Details
Movie Description
James Whale's adaptation of the Edna Ferber book/Kern-Hammerstein musical is considered the best of the three screen versions exploring the intertwining lives of a Mississippi showboat troupe. After leading couple Julie (Helen Morgan) and Steve (Donald Cook) are fired because of racism, the captain's daughter, Magnolia (Irene Dunne), gets her long-awaited chance to perform. When handsome drifter Gaylord Ravenal (Allan Jones) is cast opposite her, the two begin a roller-coaster ride of love and loss. Boasting lovely performances of songs like "Ol' Man River" and "Can't Help Lovin' That Man," SHOW BOAT is a touching, tragic classic.
Synopsis
With SHOW BOAT, horror maven James Whale (FRANKENSTEIN, THE INVISIBLE MAN) returns to the stage-adaptation genre of his first film (JOURNEY'S END). The second film version of the 1926 Edna Ferber novel and 1927 Jerome Kern-Oscar Hammerstein musical takes place in the early 1900s on Cap'n Andy Hawks's (Charles Winninger) Mississippi River show boat. Life is good for the family-like show boat troupe that includes married lead actors Julie (Helen Morgan) and Steve (Donald Cook) and servants Queenie (Hattie McDaniel) and Joe (Paul Robeson). However, when a disgruntled boatman reveals that Julie is of mixed race, she and her husband are fired. Julie's best friend, the captain's daughter, Magnolia (Irene Dunne), is devastated but is given the opportunity she has been begging for--to act on the stage. Magnolia's sadness is relieved by the arrival of dashing gambler Gaylord Ravenal (Allan Jones), who is cast as her leading man. The two fall in love and leave the show boat filled with dreams--but life has other plans for them. A fascinating tale about show business, friendship and love, and the inequities of race, SHOW BOAT is an indisputable classic filled with unforgettable songs.
Film Notes
SHOW BOAT was added to the Library of Congress National Film Registry in 1996.
The film is based on the novel by Edna Ferber, which was published in 1926 and turned into a Broadway musical by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II in 1927.
There are three screen versions of the musical: the 1936 one; a Technicolor remake in 1951; and an early talkie version, made in 1929, which is now lost. The 1929 version starred Laura LaPlante and Joseph Schildkraut.
The cast for the original Broadway show, which was produced by Florenz Ziegfeld, included Norma Terriss as Magnolia Hawks, Howard Marsh as Gaylord Ravenal, Edna May Oliver as Parthy, Eva Puck as Ellie Schultz and Jules Bledsoe as Joe. Those who reprised their stage roles in the screen version were Helen Morgan (Julie), Charles Winninger (Cap'n Andy) and Sammy White (Frank Schultz).
Three new songs were written for the film: "Gallivantin' Around," "I Have the Room Above Her," and "Ah Still Suits Me."
Industry Reviews
"...This is the best of three screen versions..."
USA Today - Mike Clark (04/27/1990)
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