Show Boat (1951)

You won't be disappointed!

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

While it's far from one of my favorite musicals, I did enjoy this version of Show Boat quite a bit. The songs are nice, particularly "Ol' Man River" and "Can't Help Loving Dat Man." The sets, costumes, and Technicolor are all beautiful. Speaking of beautiful, the great Ava Gardner really steals the show here. Despite only playing a supporting part, she's riveting to watch and left a lasting impression on me. That's more than I can say for leads Kathryn Grayson and Howard Keel, who are both a little on the dull side. Joe E. Brown is fun to watch in a supporting part. Agnes Moorehead is wasted, however, as Brown's old crow of a wife. She basically just shows up a few times to be a shrew. There are quite a few themes in this that were risqué for their time but won't have as much impact today. Oddly enough, the 1936 film version of Show Boat was more gritty than this one. Both versions are good, though, and you should see them both if you like classic musicals.

First of all, Kelly, who wrote the movie summary referred to the race issue noting something about 'whiteman'. Didn't know Paul Whiteman was in the movie.Another contributor, gent from the Tarheel State,as am I, noted that both Grayson and Gardner were from North Carolina. My wife met Ava's brother who ran a service station in the family home town.The two G's from our state helped make the movie a wonderful experience. Gardner, who is drop-dead gorgeous and Grayson who is drop-dead cute with a voice that puts many of today's vocalists to shame.The singing highlight, of course, was William Warfield's "Old Man River," but all of the music, and dancing were home runs.Howard Keel, with his perfectly coiffed hair, looks and acts like a man's man, and sells a song with gusto. (No relation to Gus Gusto).Credit also to Joe E. Brown, who was usually seen in 'B' movies exercising his tonsils in much the manner of Jerry Colonna. In this movie he showed a range of emotions few moviegoers knew he had. Did he actually play that bugle? Marge and Gower Champion were, as usual, a delightful dancin' duo. Eventually, they went to Splitsville a not pleasant affair.Oh, the boat itself was a show, an impressive craft.All in all, this MGM extravaganza was most enjoyable. Some of the critics are occupied with nit-picking, comparisons, and other who-shot-John stuff.As for me, I just sit back, watch, listen, enjoy. Let the other guy dissect.

I had only recently settled down to watching this one which has just been issued on DVD in France. In a frustrating sense, this film shows that perfection is unattainable ! It has perfect lighting, perfect costumes, perfect music, perfect acting but oh, the plot is just so dull and lacking in substance ! But because of the rest I give it a high-ish rating. It's true, though, the plot is really lacking in spice and substance but this is to a large extent compensated for by a mixture of fantastic sets and great musical performances. Indeed, I am very impressed by the particular attention given to lighting by the cameraman ! It seems they avoided filming at midday and always used early morning or early evening sunlight with long, sharp and distinct shadows with yellowish tones. This plus the splendid technicolor is a feast for the eyes. I would be curious to have known exactly where it was filmed. Was it really the Mississippi river ? I also enjoyed those scenes in the cotton plantations. Musically of course, the film is a masterpiece and though my favourite tune is "Make Believe", I was extremely impressed by the version of Ol Man River sung by the actor William Warfield who must have had one of the most brilliant voices I have ever heard ! I confess to never having heard of this gentleman prior to seeing the film and had imagined the singer to be Paul Robeson. So I checked out WW on the internet and it appears he was a very respected and educated gentleman. To cut a long story short, I was impressed by his mellow voice and by his towering physique. Ava Gardner was too very beautiful and I also enjoyed seeing dear old Agnes Moorhead whom I have always appreciated in films. So despite a weak plot which sometimes failed to keep my attention, this film is a genuine masterpiece on most other levels and deserves viewing at least once, if only for William Warfield's performance of Ol'Man River.

I'm tired of livin' but scared of dyin'... Have you had the opportunity to enjoy "Showboat" (1951)? Yesterday was the 1st time I'd been able to see it all the way through...no interruptions. I had my 2+ and 5 year old granddaughters visiting me. They were so enthralled with the music, dancing and costumes they sat and quietly watched it...except when the dancing was on. At that point they joined in with great enthusiasm.A gambler/actor, Gaylord Ravenal(Howard Keel), joins riverboat Cap'n Hawks (Joe E. Brown), his wife Parthy (Agnes Moorehead) and daughter Magnolia (Kathryn Grayson) aka: Nollie. He acts his way onto the boat, up the Mississippi River and into Magnolia's heart. The last is very much against her mother's wishes. Gay and Nollie leave her parents to live on their own. Everything seems to go well until Gay and Lady Luck part company. As things fall apart so does their marriage. Gay runs out and Nollie is left to fend for herself. Hards time and other complications make her realize she needs her parents. Tiny spoiler: Ava Gardner and Robert Sterling are "Julie LaVerne" and "Steve Baker" an interracial couple who are threatened with arrest because of their relationship. Their story makes up a sad portion of the plot. What will happen to Julie? What about Nollie? They're both in difficult circumstances. Well, that's all you're getting out of me. If you haven't seen it, please do. It is so worth your time.