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63% Critic Match
Native Land
“The Picture with the Most Exciting Story of Our Time!”
6.3 / 10• 1942• 1h 29m•NR• English
DramaHistory
Storyline
By the start of World War II, Paul Robeson had given up his lucrative mainstream work to participate in more socially progressive film and stage productions. Robeson committed his support to Paul Strand and Leo Hurwitz’s political semidocumentary Native Land. With Robeson’s narration and songs, this beautifully shot and edited film exposes violations of Americans’ civil liberties and is a call to action for exploited workers around the country. Scarcely shown since its debut, Native Land represents Robeson’s shift from narrative cinema to the leftist documentaries that would define the final chapter of his controversial film career.
Cast & Crew
Paul Robeson
Narrator
Lead
Fred Johnson
Fred Hill
MG
Mary George
Hill's Wife
JR
John Rennick
Hill's Son
AR
Amelia Romano
Young Girl in Cleveland
Houseley Stevenson
White Sharecropper
LG
Louis Grant
Black Sharecropper
JH
James Hanney
Mack
What People Are Saying
4.0
“A staggering achievement of craft and ambition. Leo Hurwitz's vision lands with breathtaking precision.”
3.0
“Every frame feels alive. Native Land is the rare release that takes its audience seriously.”
