BIG FELLA (1937) Paul Robeson & Elisabeth Welch | Drama, Musical, Black Cinema | Colorized

Big Fella is a 1937 British musical drama film directed by J. Elder Wills and starring Paul Robeson, Elisabeth Welch and Roy Emerton. It is loosely based on the novel Banjo by Harlem Renaissance writer Claude McKay.

SYNOPSIS
In this musical comedy, Paul Robeson stars as Joe, a Marseilles docker hired by a wealthy English couple to find their missing son. When Joe finds him, he learns he escaped of his own will, and takes him to stay with a local singer. They offer him a refuge from his repressed white parents.

Big Fella is set on the docks and streets of Marseilles. Paul Robeson stars as a street-wise but honest dockworker who struggles with deep issues of integrity and human values. Elisabeth Welch plays opposite him as a café singer in love with him. Robeson's wife, Eslanda Robeson, appears as the café owner.

CAST & CREW
Paul Robeson as Banjo
Elisabeth Welch as Amanda 'Manda'
Roy Emerton as Spike
James Hayter as Chuck
Lawrence Brown as Corney
Eldon Gorst as Gerald Oliphant
Marcelle Rogez as Marietta
Eric Cowley as Ferdy Oliphant
Joyce Kennedy as Mrs. Oliphant
Dino Galvani as Gendarme
Anthony Holles as Gendarme
Margaret Rutherford as Nanny

Directed by J. Elder Wills
Written by Ingram D'Abbes, Fenn Sherie
Based on Banjo by Claude McKay
Produced by Henry Passmore, J. Elder Wills
Cinematography Cyril Bristow, George Stretton, H.A.R. Thomson
Edited by Brereton Porter, Douglas Robertson
Music by G. H. Clutsam, Wilhelm Grosz, Eric Ansell, Jack Beaver
Release date 8 April 1937
Running time 85 minutes
Country United Kingdom
Language English

NOTES
The movie received praise, particularly for the music, featuring Robeson and Welch, and for Robeson's performance.