Show Boat (1951)

The daughter of a riverboat captain falls in love with a charming gambler, but their fairytale romance is threatened when his luck turns sour.

Director:

George Sidney

Writers:

John Lee Mahin (screen play), Jerome Kern (based on the immortal musical play "Show Boat" by),

Stars:

Kathryn Grayson, Ava Gardner, Howard Keel

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Kathryn Grayson	...	Magnolia Hawks
Ava Gardner	...	Julie LaVerne
Howard Keel	...	Gaylord Ravenal
Joe E. Brown	...	Cap'n Andy Hawks
Marge Champion	...	Ellie May Shipley
Gower Champion	...	Frank Schultz
Robert Sterling	...	Steven Baker
Agnes Moorehead	...	Parthy Hawks
Leif Erickson	...	Pete (as Lief Erickson)
William Warfield	...	Joe

Storyline

The "Cotton Blossom", owned by the Hawk family, is the show boat where everyone comes for great musical entertainment down south. Julie Laverne and her husband are the stars of the show. After, a snitch on board calls the local police that Julie (who's half- African-American) is married to a whiteman, they are forced to leave the show boat. The reason being, that down south interracial marriages are forbidden. Magnolia Hawk, Captain Andy Hawks daughter, becomes the new show boat attraction and her leading man is Gaylord Ravenal, a gambler. The two instantly fall in love, and marry, without Parthy Hawks approval. Magnolia and Gaylord leave the, "Cotton Blossom", for a whirl wind honeymoon and being to live in a Pl: fantasy world. Magnolia soon faces reality quickly, that gambling means more to Gaylord than anything else. Magnolia confront Gaylord and after he gambles away their fortune he leaves her - not knowing she is pregnant. Magnolia is left penniless and pregnant, and is left to ...

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Plot Keywords:

love | gambling | interracial marriage | showboat | miscegenation | 

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Taglines:

Spectacular in color by Technicolor!

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Genres:

Drama | Family | Musical | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 September 1951 (USA)

Also Known As:

Magnolia

Filming Locations:

Backlot, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,295,429 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This was the first film shown on a television network in 1972. It made its network television debut on "NBC Monday Night at the Movies", on the night of January 3 of that year. (No films were shown on January 1 or January 2nd because of the football.)

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Goofs

When the Cotton Blossom is pulling away from the dock, at the end of the movie, you can see big clouds of blue smoke pouring out the right side of the ship (near the rear). These are definitely exhaust gases from either a gas or diesel engine that is installed in the ship, and most likely used to power the paddle wheel.

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Quotes

Cap'n Andy Hawks: It's Saturday night again!
[He slaps Parthy affectionately on her rear end]
Parthy: Oh! It's Wednesday night and don't you strike me!
Cap'n Andy Hawks: It's Saturday night forever!
Parthy: Yes, and Fourth of July... and Christmas... and
[imitating Cap'n Andy when he celebrates New Year's Eve]
Parthy: Hap - - -py New Year!

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Crazy Credits

Some prints of this film spell Leif Erickson's name the correct way in the opening credits; others spell it as "Lief Erickson".

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Connections

Featured in Great Performances: Musicals Great Musicals: The Arthur Freed Unit at MGM (1996)

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Soundtracks

"Bill"
(1927) (uncredited)
Music by Jerome Kern,
Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and P.G. Wodehouse
Sung by Ava Gardner (dubbed by Annette Warren)

User Reviews

Take it for what it is..

Please people! Try not to over-analyze, like so many others have done in the other comments about this fabulous Techno-color classic from the early 1950's Hollywood. It isn't supposed to be a carbon-copy remake of the older 1936 version nor is it supposed to be making any sort of PC statements about race! Times changed and so did the attitudes and views of most americans, especially after WWII. Take it for what it is! A great musical wrapped around a love story. Beautiful lead actress, strong male lead and awesome broadway style tunes sung by great voices, especially William Warfield's "Old man River"!