#724) Show Boat (1936)
OR “Mississippi Yearning”
Directed by James Whale
Written by Oscar Hammerstein II. Based on the stage musical by Hammerstein and Jerome Kern, and the novel by Edna Ferber.
Class of 1996
The Plot: “Show Boat” chronicles 40 years in the life of the Hawks family as they travel the Mississippi in their riverboat Cotton Palace, putting on shows in every port town. In the late 1880s, Magnolia Hawks (Irene Dunne), daughter of the boat’s Cap’n Andy (Charles Winninger), becomes the show’s leading lady when Julie LaVerne (Helen Morgan), a light-skinned Black woman married to a White man (Donald Cook), is chased out of town by miscegenation laws. Despite the objections of her mother Parthy (Helen Westley), Magnolia becomes romantically involved with Gaylord Ravenal (Allan Jones), her leading man with a mysterious past. The loves and losses of Magnolia and her family span the decades, and just like the river they travel on, they just keep rolling along.
Why It Matters: The NFR write-up praises the film’s direction, its leading players, and Paul Robeson’s “heartfelt rendition” of “Ol’ Man River”. The write-up also goes out of its way to slam the 1951 remake, which “has lush Technicolor but not the heart and soul.” Ouch. An essay by film expert Phil Hall declares the film James Whale’s “ultimate triumph”, gives proper historical context, and takes the time to criticize the 1951 remake. Jesus, it can’t be that bad!
But Does It Really?: I understand why “Show Boat” is an important part of film history, but also why it has disappeared from the conversation of classic films. Movie musicals were still in their infancy in 1936, and “Show Boat” is leaps ahead of what other musicals were doing in terms of story and sophistication (this is aided by the source material, a stage musical ahead of its time). Despite this innovation, the film’s racial elements (all developed by White creatives), really don’t hold up. They’re never at a “Birth of a Nation” extreme, but they are prevalent enough throughout to make a modern viewing difficult. Much like its source materials, the film of “Show Boat” was a breakthrough in its day, but its problematic story beats have caused it to age poorly. “Show Boat” is on the NFR for reasons more historical than artistic, but is worthy of its designation nonetheless.
Wow, That’s Dated: BLACKFACE WARNING: We unfortunately must add Irene Dunne to the list of classic movie stars that have performed in Blackface thanks to Magnolia’s “Gallivantin’ Aroun’” number. And this scene’s not even in the show, it was added for the movie!
Seriously, Oscars?: No Oscar nominations for “Show Boat”. Universal’s major Oscar players that year were Best Picture nominee “Three Smart Girls” and fellow NFR entry “My Man Godfrey“. Irene Dunne was nominated for Best Actress that year for her work in another movie: the Columbia screwball comedy “Theodora Goes Wild”.
Other notes
- Showboats were an actual type of theater throughout the 1800s, its popularity waning with the rise of motion pictures. After hearing a throwaway reference to showboats made by director Winthrop Ames, Edna Ferber became fascinated by the dramatic potential of showboats and began researching them for a novel. The book was published in 1926 and caught the eye of composer Jerome Kern, who pitched Ferber on the idea of a stage musical adaptation. The musical opened on Broadway in December 1927, and was a landmark in dramatic musical productions, back when stages musicals were frivolous comedy revues with minimal – if any – story. Universal had the film rights to the novel “Show Boat”, and began production on a silent film adaptation, but the popularity of the musical, along with the rise of sound pictures, led to the addition of sound sequences featuring songs from the musical. Ultimately unsatisfied with this Frankenstein-ed attempt at a “Show Boat” film, Universal greenlit an all-sound adaptation of the musical in 1933, and after a few false starts (and another director – Frank Borzage), production began in 1935.
- We’re off to a good start with an elaborate opening credits sequence, the first musical number (“Cap’n Andy’s Ballyhoo”), and a rapid introduction of all the main characters. Right from the start you get an idea of this movie’s overall issue: trying to cram a three-hour musical (itself an encapsulation of a 341-page novel) into a two-hour movie. There’s just too much territory to cover and not enough time to do it all justice.
- Our two leads are…okay. Irene Dunne is pleasant and convincing enough as a young woman blossoming into adulthood, and as best I can tell did all her own singing. Allan Jones was last-minute casting for Ravenal, joining the film after it had already started shooting! He sings fine, but you never really believe him as a shady gambler. It helps that their first duet together, “Only Make Believe”, is a favorite of mine: Part of a subgenre of Hammerstein songs about people saying they’re in love without saying they’re in love (see also “People Will Say We’re in Love” and “If I Loved You”).
- “Show Boat” is a lovely reminder that James Whale directed movies outside of the horror genre he is forever identified with, directing this shortly after making “The Bride of Frankenstein” (with murder mystery “Remember Last Night?” in-between). Whale would later state that “Show Boat” was his personal favorite of all his films.
- If only one scene from this movie could be preserved, it would undoubtedly be Paul Robeson belting “Ol’ Man River”. Robeson’s powerful, no-holds-barred performance earns the scene its iconic status, matched by some inventive expressionistic cinematography, including an impressive-for-its-time rotating crane shot. Now if only this song about the struggles of our Black citizens wasn’t written by two White guys…
- Ah yes, the mixed-race conundrum. The film retains the plotline about Julie passing for White, but it’s there to serve its story purpose and is never mentioned again. The moment of Julie’s husband Steve slicing Julie’s hand so he can suck the blood and rightfully claim that he also has “negro blood” inside him is startling, especially for a first time viewing. I didn’t realize what was going on and thought Steve was a vampire (this is a Universal picture, after all).
- The theater sequence (the actual show of “Show Boat”) goes on way too long and serves no real purpose. Is this why people hate live theater? And just when you think it’s finally over, the curtain rises on Irene Dunne is full Blackface, a sequence that – I repeat – was added for this movie. You did not need to include this, and we all would have been better off.
- Even in the early days of movie musicals we have the golden rule of stage musical movie adaptations: Any cut song goes into the underscore. Of the plethora of songs deleted from original score, listen out for “Life Upon the Wicked Stage”, “After the Fair”, and “Why Do I Love You?”, the latter of which was filmed but cut from the final release.
- The film’s Herculean effort to cram in every element of the story starts to collapse with this film’s editing of Act Two, which chronicles about 35 years in under an hour. Always a problem onstage, this film’s solution is to cut the second act down to its minimum, and I do mean minimum. I think Magnolia was pregnant for about 40 seconds.
- “Ah Still Suits Me” is one of three songs written especially for the film, in this case to expand the roles of Queenie and Joe, who are otherwise absent from the film’s second half. It’s a fine, light number, and one last chance to see Hattie McDaniel and Paul Robeson together, but that’s about it.
- Helen Morgan originated the role of Julie in the original Broadway production of “Show Boat”, reprising it for the 1929 part-talkie film, the 1932 stage revival, and this film. As great as she is in this (especially her rendition of the torch song “Bill”), her performance is sadly overshadowed by the unfortunate parallels between the tragic declines of both her character and herself.
- And then the movie just sort of ends with as happy an ending as this story can have, plus a tacked-on reprise of “Ol’ Man River” by an off-screen Paul Robeson. I’m glad I saw this movie, but I’m in no rush to see it again.
Legacy
- “Show Boat” was a hit upon its release in spring 1936, but not enough of a hit for the film’s producer and Universal founder Carl Laemmle. The financial success of “Show Boat” was a rarity for Universal under Laemmle (and his son Carl Laemmle Jr.), whose track record primarily consisted of overbudget flops. Shortly after the release of “Show Boat”, both Laemmle Sr. and Jr. were ousted from Universal in a hostile takeover. Neither made another movie in their lifetimes, and Carl Sr. died just a few years after his unceremonious firing.
- In the 1940s MGM, hitting their stride with lavish movie musicals, bought the film rights to “Show Boat” from Universal with the intention of remaking it. They also bought the rights to the 1936 film, primarily to remove it from distribution so it wouldn’t compete with their remake. MGM’s version, starring Ava Gardner and Howard Keel, was released in 1951 and is a streamlined and somewhat sanitized version of the show. While this remake was successful in its day, the gradual return of the 1936 version on TV and home video led to a re-evaluation, which – as evident from the above NFR write-ups – deemed the ’51 remake the inferior movie.
- The stage version of “Show Boat” was revived often during the 20th century, each version making its own additions and tweaks, including interpolating songs written especially for the 1936 film. The last major American production of “Show Boat” was a successful 1990s Broadway revival directed by Hal Prince. While the show’s popularity has certainly waned over the years, it did enter the public domain on New Year’s Day 2023, and at least one theater company is taking a shot at a major royalty-free revision.
- Although references to “Show Boat” in modern culture are mainly reserved for the show itself rather than the 1936 film specifically, Paul Robeson’s rendition of “Ol’ Man River” has kept the film’s legacy afloat (if you will). “Ol’ Man River” became Robeson’s signature song, and while many have covered it across the decades, the version I always think of is Billy Crystal’s Oscar parody celebrating Clint Eastwood’s “Mystic River”. “You produce/You write the score/You sang in ‘Paint Your Wagon’/ Please don’t sing no mooooo-oooore”.
Listen To This: Before theater cast albums were commonplace, the 1932 Broadway revival of “Show Boat” received a recording, which was inducted into the National Recording Registry in 2005. While not the full score, this is one of the first cast recordings of its kind in theater history and features both Helen Morgan and Paul Robeson performing their songs four years prior to their filmed reprisals. An essay by “Show Boat” expert Todd Decker is a track-by-track breakdown of the album and its artists.
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