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Irene Dunne, Allan Jones, Helen Morgan, and Charles Winninger in Show Boat (1936)

Goofs

Show Boat

Edit

Continuity

When Joe begins to sing "Ol' Man River", he picks up a board and begins to whittle it. He slices off two pieces, and then the camera switches to an oblique shot, but now the board is whittled to a slender rod.
At one point in the story, Cap'n Andy and Parthy discuss hiring a new leading man and leading lady. Just before Cap'n Andy says, "But where do we go from here? We can't give no more shows without a leading man!", he and Parthy are abruptly seen in a slightly different position.
When Ravenal first meets Magnolia, just after he sings "Where's The Mate For Me?", she mentions that she plays the piano. He asks, "Was that you I heard just now?", but there is no indication in the film that he actually has heard her. This probably is because part of the scene may have been edited out before the film's release. In the original show, Ravenal sings the first verse of "Where's The Mate For Me?" and then hears Magnolia practicing offstage. Then he goes on to sing a part of the song which is not included in the film. Immediately afterwards, his first conversation with Magnolia takes place, and so, in the stage version, the audience knows exactly when he heard her practicing.
As Ellie May is applying cold cream on her face, the amount she puts on changes from shot to shot.
During Mr. Green's rehearsal, the piano player has a cigarette with a cigarette holder in his mouth. Next, when he implores Julie to let Mr. Green hear the song, he is holding the cigarette with his hand, but there's no holder. Then he has the cigarette with the holder back in his mouth.

Another reveal is when he first starts accompanying Julie on the piano, he is smoking the cigarette, then on the following cut, he is not smoking but chewing gum. Then on the next cut, he again is smoking, and after than, he is back to chewing gum.

Revealing mistakes

When Cap'n Andy introduces his actors to the crowd, a young woman looks off to the side absent-mindedly as the captain begins to introduce Ellie. As soon as he mentions Ellie's name, the young woman seems to snap to attention and automatically smiles broadly and gives out a loud cheer along with the rest of the crowd.
When Schultz stops Mr. Green after rehearsal, Mr. Green tells Frank, "You thought wrong", and then it cuts to a closeup of the laughing piano player. It then cuts back to Mr. Green, and it repeats the scene with Mr. Green saying, "You thought wrong" while laughingly gesturing to the piano player.

Anachronisms

Modern party balloons, filled with helium, are shown in scenes taking place in the 1890s. However, helium was not processed and made available for such a use until at least the 1920s.

Audio/visual unsynchronised

At the end of "Ol' Man River", Joe smiles while his and the male chorus's voices linger for about three seconds on the soundtrack.
When Joe rows the doctor across the stormy waters, the doctor upbraids him for getting him out of bed under false pretenses. In answer, Joe sings a line from "Ah Still Suits Me", but his lip movements don't quite match the sound of his voice.
As Magnolia, Gaylord, and child are leaving their residence in their automobile, Gaylord honks the horn, and there is engine backfire which startles a passing horse pulling a buggy. The horse rears and squeals, but no sounds are heard.

Character error

(at around 5 mins) Cap'n Andy Hawks is introducing Miss Ellie May Chipley, the toast of Cairo, Illinois. He mispronounces Cairo. His pronunciation is for the capital of Egypt. Cairo, IL is pronounced Kay'ro, with perhaps other local variants but never the same as the Egyptian capital's pronunciation.

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Irene Dunne, Allan Jones, Helen Morgan, and Charles Winninger in Show Boat (1936)
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By what name was Show Boat (1936) officially released in India in English?
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