George T. Nierenberg's modest documentary on gospel singing, or what Willie Mae Ford Smith calls "anointed singing." The principal occasion is a sixtieth-anniversary tribute to Mother Smith in St. Louis. But the National Convention of Gospel Choirs and Choruses is a big occasion too, and there are domestic scenes and bits of oral history mixed in as well. Out of this enjoyable jumble, Thomas A. Dorsey, a.k.a. the "Father of Gospel Music," emerges as equal co-star with Mother Smith. Nierenberg's cameras are somewhat unversatilely (and TV-ishly) trained on faces, but there are any number of good and interesting faces here, and Nierenberg's clear intention is simply to get close to these people. He gets close enough, certainly, for much warmth to come through. With The O'Neal Twins, Delois Barrett Campbell and the Barrett Sisters, and Zella Jackson Price. (1982) — Duncan Shepherd
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