Show Boat (1936 film)
| Show Boat | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Directed by | James Whale |
| Produced by | Carl Laemmle, Jr. |
| Written by | Oscar Hammerstein II (also wrote lyrics) |
| Based on |
Show Boat by Edna Ferber, and the Kern-Hammerstein musical adapted from the novel |
| Starring |
Irene Dunne Allan Jones Charles Winninger Paul Robeson Helen Morgan Helen Westley Hattie McDaniel Queenie Smith Sammy White |
| Music by | Jerome Kern |
| Cinematography | John J. Mescall |
| Edited by |
Bernard W. Burton Ted Kent |
|
Production
company |
Universal Pictures
|
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
|
Release date
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Running time
|
113 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Show Boat is a 1936 romantic comedy-drama musical film directed by James Whale, based on the musical of the same name by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II, which in turn was adapted from the novel of the same name by Edna Ferber.
In 1929, Universal Pictures had filmed the part-talkie Show Boat. Carl Laemmle, head of Universal, had been deeply dissatisfied with that film, and had long wanted to make an all-sound version of the hit musical. It was originally scheduled to be made in 1934, but plans to make this version with Russ Columbo as the gambler Gaylord Ravenal fell through when Columbo was killed that year in a shotgun accident, and shooting of the film was rescheduled. The film, with several members of the original Broadway cast, was begun in late 1935 and released in 1936.
In addition to the songs retained from the stage production, Kern and Hammerstein wrote three additional songs for the film. Two of them were performed in spots previously reserved for songs from the stage production.
The musical's story spans about 40 years, from the late 1880s to the late 1920s. Magnolia Hawks is an 18-year-old on her family's show boat, the Cotton Palace, which travels the Mississippi River putting on shows. She meets Gaylord Ravenal, a charming gambler, falls in love with him, and eventually marries him. Together with their baby daughter, the couple leaves the boat and moves to Chicago, where they live off Gaylord's gambling winnings. After about 10 years, he experiences an especially bad losing streak and leaves Magnolia, out of a sense of guilt that he is ruining her life because of his losses. Magnolia is forced to bring up her young daughter alone. In a parallel plot, Julie LaVerne (the show boat's leading actress, who is part African-American, but passing as white) is forced to leave the boat because of her background, taking Steve Baker (her white husband, to whom, under the state's law, she is illegally married) with her. Julie is eventually also abandoned by her husband, and she becomes an alcoholic. Magnolia becomes a success on the stage in Chicago. Twenty-three years later, Magnolia and Ravenal are reunited at the theater in which Kim, their daughter, is appearing in her first Broadway starring role.
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