Spanning from the 1880s to the 1920s, Show Boat is an American epic that tells the story of three generations of performers travelling from the Mississippi River to Chicago, and ultimately, Broadway.
What kind of movie is Showboat?
Show Boat is a 1951 American musical romantic comedy-drama film, based on the 1927 stage musical of the same name by Jerome Kern (music) and Oscar Hammerstein II (script and lyrics), and the 1926 novel by Edna Ferber. It was made by MGM, adapted for the screen by John Lee Mahin, produced by Arthur Freed and directed by George Sidney .
What is the plot of the Movie Show Boat?
Show Information. Synopsis. Taking place over fifty years, Show Boat tells the story of a family of performers living on a show boat, and their struggles with gambling, race, infidelity, and poverty. In the beginning of the show, Captain Andy runs extremely successful performances aboard his ship, called The Cotton Blossom.
What is the theme of the musical Show Boat?
Its themes include racial prejudice and tragic, enduring love. The musical contributed such classic songs as " Ol' Man River ", " Make Believe ", and " Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man ". The musical was first produced in 1927 by Florenz Ziegfeld. The premiere of Show Boat on Broadway was an important event in the history of American musical theatre.
What is the message of the Show Boat?
[Show Boat] create [s] visions of racial harmony... in a fictional world that purported to be America but was more illusion than reality. Characters in Ferber's novels achieve assimilation and acceptance that was periodically denied Ferber herself throughout her life.
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Is Show Boat based on a true story?
It is based on Edna Ferber's best-selling 1926 novel of the same name. The musical follows the lives of the performers, stagehands and dock workers on the Cotton Blossom, a Mississippi River show boat, over 40 years from 1887 to 1927.
What is the storyline of Show Boat?
When it comes to music on the Mississippi river, the Cotton Blossom show boat is the place to go. When musical main attraction Julie Laverne (Ava Gardner) and her husband are suddenly forced to leave the show, Cotton Blossom owner Andy Hawks' (Joe E. Brown) own daughter, Magnolia (Kathryn Grayson), takes center stage. She soon falls madly in love with roguish gambler Gaylord Ravenal (Howard Keel), and the two leave the Cotton Blossom on a honeymoon -- only to enter into a tumultuous marriage.Show Boat / Film synopsis
Why is Show Boat important?
Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II's blend of music, lyrics and libretto essentially paved the way for future theater. Show Boat changes the course of theater, redirecting the emphasis from the heavy operettas and the superficial music comedies which had dominated Broadway.
What happens at the end of Show Boat?
The two become successful, fall in love, and marry. They leave the boat and move to Chicago, where they live on Ravenal's gambling winnings until he goes broke and walks out on Magnolia.
What was perhaps the most controversial element of Show Boat?
As a result of all of these factors, Show Boat was revised within a year of its Broadway bow before it moved to London's West End. Its most controversial element was undoubtedly its first lyric, which included the n-word, and it went through several replacements beginning in 1928 when it premiered on the West End.
What happens to Julie in Show Boat?
The ultimate fate of Julie remains a mystery, as in the novel, but Miles Kreuger, the musical theatre historian, has stated in the accompanying booklet to the 1988 EMI complete recording of Show Boat 's score that he believes that Julie's sacrifice probably will ultimately lead to her death (presumably from drinking).
Why is Show Boat unique?
Show Boat was particularly revolutionary for its time, and serves as the jumpstart point for my exploration, because it became the first musical to combine seriousness with spectacle. Most plays of the time were unrealistic comedies meant to entertain the public.
Why was the musical Show Boat critical?
The musical was one of the first to marry big show tunes and lavish presentations with serious themes - particularly racial segregation in the American South.
Where did the term Show Boat come from?
The term comes from a type of riverboat that travelled throughout the southern United States in the nineteenth century. Showboats were gaudy floating theatres, heavily adorned and over-embellished, with the purpose of bringing entertainment in the form of plays or music to people that lived along the waterfront.
Who was the little girl in Show Boat?
Sheila ClarkShow Boat (1951) - Sheila Clark as Kim Ravenal - Age 4 - IMDb.
Where was Show Boat filmed?
Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA (studio) (studio: made in Hollywood, U.S.A.)
How many Show Boat movies were there?
three movie versionsThere have been three movie versions, but the best one — James Whale's 1936 production — has only just been released on DVD. Show Boat was the first great serious Broadway musical.
When was Show Boat filmed?
It was made by MGM, adapted for the screen by John Lee Mahin, produced by Arthur Freed and directed by George Sidney . Filmed previously in 1929 and in 1936, this third adaptation of Show Boat was shot in Technicolor in the typical MGM lavish style, while the basic plot remains unchanged.
What year was the show boat made?
Box office. $7,621,000. Show Boat is a 1951 American musical romantic comedy-drama film, based on the 1927 stage musical of the same name by Jerome Kern (music) and Oscar Hammerstein II (script and lyrics), and the 1926 novel by Edna Ferber.
How old is Magnolia in The Captain's Daughter?
However, he meets Magnolia, the captain's 18-year-old daughter, and the two are instantly smitten. That night, during the performance of an olio on the show boat, Pete shows up with the town sheriff.
What is the opening song of the show boat?
The opening song, "Cotton Blossom", rather than being sung by the black chorus and by the townspeople who witness the show boat's arrival, was sung by a group of singers and dancers in flashy costumes dancing out of the boat. This required the omission of half the song, plus a small change in the song's remaining lyrics.
What was the most successful movie of 1951?
The 1951 Show Boat was the most financially successful of the film adaptations of the show: one of MGM's most popular musicals, it was the second-highest grossing film of that year .
Where did Ellie Shipley and Frank Schultz audition for the show Boat?
Ellie Shipley and Frank Schultz, the dance team on the show boat, suddenly show up in Chicago, having also left the boat and been booked into a nightclub called the Trocadero. They take Magnolia to audition there, but before she arrives, we see that the club already has a singer.
When was Show Boat first televised?
Television. The film was first telecast on January 3, 1972, on The NBC Monday Movie. This marked the first time any production of Show Boat was telecast, with the exception of an experimental telecast in 1931 of a scene from the 1929 film version. NBC repeated the film on Saturday June 17, 1972.
Storyline
The "Cotton Blossom", owned by the Hawk family, is the show boat everyone goes to for great musical entertainment down south. Julie LaVerne and her husband are the stars of the show.
Did you know
Director George Sidney had to leave for a few days because of illness, so uncredited associate producer Roger Edens directed the fog-enshrouded "departure" sequence, including William Warfield 's performance of "Ol' Man River." That scene has been praised even by critics who hate this version of "Show Boat."
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By what name was Show Boat (1951) officially released in India in English?
Movie Info
When it comes to music on the Mississippi river, the Cotton Blossom show boat is the place to go. When musical main attraction Julie Laverne (Ava Gardner) and her husband are suddenly forced to leave the show, Cotton Blossom owner Andy Hawks' (Joe E. Brown) own daughter, Magnolia (Kathryn Grayson), takes center stage.
Movie & TV guides
The percentage of Approved Tomatometer Critics who have given this movie a positive review.
Movie Info
Based on Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II's Broadway hit, this musical spans four decades in the lives of performers on a Mississippi river boat. Sheltered beauty Magnolia Hawks (Irene Dunne) takes over as the show's leading lady when mulatto Julie (Helen Morgan) and her white husband are forced out of town by a narrow-minded sheriff.
Movie & TV guides
The percentage of Approved Tomatometer Critics who have given this movie a positive review.
Plot: What's the story about?
Set in the quirky world of cruise performers, a jaded indie singer must get over her "Big Bad Self" and learn that sequins, confetti canons, and making your audience happy isn't always a bad thing.
Who's making Showboat: Crew List
A look at the Showboat behind-the-scenes crew and production team. The film's director Nahnatchka Khan last directed Always Be My Maybe. The film's writer Nahnatchka Khan last wrote Happily Ever After and Hair Wars.
What is the show boat based on?
Olivier Award for Best Revival. Show Boat is a musical with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It is based on Edna Ferber 's best-selling 1926 novel of the same name.
Why was Show Boat cancelled?
Since the musical's 1927 premiere, Show Boat has both been condemned as a prejudiced show based on racial caricatures and championed as a breakthrough work that opened the door for public discourse in the arts about racism in America. Some productions (including one planned for June 2002 in Connecticut) have been cancelled because of objections. Such cancellations have been criticized by supporters of the arts. After planned performances in 1999 by an amateur company in Middlesbrough, England, where "the show would entail white actors 'blacking up' " were "stopped because [they] would be 'distasteful' to ethnic minorities", the critic for a local newspaper declared that the cancellation was "surely taking political correctness too far. … [T]he kind of censorship we've been talking about – for censorship it is – actually militates against a truly integrated society, for it emphasizes differences. It puts a wall around groups within society, dividing people by creating metaphorical ghettos, and prevents mutual understanding".
What is the theme of the musical Cotton Blossom?
Its themes include racial prejudice and tragic, enduring love.
How many times was Show Boat adapted for radio?
Show Boat was adapted for live radio at least seven times. Due to network censorship rules, many of the radio productions eliminated the miscegenation aspect of the plot. Notable exceptions were the 1940 Cavalcade of America broadcast and the 1952 Lux Radio Theatre broadcast.
When was the show boat on Broadway first performed?
The musical contributed such classic songs as " Ol' Man River ", " Make Believe ", and " Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man ". The musical was first produced in 1927 by Florenz Ziegfeld. The premiere of Show Boat on Broadway was an important event in the history of American musical theatre.
Was the show boat movie based on a novel?
Not a film version of the musical; its plot is based on the original Edna Ferber novel. Immediately after the silent film was completed, a prologue with some music from the show was filmed and added to a part-talkie version of the same film, which was released with two sound sequences. 1936 Show Boat. Universal.
Who orchestrated the Kern show?
All three overtures were arranged by the show's orchestrator, Robert Russell Bennett, who orchestrated most of Kern's later shows. "Cotton Blossom" – This number is performed in all the stage productions, and shorter versions were used in the 1936 and 1951 film versions. It was not used in the 1929 film version.
Who played the lead in the 1936 movie Show Boat?
Allan Jones plays debonair leading man Gaylord Ravenal and Irene Dunne is the enchanting Magnolia in the 1936 film version of Show Boat, which has just been released on DVD. Allan Jones plays debonair leading man Gaylord Ravenal and Irene Dunne is the enchanting Magnolia in the 1936 film version of Show Boat, which has just been released on DVD.
Who wrote the songs for the show boat?
Show Boat was the first great serious Broadway musical. Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II, who wrote the songs, and Florenz Ziegfeld Jr., who produced it, departed from typical musical comedy material, with its chorus lines and songs showcasing star performers. As the stevedore Joe, Paul Robeson sings the show's most memorable anthem: about how ...
When did the show boat come to Ziegfeld?
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Digital Distribution. Broadway had never seen anything like it when Show Boat arrived at the Ziegfeld Theatre in 1927. The score was unforgettable and the story tackled complex racial issues.
Who is Queenie in the movie?
Her debonair leading man is Allan Jones. The irrepressible Hattie McDaniel is Queenie, Robeson's complaining but easily appeased wife. A delightful comic duet between Robeson and McDaniel was one of three new songs added to the movie by Kern and Hammerstein, at the expense of a number of other songs that were cut.
Who played Magnolia in the movie "I Love the Musical Opening"?
3, a phrase that depicts a noble hero. But in the song, "Bill" is just "an ordinary man.". The film's big star is Irene Dunne, who played the heroine, Magnolia, in the first road company of Show Boat.
Was the show boat silent?
In the first film version of Show Boat, partially silent, the whole issue of race was dropped. But in the next movie version, released in 1936, director Whale, whose previous films include Frankenstein, The Invisible Man and The Bride of Frankenstein, restored the prickly racial issues.
Is Show Boat on DVD?
Music critic Lloyd Schwartz says the 1936 film version of Show Boat is the best — and it's now out on DVD.
Overview
Show Boat is a 1951 American musical romantic drama film, based on the 1927 stage musical of the same name by Jerome Kern (music) and Oscar Hammerstein II (script and lyrics), and the 1926 novel by Edna Ferber. It was made by MGM, adapted for the screen by John Lee Mahin, produced by Arthur Freed and directed by George Sidney.
Plot
When the show boat Cotton Blossom arrives in a Mississippi town to give a performance, a fistfight breaks out between leading man Steve Baker and Pete, the boat's engineer who has been making passes at Steve's wife, leading lady Julie La Verne. Pete knows a dark secret about the couple: Julie is part black and therefore their marriage is illegal. When Pete shows up with the town sheriff, Baker pricks Julie's finger and sucks blood from it, meaning he now has "negro blood" in …
Cast
(credited cast only)
• Kathryn Grayson as Magnolia Hawks
• Ava Gardner as Julie LaVerne (singing voice dubbed by Annette Warren)
• Howard Keel as Gaylord Ravenal
Adaptation
For the 1951 Show Boat, Oscar Hammerstein II's dialogue was almost completely thrown out and new dialogue written by John Lee Mahin. The story was given a major overhaul, particularly near the end of the film. Changes included keeping the characters of Magnolia and Gaylord significantly younger at the end than in the play, and the expansion of the role of Julie to give her character greater depth. The film also somewhat sanitized the character of Gaylord Ravenal by h…
Production
According to George Sidney, MGM executives wanted Dinah Shore to play Julie. Sidney tested Shore but she "wasn't right" according to the director. So he tested Ava Gardner miming to a Lena Horne track and Gardner was cast.
Lena Horne was originally to have played Julie (after Dinah Shore and Judy Garland were passed over) as she had in the brief segment of the play featured in the 1946 Jerome Kern biopic Till th…
Reception
Contemporary reviews were positive. Bosley Crowther of The New York Times wrote a rave review, calling the film "so magnificent in so many ways" that it put the 1936 version "in the shade," for no previous screen version of the stage musical had ever been presented "in anything like the visual splendor and richness of musical score as are tastefully brought together in this brilliant re-creation of the show." Variety wrote that the film "takes to Technicolor with an accord that make…
Television
The film was first telecast on January 3, 1972, on The NBC Monday Movie. This marked the first time any production of Show Boat was telecast, with the exception of an experimental telecast in 1931 of a scene from the 1929 film version. NBC repeated the film on Saturday June 17, 1972. Several years later, the film went to CBS, where it appeared twice as a holiday offering on The CBS Late Movie. From there the film went to local stations and then to cable.
Radio adaptation
Show Boat was presented on Lux Radio Theatre on February 11, 1952. The one-hour adaptation starred Ava Gardner, Kathryn Grayson, Howard Keel, William Warfield, Marge Champion and Gower Champion.