Mary Had a Little Lamb
Sign in to track this film in your collection or want list.
A silent narrative short film by Peter Kuttner and the Pre-College Film Workshop made with students from Dillard University in New Orleans as part of the War on Poverty project. A budding romance between two young college students is cut short when the man condemns the woman’s religious beliefs. The conflict is resolved when the woman decides to renounce her faith to instead to be with him. Kuttner visualizes the couple’s religious-secular divide through corresponding but oppositional activities of the two (her singing hymns at church versus him listening to soul music on a transistor radio; the cash she deposits in the church donation plate versus the money he wastes gambling). A unique film for its sympathetic portrayal of an African-American romantic relationship and for its original take on the role of religion in modern day life.
Credits
Peter Kuttner (filmmaker); Peter Kuttner (contributor); Mary Hayes (actor); Wesley Riggins (actor)
Complete catalog record
Cfa collection: Peter Kuttner Collection
Sponsor: War on Poverty Project
Subjects: Religions; Love; African Americans; Christianity; College Students; Universities and colleges
Places: North America > United States > Louisiana > New Orleans
Language: English
Shot log: 00:00 - LS Pan to approaching car which stops and from which Female College Student (FCS) gets out and walks backwards waving to car, VS Couple walking on campus with other students; 01:25 - opening title cards, couple courts each other, flirting on campus, playing tennis, chasing each other in the park, CU Couple kissing as camera pans around them ala “Vertigo”; 06:06 - VS Women in Sunday best walking into Church, MS FCS others singing hymns in church, CU MCS listening to transistor radio, MS FCS and others putting cash in church donation plate, ECU MCS playing dice; 07:44 - MS FCS leaves church, approaches MCS, CU MCS notices her cross necklace, storms off, LS MCS walks away; 09:16 - MS FCS sitting in pew at church, refrains from singing hymns with everyone else, flashback to MCS walking away angry, FCS gets up from pew, leaves church; 10:29 - FCS finds MCS, VS following couple arguing; 12:13 - LS FCS in Sunday best walks past MCS, LS He turns away and she walks off, MS FCS upset, holding cross; 12:51 - Montage sequence of earlier good times they had together (laughing, tennis, running in park, kissing); 13:01 - MS FCS walks toward MCS and they walk off together, VS Church tower, CU Cross necklace discarded on ground, Title “The End”
Cfa elements: Print, 330 feet
Cfa records: https://collections.chicagofilmarchives.org/Detail/objects/2603
Sponsor: War on Poverty Project
Subjects: Religions; Love; African Americans; Christianity; College Students; Universities and colleges
Places: North America > United States > Louisiana > New Orleans
Language: English
Shot log: 00:00 - LS Pan to approaching car which stops and from which Female College Student (FCS) gets out and walks backwards waving to car, VS Couple walking on campus with other students; 01:25 - opening title cards, couple courts each other, flirting on campus, playing tennis, chasing each other in the park, CU Couple kissing as camera pans around them ala “Vertigo”; 06:06 - VS Women in Sunday best walking into Church, MS FCS others singing hymns in church, CU MCS listening to transistor radio, MS FCS and others putting cash in church donation plate, ECU MCS playing dice; 07:44 - MS FCS leaves church, approaches MCS, CU MCS notices her cross necklace, storms off, LS MCS walks away; 09:16 - MS FCS sitting in pew at church, refrains from singing hymns with everyone else, flashback to MCS walking away angry, FCS gets up from pew, leaves church; 10:29 - FCS finds MCS, VS following couple arguing; 12:13 - LS FCS in Sunday best walks past MCS, LS He turns away and she walks off, MS FCS upset, holding cross; 12:51 - Montage sequence of earlier good times they had together (laughing, tennis, running in park, kissing); 13:01 - MS FCS walks toward MCS and they walk off together, VS Church tower, CU Cross necklace discarded on ground, Title “The End”
Cfa elements: Print, 330 feet
Cfa records: https://collections.chicagofilmarchives.org/Detail/objects/2603
Sources
- Chicago Film Archives · record ↗ — title, year, creator, length, format, color, sound, genre, description, credits, catalog record, video
Record added 2026-11-08 21:25:09