavish costuming. Taboos of the time did not allow for mixed-race kissing, so white actress Yvonne de Carlo was cast as the slave lover opposite Clark Gable's plantation master. There was no compromise, though, in the casting of Sidney Poitier as the rebellious slave who turns the tables on Gable. Poitier is outstanding; his performance is the strongest link to the book's explosive social commentary. ~ Richard Gilliam, All Movie Guide
The movie is based on Robert Penn Warren's "Band of Angels".Amantha Starr (Yvonne De Carlo) is the privileged daughter of a plantation owner. However, after he dies, a shocking secret is revealed: unbeknownst to Amantha, her mother had been one of her father's black slaves. Legally now property, she is taken by a slave trader to New Orleans to be sold. On the riverboat ride there, he makes it clear that he intends to sleep with her, but desists when she tries to hang herself; as a beautiful, cultured young woman who can pass for white, she is far too valuable to risk losing.
Amantha is put up for auction. When she is callously inspected by a coarse potential buyer, she is rescued from further humiliation by Hamish Bond (Clark Gable), who outbids the cad, paying an exorbitant price for her. Expecting the worst, Amantha is surprised to be treated as a lady, not a slave, by her new owner. At his city mansion, she meets his key slaves, his housekeeper Michele (Carolle Drake) and his conflicted right-hand-man Rau-Ru (Sidney Poitier). Rau-Ru is grateful for the kindness, education and trust Hamish has bestowed on him, but can never forget his social status.
As time goes on, Amantha and Hamish fall in love. To complicate things further, Hamish harbors a terrible secret from his past that troubles his conscience.
Then, the Civil War breaks out. Eventually, New Orleans falls to the Union, and Hamish becomes a wanted man. He and Amantha are helped to escape by Rau-Ru, who had fled and joined the Union army.
