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Show Boat (1951)

APPROVED 108 min  -  Drama | Musical | Romance  -   24 September 1951 (USA)
6.9
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Ratings: 6.9/10 from 2,236 users  
Reviews: 40 user | 10 critic

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), and 4 more credits »
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Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 1 win & 2 nominations See more awards »
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Cast

Complete credited cast:
Kathryn Grayson ...
Ava Gardner ...
Howard Keel ...
Joe E. Brown ...
Marge Champion ...
Gower Champion Gower Champion ...
Robert Sterling Robert Sterling ...
Agnes Moorehead ...
Leif Erickson Leif Erickson ...
Pete (as Lief Erickson)
William Warfield William Warfield ...
Joe
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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... Written by Kelly  

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Plot Keywords:

Love | Gambling | Riverboat | Showboat | Miscegenation  | See more »

Taglines:

M-G-M's glorious NEW "SHOW BOAT" See more »

Genres:

Drama | Musical | Romance

Parents Guide:

View content advisory »
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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

(USA) See more »

Also Known As:

Mississippi-Melodie See more »

Box Office

Budget:

$2,295,429 (estimated)
See more »

Company Credits

Show detailed company contact information on IMDbPro »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1
See full technical specs »
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Did You Know?

Trivia

The showboat built for the film (known as the Cotton Blossom) became an amusement park attraction in 1973, after MGM sold many of its props at an auction. Unfortunately, in 1995, it was dismantled and torn apart. For this film, the Cotton Blossom was built on top of a flat-bedded barge so that it could be towed into position by underwater cables for the musical number which opens the film. Even though the Cotton Blossom was built to exact specifications and was fitted with a stern paddle-wheel, the thrust of the paddle wheel would have been too strong to maneuver the boat in the studio lake. Too little thrust would have moved the boat very slowly if it moved the boat at all. Hence, it was necessary to move the boat into position by underwater cables. This underwater towing technique also made it easier for the boat to move into its mooring position at exactly the right moment when the musical number came to an end. See more »

Goofs

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): At one point, Magnolia (Kathryn Grayson) refers to Lady Southweight and Hamilton Barsdale as being characters in "Tempest and Sunshine", a melodrama adapted from a then-popular novel. There are no such characters in that play. In the scene in which Cap'n Andy (Joe E. Brown) introduces the show boat actors to the crowd, Julie (Ava Gardner) and Steve (Robert Sterling) make another reference to Hamilton, and Cap'n Andy then says: "You have to see the play tonight folks, to learn their secret - "Tempest and Sunshine", beautiful drama of tears and laughter". See more »

Quotes

Cap'n Andy Hawks: (hearing of Magnolia's engagement to Ravenal) Son, I hope it's not Saturday night one minute, with a cold Monday morning to follow. Whatever happens, Nollie, always remember to smile.
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Crazy Credits

Because some of the lyrics to the song "Cotton Blossom" have been altered 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.) See more »

Connections

Featured in "MGM: When the Lion Roars" (1992) See more »

Soundtracks

"You Are Love"
(1927) (uncredited)
Music by Jerome Kern
Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II
Sung by Kathryn Grayson & Howard Keel See more »