On this day in 1943, the MGM "musical comedy sensation" CABIN IN THE SKY premiered on its first US theatre screens. Notably, the film did not make its way to Chicago until May 14 of the same year when it opened at the Apollo Theatre at Randolph and Clark in the loop. In the film, compulsive gambler Little Joe Jackson (Eddie "Rochester" Anderson) is killed--but, upon reaching purgatory, is given six months to prove that he is worthy of entering heaven. Back on earth, an angel and the son of Satan

Produced by MGM, CABIN IN THE SKY ('43) was the first all-black musical in nearly fourteen years and only the fourth all-black film by a major studio since the coming of sound. | Turner Classic Movies: TCM