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

"Lux Radio Theater" broadcast a 60 minute radio adaptation of the movie on February 11, 1952 with Ava Gardner, Kathryn Grayson, Howard Keel, Marge Champion, Gower Champion and William Warfield reprising their film roles.

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Goofs

In the "Ol' Man River" sequence, after the boat has stopped moving to allow Ravenal to climb on board, it begins moving again and passes some dock workers on rafts. Joe is seen in long shot, standing on the deck of the show boat and singing to them the words "You an' me, we sweat and strain...", etc. During that specific moment, his voice is not quite synchronized with his arm and lip movements (he shakes his fists for emphasis). Then, on the line "Ya get a little drunk", he is shown in medium shot, and his voice matches his lip movements perfectly.

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Quotes

Julie: Pride is smaller than kindness.

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Crazy Credits

Because some of the lyrics to the song "Cotton Blossom" have been altered by uncredited staff writers in this version of "Show Boat", Oscar Hammerstein II is never actually mentioned as having written the lyrics to the songs, although P.G. Wodehouse IS listed as having written the lyrics to "Bill". (This is only partially correct; only about half of Wodehouse's 1917 lyric to "Bill" was used. The rest of the lyric is by Hammerstein.)

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Connections

Referenced in MGM Parade: Episode #1.4 (1955)

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Soundtracks

"Ol' Man River"
(1927) (uncredited)
Music by Jerome Kern
Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II
Sung by William Warfield and off-screen chorus

User Reviews

The Dubbing of Ava Gardner's Voice

Show Boat is one of my favourite musicals, and I admit to being a solid Howard Keel fan! However, the one thing that gets me, and why they haven't returned it to the original film track, is the dubbing of Ava Gardner's voice.

I have a copy of the soundtrack on good old vinyl and have Ava singing her own songs on it and I have to say, in my humble opinion, that she actually did a better job of it, than the person who dubbed her.

Maybe in 1951 Ava's rendition was a bit.... too hot for the censors, but today, never. Why can't we have Ava's voice back on the film??? What do the rest of you think?