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There are moments in a
great artist's life...
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which should be remembered forever.
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Yet, for Paul Robeson, those moments
were nearly obliterated, blotted out...
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by the fears and political anxieties
which gripped America in the early 1950s.
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One such moment occurred
over half a century ago.
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Oscar Hammerstein
and Jerome Kern wrote a song...
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expressly for and dedicated to
a young singer.
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No one who has ever heard
Paul Robeson sing "Ol' Man River"...
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will ever forget it.
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♪ Ol' Man River ♪
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♪ That Ol' Man River ♪
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♪ He must know somethin' ♪
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♪ But don't say nothin' ♪
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♪ He just keeps rollin' ♪
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♪ He keeps on rollin' along ♪
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♪ He don't plant taters ♪
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♪ He don't plant cotton ♪
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♪ Them that plants 'em
is soon forgotten ♪
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♪ But Ol' Man River ♪
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♪ He just keeps rollin' along ♪
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♪ I gets weary ♪
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♪ And sick of tryin' ♪
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"Ol' Man River" was to be associated
with Robeson for the rest of his life.
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The words he sang
were to change gradually...
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as Paul Robeson and the world
around him changed.
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♪ He just keeps rollin' ♪
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♪ Along ♪♪
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But even if "Ol' Man River"
had never been written...
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there was another moment.
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It was a performance on stage
that still stands in the record books:
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the longest-running Shakespearean play
in the history of the Broadway theater.
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It was a part many actors have played.
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Emil Jannings, Walter Hampden...
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Walter Huston, Orson Welles...
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Laurence Olivier.
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But none equaled Robeson...
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as Othello the Moor.
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A performance that was
the culmination...
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of 20 years
of work and understanding.
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Robeson recollects.
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I had just come over from America
and was likely to say"pass" and "chance"...
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and—and "dew" for the morning dew.
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And, uh—And I happened to pick up
an old script of, uh—of Shakespeare...
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and the "dew" was very clear.
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It was D-I-E-W.
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And the—It was not "chance."
C-H-A-U-N-C.
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So it was "diew," like in lieu of.
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And, uh—And "chance" and "dance."
It was very, very Shakespearean.
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And, uh—And, uh...
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one terrible difficult sound...
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was—was my—
almost at the beginning of the play.
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"My services
which I have done the signory."
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"My services." "Services."
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I would say"my services," "my services."
I had to work on that very hard.
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But later I took some special work,
University of London.
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And also in my university days
I majored in English...
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and I have records from
the earliest time—
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from the time of Anglo-Saxons,
as a matter of fact, through Chaucer.
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And, uh, I've—
And of course, since...
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I've worked on my songs with Roger Quilter,
and I would have to use drawl.
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I couldn't walk out here and say...
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"Drink to me only with thine eyes,
and I will pledge with mine."
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It's got to be very—
♪ Drink to me only with thine eyes ♪
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♪ And I will pledge with mine ♪♪
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Yet Robeson's Othello
was more important for another reason.
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Simple human dignity.
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White men wearing black makeup had been kissing
Desdemona for years on the American stage...
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but this was the first time a black man would
play Othello with a white supporting cast.
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Actually, in 1826...
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one other black American,
Ira Aldridge...
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had played Othello throughout Europe
with an all-black cast.
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Magnificent actor that he was...
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Ira Aldridge was not allowed to play
Othello in his native land, America.
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But in 1943, America had changed.
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Margaret Websterdirected Robeson in Othello.
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The moment he stepped onto that stage...
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he was not only a black man,
but he was a great black man.
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A man of stature.
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Somehow or other
he put the play in focus.
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Shakespeare,
the genius that he was...
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seemed to foreshadow and understand...
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many of the problems
that have since arisen in our world.
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Perhaps were present then.
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First I would say that here is a part
which has dignity for the Negro actor.
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Often we don't get those opportunities.
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And I would say that my people
will be very proud of—of—of—
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of my or any other Negro actor
appearing in such a part.
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I think also there—that to me
Othello is one of a different culture.
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Shakespeare insists that he's African.
Some argued whether he's—
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The—The word black and—and the fact
that he's from Africa is very clear to me.
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- Hmm.
- And that Shakespeare posed this problem...
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of a, say, black man in a white society.
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Robeson's career started
in the early 1920s.
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It was a time of the Negro renaissance...
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and the early works of black musicians,
poets, writers and painters...
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were coming to the attention
of the American public.
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Robeson was supporting himself
through law school by acting...
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when he was seen by Eugene O'Neill.
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It was his performance as the Emperor Jones
in a revival of the O'Neill play...
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that first brought Robeson to the
consciousness of the theatrical world.
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...enough noise.
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Smithers, cigarette.
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There is no visual record
of Robeson's performance in 1924.
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This is a scene from the film,
which was made nine years later.
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Smithers...
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you has just had an audience
with de Emperor Jones.
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In the next four years...
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the sound of Robeson's voice
was heard around the world.
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♪ He must know somethin' ♪
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In 1928, Robeson openedin the London production of Show Boat.
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And it's interesting that when he recorded "Ol'
Man River" for the first time a year earlier...
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he sang the original Hammerstein lyrics
using the word "niggers."
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♪ Niggers all work on the Mississippi ♪
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♪ Niggers all work while
the white folks play ♪
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♪ Pullin' dem boats from the dawn to♪♪
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By 1928, Robeson had persuaded Hammerstein
to change the word to "darkies"...
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which may seem less than any change at all
in terms of today's thinking...
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but the lyrics of "Ol' Man River" were eventually
to change mightily in the years to come.
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It was 1930.
Success piled on success.
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Impresario Max Reinhardt decided
to produce one American play in Berlin:
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Der Kaiser Jones.
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Or as one German
newspaper headlined:
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Der Schwarze Kaiser.
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Robeson set another landmark.
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Paul Robeson had still
another career: on the concert stage.
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It happened almost by accident.
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Back in 1924, he was rehearsingthe last act of The Emperor Jones...
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and the script called for Jones to exit,
hands in his pocket, whistling a tune.
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Robeson said he couldn't whistle.
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The director said,
"Well, hum... or sing, if you want to."
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♪ Lord God ofAbraham ♪
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♪ Isaac and Israel ♪
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♪ This day let it be known ♪
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- Here. Steady, mate. Steady.
- ♪ That though art God ♪
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♪ And that I am thy servant ♪
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♪ Lord God ♪
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♪ OfAbraham ♪
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♪ Hear
Oh, hear me, Lord ♪
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♪ And answer me ♪
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♪ Oh, hear me, Lord, and answer me ♪
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♪ Lord God of Abraham ♪
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♪ Isaac and Israel ♪
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♪ Oh, hear me
Oh, hear me, and answer me ♪
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♪ And show this people ♪
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♪ That thou art Lord God ♪
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♪ And let their hearts be turned ♪
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♪ And let their hearts ♪
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♪ Be turned ♪
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♪ Lord God ♪
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♪ Of Abraham ♪♪
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- Here. Was that you?
- Yeah. Was it all right?
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Robeson sang all over the world.
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He sang for the people,
and he sang for the royal families...
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of England, Romania,
Greece, Yugoslavia.
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As Robeson's view of the world expanded,
so did his music.
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He became competent in many languages.
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He began to sing folk songs
in the languages they were written in.
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So the idea of my concert is one suggestion that
all men are brothers because of their music.
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And in my first group,
I do an old English song.
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I do an old song from about the 11th
or 12th century from Czechoslovakia.
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The Moravian chorales
of about the 11th and 12th centuries...
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preceded the chorales upon which
Johann Sebastian Bach based his music.
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So I take this,
and then I do a Bach chorale.
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And then I create slight confusion by doing
a Negro spiritual right in the middle.
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Because it belongs there.
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Two Robeson concerts stand out.
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One on a day a war stood still.
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It was January 27, 1938, at Teruel, Spain.
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Robeson had come to the front
to sing to the Republican soldiers.
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Somehow the shooting quieted down.
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Loudspeakers were put up,
and for a day...
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a war stopped while two
opposing armies listened to a man sing.
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♪ He must know somethin' ♪
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♪ But don't say nothin' ♪
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♪ He just keeps rollin' ♪
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In Spain, another change
in the words of "Ol' Man River."
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"I'm tired of living
and scared of dying"...
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became "We must keep fighting
until we're dying."
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♪ I keeps laughin' ♪
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00:11:27,220 --> 00:11:30,452
♪ Instead of cryin' ♪
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00:11:30,557 --> 00:11:34,050
♪ We must keep fightin' ♪
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♪ Until we're dyin' ♪
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"Ol' Man River" was beginning
to turn from a song of lament...
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to a song of political protest.
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♪ Along♪♪
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The other unforgettable concert
was in St. Paul's Cathedral in London.
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Robeson chose the hymn "Jacob's Ladder," and
he sang for 4,000 people in the cathedral...
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and 5,000 more
who stood outside and listened.
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♪ We are climbing Jacob's ladder ♪
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00:12:13,399 --> 00:12:19,066
♪ We are climbing Jacob's ladder ♪
191
00:12:19,172 --> 00:12:24,475
♪ We are climbing Jacob's ladder ♪
192
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♪ Soldiers of the cross ♪
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♪ Do you think I'll make a soldier ♪
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♪ Do you think I'll make a soldier ♪
195
00:12:41,594 --> 00:12:46,999
♪ Do you think I'll make a soldier ♪
196
00:12:47,100 --> 00:12:50,935
♪ Soldier of the cross ♪♪
197
00:12:52,639 --> 00:12:56,542
In 1933, the sameEugene O'Neill play, The Emperor Jones...
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00:12:56,643 --> 00:13:01,843
which began Robeson's acting career,
became his first major motion picture.
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00:13:03,349 --> 00:13:06,615
♪ All the way to the jail, boy ♪
200
00:13:06,719 --> 00:13:10,520
♪ Yes, back to the jail ♪
201
00:13:10,623 --> 00:13:16,529
♪ Water boy ♪
202
00:13:17,630 --> 00:13:23,536
♪ Where are you hidin' ♪
203
00:13:24,904 --> 00:13:27,874
♪ If you don't a-come ♪
204
00:13:27,974 --> 00:13:33,436
♪ I'm goin' to tell your mammy ♪
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♪ Water boy♪♪
206
00:13:37,283 --> 00:13:42,221
Robeson's next major performancewas in Show Boat in 1936.
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00:13:43,489 --> 00:13:46,254
Robeson starred in 11 films.
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00:13:46,359 --> 00:13:49,227
In H. Rider Haggard's
King Solomon's Mines...
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00:13:49,329 --> 00:13:53,596
he played the warrior king, Umbopa.
210
00:13:53,700 --> 00:13:57,068
It is agreed. Tomorrow,
at the smelling out of the evildoers...
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00:13:57,170 --> 00:13:59,833
they will lead the people
of the Kukuana against Twala.
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00:13:59,939 --> 00:14:02,568
But I need your help.
213
00:14:02,675 --> 00:14:06,077
And in return, I offer you your lives
and the freedom of the mines.
214
00:14:06,179 --> 00:14:09,775
For you, the diamonds, riches.
215
00:14:09,882 --> 00:14:11,908
For you, adventure.
216
00:14:12,018 --> 00:14:14,817
For you,
the happiness of the "Inkasikas."
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00:14:15,922 --> 00:14:17,982
Today you saw
how Twala treats strangers.
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00:14:18,091 --> 00:14:21,459
If your father is alive,
he is in the mine.
219
00:14:23,863 --> 00:14:25,764
How can we help you?
220
00:14:25,865 --> 00:14:28,061
Behind Twala stands Gagool.
221
00:14:28,167 --> 00:14:30,227
The people fear her magic.
222
00:14:30,336 --> 00:14:33,795
They will rise
only if you show them a greater magic.
223
00:14:33,906 --> 00:14:37,104
But you've lived among us.
You know that the white man has no magic.
224
00:14:37,210 --> 00:14:39,611
- I must have magic.
- And if we cannot give it?
225
00:14:39,712 --> 00:14:42,773
The drums will roll at the smelling out.
226
00:14:42,882 --> 00:14:44,817
Gagool will give the sign.
227
00:14:44,917 --> 00:14:47,978
Killers will speed to the evildoers.
228
00:14:48,087 --> 00:14:50,215
They will beat us to death.
229
00:14:50,323 --> 00:14:54,055
♪ They can't
stop us singing ♪
230
00:14:54,160 --> 00:14:57,927
And a coal miner inSir Michael Balcon's The Proud Valley.
231
00:15:04,904 --> 00:15:08,739
- Hey, lads. What shall we sing?
- What about—
232
00:15:08,841 --> 00:15:12,869
Fine. Come on, David, man.
Give 'em a lead.
233
00:15:12,979 --> 00:15:18,111
♪ Back to work with no repining ♪
234
00:15:18,217 --> 00:15:23,952
♪ All through the night ♪
235
00:15:24,057 --> 00:15:29,496
♪ Overhead the stars are shining ♪
236
00:15:29,595 --> 00:15:34,659
♪ All through the night we're singing ♪
237
00:15:49,349 --> 00:15:54,788
♪ All through the night ♪♪
238
00:15:58,925 --> 00:16:01,554
Well, that's that.
239
00:16:01,661 --> 00:16:05,154
- Here, Em.
- It's no use, Dave.
240
00:16:05,265 --> 00:16:07,860
People are blind.
They're properly in the cart.
241
00:16:08,968 --> 00:16:11,597
- You ought to get out of this place.
- Why?
242
00:16:11,704 --> 00:16:13,639
I pay my way.
243
00:16:13,740 --> 00:16:16,972
There's my 17-bob dole money.
I do my bit on a slag heap.
244
00:16:17,077 --> 00:16:20,570
- I try not to eat too much.
- If you had any sense, you'd go.
245
00:16:20,680 --> 00:16:23,240
- Try the Dutton Valley.
- No, Em.
246
00:16:23,349 --> 00:16:25,648
Get to Cardiff. Find a ship.
247
00:16:25,752 --> 00:16:27,687
Why are you staying?
248
00:16:27,787 --> 00:16:30,916
I'll tell ya.
Because of mam and the kids.
249
00:16:31,024 --> 00:16:34,256
- They're my responsibility.
- Not altogether, Em.
250
00:16:35,295 --> 00:16:38,322
Listen, son.
Your father was my friend.
251
00:16:38,431 --> 00:16:41,458
He took me in, gave me food and shelter,
found me work.
252
00:16:41,568 --> 00:16:45,300
What kind of a man would I be
if I left now when things are bad?
253
00:16:45,405 --> 00:16:46,765
Let's don't talk about it anymore.
254
00:16:48,408 --> 00:16:51,845
Then, in 1939, there was another moment.
255
00:16:51,945 --> 00:16:55,905
Robeson first sang "Ballad for Americans"
over CBS Radio.
256
00:16:58,118 --> 00:17:03,056
♪ In '76 the sky was red ♪
257
00:17:03,156 --> 00:17:07,423
♪ Thunder rumbling overhead ♪
258
00:17:07,527 --> 00:17:11,328
♪ Bad King George
couldn't sleep in his bed ♪
259
00:17:11,431 --> 00:17:15,994
♪ And on that stormy morn ♪
260
00:17:16,102 --> 00:17:18,037
♪ Old Uncle Sam was born ♪
261
00:17:18,138 --> 00:17:20,630
Though the ballad, like Robeson himself...
262
00:17:20,740 --> 00:17:23,141
was later nearly wiped from our memories...
263
00:17:23,243 --> 00:17:26,975
in 1940, with America
uniting for World War II...
264
00:17:27,080 --> 00:17:30,983
"Ballad for Americans"
had extraordinary appeal for every man.
265
00:17:31,084 --> 00:17:35,215
♪ ...who went before ♪
266
00:17:35,321 --> 00:17:39,918
♪ For I have always believed it ♪
267
00:17:40,026 --> 00:17:44,691
♪ And I believe it now ♪
268
00:17:44,797 --> 00:17:49,963
♪ And you know who I am ♪
269
00:17:50,069 --> 00:17:51,970
♪ Who are you ♪
270
00:17:52,071 --> 00:18:01,504
♪ America♪♪
271
00:18:05,485 --> 00:18:08,421
When President Roosevelt died in 1945...
272
00:18:08,521 --> 00:18:11,457
it was Paul Robeson who was chosen
by his fellow actors...
273
00:18:11,558 --> 00:18:14,221
to read their tribute to the president.
274
00:18:14,327 --> 00:18:17,161
It was written by Carl Sandburg.
275
00:18:18,364 --> 00:18:22,028
However, with Roosevelt's death
and the end of World War II...
276
00:18:22,135 --> 00:18:26,231
Robeson's political views
separated him from most Americans.
277
00:18:26,339 --> 00:18:31,573
From this point on, his artistic career
was almost entirely political.
278
00:18:31,678 --> 00:18:34,341
He only sang for causes
in which he believed—
279
00:18:34,447 --> 00:18:36,882
as at the Paris Peace Conference.
280
00:18:36,983 --> 00:18:39,612
♪ But, Joe, you're 10 years dead ♪
281
00:18:39,719 --> 00:18:43,121
♪ I never died, says he ♪
282
00:18:43,223 --> 00:18:47,991
♪ I never died, says he ♪♪
283
00:18:48,094 --> 00:18:53,624
In 1949, he went on
a triumphant European concert tour.
284
00:18:53,733 --> 00:18:58,330
Between concerts, Robeson spoke out
plainly as to what he believed...
285
00:18:58,438 --> 00:19:01,203
and there was a severe reaction
in the United States.
286
00:19:02,542 --> 00:19:07,276
♪ Tra-la la-la, la-la, la-la bye-bye ♪
287
00:19:07,380 --> 00:19:11,875
♪ In your mother's arms be creepin' ♪
288
00:19:11,985 --> 00:19:16,218
♪ And soon you'll be a-sleepin' ♪
289
00:19:16,322 --> 00:19:18,257
♪ La, la ♪
290
00:19:18,358 --> 00:19:21,260
♪ La, la, la ♪
291
00:19:21,361 --> 00:19:24,195
♪ La, la, la ♪
292
00:19:24,297 --> 00:19:29,099
♪ Lullaby♪♪
293
00:19:29,202 --> 00:19:33,230
At Warsaw,
there were new changes in "Ol' Man River."
294
00:19:33,339 --> 00:19:37,401
The Mississippi was now
the old man he didn't like to be.
295
00:19:37,510 --> 00:19:42,244
♪ There's an old man
called the Mississippi ♪
296
00:19:42,348 --> 00:19:47,514
♪ That's the old man I don't like to be ♪
297
00:19:47,620 --> 00:19:52,456
♪ What does he care
if the world's got troubles ♪
298
00:19:52,558 --> 00:19:54,925
♪ What does he care ♪
299
00:19:55,028 --> 00:20:00,660
♪ If the land ain't free ♪
300
00:20:00,767 --> 00:20:04,704
♪ Ol' Man River ♪
301
00:20:04,804 --> 00:20:08,263
♪ That Ol' Man River ♪
302
00:20:08,374 --> 00:20:11,367
♪ He must know somethin' ♪
303
00:20:11,477 --> 00:20:14,276
♪ But don't say nothin' ♪
304
00:20:14,380 --> 00:20:17,646
♪ He just keeps rollin' ♪
305
00:20:17,750 --> 00:20:23,656
♪ He keeps on rollin' along ♪
306
00:20:23,756 --> 00:20:27,750
And "You gets a little drunk
and you lands in jail"...
307
00:20:27,860 --> 00:20:32,457
became "You show a little grit
and you land in jail."
308
00:20:32,565 --> 00:20:37,333
♪ Them that plants 'em
is soon forgotten ♪
309
00:20:37,437 --> 00:20:40,635
♪ But Ol' Man River ♪
310
00:20:40,740 --> 00:20:46,611
♪ He just keeps rollin' along ♪
311
00:20:48,314 --> 00:20:52,911
♪ You and me
We sweat and strain ♪
312
00:20:53,019 --> 00:20:56,922
♪ Body all achin' and racked with pain ♪
313
00:20:57,023 --> 00:21:01,188
♪ Tote that barge
Lift that bale ♪
314
00:21:01,294 --> 00:21:03,991
♪ You show a little grit ♪
315
00:21:04,097 --> 00:21:06,726
♪ And you lands ♪
316
00:21:06,833 --> 00:21:12,329
♪ In jail ♪
317
00:21:12,438 --> 00:21:16,899
♪ But I keeps laughin' ♪
318
00:21:17,009 --> 00:21:21,003
♪ Instead of cryin' ♪
319
00:21:21,114 --> 00:21:24,778
♪ I must keep fightin' ♪
320
00:21:24,884 --> 00:21:28,821
♪ Until I'm dyin' ♪
321
00:21:28,921 --> 00:21:32,949
♪ And Ol' Man River ♪
322
00:21:33,059 --> 00:21:38,259
♪ He'll just keep rollin' ♪
323
00:21:38,364 --> 00:21:46,465
♪ Along ♪♪
324
00:21:51,577 --> 00:21:55,378
He also sang the song "Qilai" in Chinese.
325
00:21:55,481 --> 00:21:58,713
It had originally been a marching song
for the Chinese Red Army...
326
00:21:58,818 --> 00:22:02,880
and was now the first national anthem
of the People's Republic of China...
327
00:22:02,989 --> 00:22:05,754
which at that moment
was sweeping to power.
328
00:22:08,928 --> 00:22:10,954
♪ Qilai ♪
329
00:22:31,584 --> 00:22:34,144
♪ Qilai, qilai ♪
330
00:22:34,253 --> 00:22:36,586
♪ Qilai ♪
331
00:22:50,202 --> 00:22:53,077
The reaction to Robeson
speaking out politically in Europe...
332
00:22:53,123 --> 00:22:55,405
was to erupt in Peekskill, New York.
333
00:22:55,976 --> 00:22:59,140
He had scheduled on his return
a fourth-annual concert...
334
00:22:59,245 --> 00:23:01,578
for the Civil Rights Congress
in Peekskill.
335
00:23:01,681 --> 00:23:05,311
However, those who wanted
his outspoken voice stilled...
336
00:23:05,418 --> 00:23:07,478
threatened violence if Robeson sang.
337
00:23:07,587 --> 00:23:10,056
Protesters paraded.
338
00:23:20,066 --> 00:23:23,366
Despite the threats,
on September 4, 1949...
339
00:23:23,470 --> 00:23:25,598
Robeson came to sing.
340
00:23:25,705 --> 00:23:29,472
Spectators jeered on the sidelines
at the people who came to listen.
341
00:23:29,576 --> 00:23:31,704
Go on back to Russia, you niggers!
342
00:23:33,179 --> 00:23:35,205
Go back to Russia!
343
00:23:35,315 --> 00:23:39,719
There's a group of young boys yelling
at the people stopped in their cars.
344
00:23:39,819 --> 00:23:42,084
There are hundreds
and hundreds of people here...
345
00:23:42,188 --> 00:23:44,783
and if there's a serious outbreak
it would be very bad.
346
00:23:49,095 --> 00:23:51,655
♪ Fought the battle of Jericho, Jericho ♪
347
00:23:51,765 --> 00:23:54,758
Hey! Go on back to Russia, you niggers!
348
00:23:55,969 --> 00:23:59,098
Because the concert
was ringed with a threat of violence...
349
00:23:59,205 --> 00:24:03,142
hundreds of concertgoers volunteered and stood
a circle of guard around the audience...
350
00:24:03,243 --> 00:24:06,179
and around Robeson himself.
351
00:24:06,279 --> 00:24:08,180
♪ And the walls come a-tumblin' down♪♪
352
00:24:09,282 --> 00:24:14,152
When the concert was over, the police did
little or nothing to avoid a confrontation.
353
00:24:19,325 --> 00:24:22,727
The concertgoers were attacked
as they left, and a riot developed.
354
00:24:22,829 --> 00:24:27,529
- 140 people were injured.
- Skirmishes are breaking out all over here.
355
00:24:27,634 --> 00:24:31,093
The boys are fighting the cops.
This is terrible.
356
00:24:31,204 --> 00:24:33,935
And they are beating up a Negro.
357
00:24:34,040 --> 00:24:36,100
They're clubbing him.
358
00:24:36,209 --> 00:24:39,111
After Peekskill,
other cities became fearful.
359
00:24:39,212 --> 00:24:41,204
Concerts were canceled...
360
00:24:41,314 --> 00:24:44,546
Robeson records
were withdrawn from stores.
361
00:24:44,651 --> 00:24:46,882
Robeson continued to speak out...
362
00:24:46,986 --> 00:24:50,889
and condemnation of the man
and his beliefs continued.
363
00:24:50,990 --> 00:24:55,928
Unbelievably, even his selection years
before as all-American end for Rutgers...
364
00:24:56,029 --> 00:24:58,225
was wiped from the record.
365
00:24:58,331 --> 00:25:01,927
The 1917-1918
College Football Hall of Fame...
366
00:25:02,035 --> 00:25:05,972
listed the only 10-man
all-American team in history.
367
00:25:06,072 --> 00:25:09,531
The 11th man, Paul Robeson,
was eliminated.
368
00:25:09,642 --> 00:25:10,802
Erased from the record books.
369
00:25:13,580 --> 00:25:17,881
Then the secretary of state canceled
Robeson's passport, stating, quote...
370
00:25:17,984 --> 00:25:22,888
"This action is taken because the department
considers that Paul Robeson's travel abroad...
371
00:25:22,989 --> 00:25:26,153
would be contrary to the best interests
of the United States."
372
00:25:26,259 --> 00:25:28,387
- Unquote.
- ♪ Let my people go ♪
373
00:25:28,495 --> 00:25:30,987
Blacklisted in America
and forbidden to travel...
374
00:25:31,097 --> 00:25:34,329
Robeson was to spend nearly
all of the next decade of his life...
375
00:25:34,434 --> 00:25:38,064
fighting for his rights
and everyone's rights in the courts.
376
00:25:38,171 --> 00:25:41,471
Most importantly, however, were the
questions raised by the State Department...
377
00:25:41,574 --> 00:25:43,475
as to my political opinions.
378
00:25:43,576 --> 00:25:46,410
Here's a question of whether
one who wants to sing and act...
379
00:25:46,513 --> 00:25:49,073
can have, as a citizen,
political opinions.
380
00:25:49,182 --> 00:25:53,017
And, uh, in attacking me,
they suggested that when I was abroad...
381
00:25:53,119 --> 00:25:56,647
I spoke out against injustices
to the Negro people in the United States.
382
00:25:56,756 --> 00:26:00,454
I certainly did.
And the Supreme Court justice just ruled—
383
00:26:00,560 --> 00:26:03,086
uh, Judge Warren—
in the segregation cases...
384
00:26:03,196 --> 00:26:05,859
that world opinion
had a lot to do with that ruling...
385
00:26:05,965 --> 00:26:09,493
that our children— Negro children— can go
to school like anybody else in the South.
386
00:26:09,602 --> 00:26:14,438
I'm very proud to have been a part of directing
world opinion to precisely that condition.
387
00:26:14,541 --> 00:26:19,377
♪ Sometimes I feel like
a motherless child ♪
388
00:26:19,479 --> 00:26:22,779
Because he was forbidden
to go even to Canada...
389
00:26:22,882 --> 00:26:26,080
thousands of Canadian miners
came to the border to hear Robeson sing.
390
00:26:26,186 --> 00:26:30,214
But despite these
occasional shows of support...
391
00:26:30,323 --> 00:26:34,693
in reality, Robeson was
effectively barred from the theater...
392
00:26:34,794 --> 00:26:38,196
the concert stage
and the movie studios.
393
00:26:38,298 --> 00:26:41,496
Finally, in 1958, to its honor...
394
00:26:41,601 --> 00:26:43,900
the Supreme Court
of the United States ruled...
395
00:26:44,003 --> 00:26:48,771
that the State Department had no right
under law to deny a passport...
396
00:26:48,875 --> 00:26:52,209
because of a man's beliefs
and associations.
397
00:26:52,312 --> 00:26:57,250
The fight had been won, but Robeson
had lost 10 years out of his life...
398
00:26:57,350 --> 00:27:01,014
at the height of his career
to help win the battle.
399
00:27:01,120 --> 00:27:05,182
It was a battle that destroyed
his health as well.
400
00:27:05,291 --> 00:27:09,126
Once again, he was acclaimed
and welcomed around the world.
401
00:27:09,229 --> 00:27:12,597
But the years had gone by.
402
00:27:12,699 --> 00:27:15,692
One concert to a group of
construction workers in Australia...
403
00:27:15,802 --> 00:27:19,432
tells more of the story
than can be written.
404
00:27:20,506 --> 00:27:24,204
♪ He must know somethin'
but don't say nothin' ♪
405
00:27:24,310 --> 00:27:27,906
- ♪ He just keeps rollin' ♪ - The
words of "Ol' Man River" had changed...
406
00:27:28,014 --> 00:27:33,715
from "We must keep fighting
until we're dying"...
407
00:27:33,820 --> 00:27:39,623
to "I must keep fightingtill I'm dying."
408
00:27:39,726 --> 00:27:41,627
♪ Lift that bale ♪
409
00:27:41,728 --> 00:27:43,788
♪ Show a little grit ♪
410
00:27:43,896 --> 00:27:49,062
♪ And you lands in jail ♪
411
00:27:49,168 --> 00:27:52,832
♪ But I keeps laughin' ♪
412
00:27:52,939 --> 00:27:55,499
♪ Instead of cryin' ♪
413
00:27:55,608 --> 00:27:58,601
♪ I must keep fightin' ♪
414
00:27:58,711 --> 00:28:02,113
♪ Until I'm dyin' ♪
415
00:28:02,215 --> 00:28:06,118
♪ And Ol' Man River ♪
416
00:28:06,219 --> 00:28:11,590
♪ He'll just keep rollin' ♪
417
00:28:11,691 --> 00:28:15,011
♪ Along ♪♪
418
00:28:15,120 --> 00:28:17,924
Paul Robeson's fabulous
career and his life...
419
00:28:18,026 --> 00:28:23,065
ended on January 23, 1976.
420
00:28:23,803 --> 00:28:27,171
A word or two before you go.
421
00:28:27,274 --> 00:28:30,802
I have done the state some service,
and they know it.
422
00:28:32,579 --> 00:28:34,980
No more of that.
423
00:28:36,683 --> 00:28:40,176
I pray you, in your letters...
424
00:28:40,287 --> 00:28:43,780
when you shall
these unlucky deeds relate...
425
00:28:44,824 --> 00:28:47,919
speak of me as I am.
426
00:28:49,129 --> 00:28:51,621
Nothing extenuate...
427
00:28:51,731 --> 00:28:54,360
nor set down aught in malice.
428
00:28:54,467 --> 00:28:58,427
♪ Ol' Man River ♪
429
00:28:58,538 --> 00:29:03,340
♪ He just keeps rollin' ♪
430
00:29:03,443 --> 00:29:13,251
♪ Along♪♪
37491
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