“Hallelujah” was a musical drama from director, King Vidor, and McKinney would soon be called the first black movie star after the film’s release in 1929

“Hallelujah,” was Hollywood’s first all-sound feature with an all-black cast, and Nina Mae McKinney appeared on screen as Chick, a singer and dancer, in a sexy flapper dress. MGM gave her a five-year contract, then seemed to realize there were no leading movie roles for black women in the 1930s. Lamenting what he feared would be her fate, Richard Watts of The New York Herald Tribune wrote that her “exile from the cinema is the result entirely of narrow and intolerant racial matters.” It was 1934. She moved to Europe and began a successful musical and theatrical career there, punctuated by American comeback attempts. She left performing in the early 1950s

Learn more about Nina Mae McKinney in the post: Overlooked: Nina Mae McKinney by the NYTimes

‍

‍

‍

‍