IMDb RATING
7.4/10
3.7K
YOUR RATING
Despite her mother's objections, the naive young daughter of a show boat captain is thrust into the limelight as the company's new leading lady.Despite her mother's objections, the naive young daughter of a show boat captain is thrust into the limelight as the company's new leading lady.Despite her mother's objections, the naive young daughter of a show boat captain is thrust into the limelight as the company's new leading lady.
- Awards
- 1 win & 1 nomination
Maude Allen
- Fat Woman
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- Edna Ferber
- Oscar Hammerstein II
- Zoe Akins(material unused) (uncredited)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaSpecial permission had to be granted from the Hays Office in order to retain the famous miscegenation (interracial marriage) sequence in the movie. Miscegenation was banned as a film subject and the scene had been excluded from the 1929 film version.
- GoofsAbout five minutes in, 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 as the Egyptian capital.
- Crazy creditsThe rights to this film were bought by M-G-M in 1942, so all prints shown on TV until the mid 1990's had the roaring lion logo at the beginning. However, despite having bought the rights, M-G-M retained Universal Pictures' spinning globe for the "The End: A Universal Picture" credit at the film's close.
- ConnectionsFeatured in The All Talking, All Singing, All Dancing Show (1973)
- SoundtracksCotton Blossom
(1927) (uncredited)
Music by Jerome Kern
Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II
Sung by offscreen mixed chorus (during opening credits) and in opening scene by mixed chorus of dock workers
Featured review
Excellent
The BEST version ever of the musical. It follows a show boat and the family that runs it through three generations concentrating on Magnolia (Irene Dunne) and her husband Ravenel (Allen Jones).
Some people have complained that Dunne's high-pitched singing voice is TOO high-pitched...they're not completely wrong. Still she sings in tune and her "Make Believe" duet with Jones is just great. Actually all the songs are great and belted out by the cast--highlights are "Can't Help Lovin' That Man", "Bill" and the great Paul Robeson doing "Old Man River". The movie also is very faithful to the stage play--it has almost all the songs and manages to fit a 3 hour play into a 2 hour film. The last section with Kim seems rushed but that's understandable.
Dunne is just great as Magnolia--very sweet and lovable. The only strange point is her dancing to "Can't Help..."--the dress is way too constricting and she has a strange look on her face. Jones is wooden but but has a wonderful singing voice. Helen Morgan was taken from the stage show to recreate Julie. She stops the movie TWICE with "Can't Help..." and "Bill". She has a beautiful voice and is a superb actress. Her character disappears completely halfway through...but it's the same in the stage play. In the book her character ends up working in a house of prostitution--there was NO way they could have gotten that on the screen back in 1936! Everybody else is great and the movie moves very quickly.
It's much better than the 1950s version. The 50s version IS in color and opens with a great number...but most of the singing is overdubbed, the story is brutally cut down and "Can't Help..." is thrown away!
This has it all over that one. Also director James Whale reportedly liked this one above all his other films--he did a few other little films like "Frankenstein" and "Bride of Frankenstein"! Beautiful songs, some truly lovely photography (the moonlight scenes on top of the showboat are dreamlike) and a quick story. Just simply one of the great Hollywood musicals. A must see!
Some people have complained that Dunne's high-pitched singing voice is TOO high-pitched...they're not completely wrong. Still she sings in tune and her "Make Believe" duet with Jones is just great. Actually all the songs are great and belted out by the cast--highlights are "Can't Help Lovin' That Man", "Bill" and the great Paul Robeson doing "Old Man River". The movie also is very faithful to the stage play--it has almost all the songs and manages to fit a 3 hour play into a 2 hour film. The last section with Kim seems rushed but that's understandable.
Dunne is just great as Magnolia--very sweet and lovable. The only strange point is her dancing to "Can't Help..."--the dress is way too constricting and she has a strange look on her face. Jones is wooden but but has a wonderful singing voice. Helen Morgan was taken from the stage show to recreate Julie. She stops the movie TWICE with "Can't Help..." and "Bill". She has a beautiful voice and is a superb actress. Her character disappears completely halfway through...but it's the same in the stage play. In the book her character ends up working in a house of prostitution--there was NO way they could have gotten that on the screen back in 1936! Everybody else is great and the movie moves very quickly.
It's much better than the 1950s version. The 50s version IS in color and opens with a great number...but most of the singing is overdubbed, the story is brutally cut down and "Can't Help..." is thrown away!
This has it all over that one. Also director James Whale reportedly liked this one above all his other films--he did a few other little films like "Frankenstein" and "Bride of Frankenstein"! Beautiful songs, some truly lovely photography (the moonlight scenes on top of the showboat are dreamlike) and a quick story. Just simply one of the great Hollywood musicals. A must see!
helpful•363
- preppy-3
- May 1, 2004
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Edna Ferber's Show Boat
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 53 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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