Show Boat (1951) - film review

In 1890, the Show Boat is a paddleboat which transports a troupe of talented performers from town to town along the Mississippi River.   When he learns that his singer, Julie, is of mixed race, Andy Hawks, the boat’s owner, has no choice but to dismiss her and replace her with his daughter, Nollie.  The latter attracts the attention of Gaylord Ravenal, a playboy gambler who decides to join the Show Boat so that he can be near to Nollie.  The couple marry but within no time Gaylord loses his entire fortune through his gambling.  He abandons Nollie, not knowing that she is pregnant with his child...

The third screen adaptation of Edna Ferber’s celebrated stage play is the most visually impressive, shot in glorious Technicolor with some stunning location sequences featuring a specially constructed full-size paddleboat.  Although the film is less highly regarded than the second (also a musical, made by Universal Pictures in 1936) it is an enchanting work, with glorious renditions of the songs written by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein for the Broadway musical, first performed in 1927.  The highpoint is the Ol’ Man River sequence, which has a visual and aural poetry of its own, vividly setting the film in its geographic and historical context. 

The Afro-American singer-actress Lena Horne was considered for the part of Julie, but studio bosses were reluctant to offer such a major role to a non-white performer and so Ava Gardner was cast instead.  For similar reasons, the themes of racial intolerance and inter-racial  marriage which were central to the original play, are significantly toned down, so as not to cause offence to a contemporary American audience.

Although Gardner was to have sung all of her songs, her vocal work was judged to be unsatisfactory and so her songs were dubbed by Annette Warren, although Gardner’s rendition made it onto a soundtrack album.  Despite being one of MGM’s most highly regarded musicals, the film won no Academy Awards, although it was nominated in two categories (Best Cinematography and Best Musical Score).

© filmsdefrance.com 2009

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