O Barco das Ilusões (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 white man, 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 to live in a Pl: fantasy world. Magnolia soon faces reality quickly, that gambling means more to Gaylord than anything else. Magnolia confronts 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 fend ...

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Plot Keywords:

love | gambling | miscegenation | interracial marriage | showboat | 

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Taglines:

Hundreds In The Cast!

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Genres:

Drama | Family | Musical | Romance

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Although Annette Warren dubbed Ava Gardner's singing voice in the movie, Ms. Gardner herself sang her two songs on the MGM soundtrack album.

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Goofs

The show boat "Cotton Blossom" is inaccurately designed for the era in which the story takes place (the 1880's). The boat used in the film is built in the style of a typical modern luxury riverboat, with giant twin smokestacks and a large paddlewheel in the rear, and it moves on its own power. Modern "show boats" are built that way because of advances made since the 19th century, but authentic show boats of the era did not have smokestacks or paddlewheels, and were not self-powered. They were barge-like structures similar to a long, floating house with a flat roof, and they were connected to, and pushed along by the misleadingly named "towboats", which did have smokestacks and a paddlewheel. If a real show boat of the era had been steam-powered, its steam engine would have had to be placed (very dangerously) smack in the middle of the auditorium.

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Quotes

Julie: Down on the levee, the gals put a little shuffle in it.

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Crazy Credits

Jerome Kern is never specifically credited for having composed the music. His and Oscar Hammerstein II's joint screen credit reads: "Based on the Immortal Musical Play 'Show Boat' by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II'", although Kern wrote only the music.

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Alternate Versions

Early preview showings of this film featured Ava Gardner's own singing voice, before the film was officially released with Ava overdubbed by Annette Warren.

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Connections

Referenced in The Mike Douglas Show: Episode #6.33 (1966)

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Soundtracks

Mis'ry's Comin' Round
(1927) (partial) (uncredited)
Music by Jerome Kern
Hummed by off-screen chorus

User Reviews

gorgeous

The plot may be changed a little, but it is still wonderful stuff, with a cast to die for. A great weepy love story, some fantastic dance sequences from the Champions, a sweet couple of leading ladies in Grayson and Gardner, and a high dose of comedy along the way. All this and Ol' Man River. The perfect Sunday afternoon wallow.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 April 1952 (Portugal)

Also Known As:

O Barco das Ilusões

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