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Show Boat Overview:

Show Boat (1951) was a Musical - Black-and-white Film directed by George Sidney and produced by Arthur Freed.

Show Boat was inducted into the National Film Registry in 1996.

Academy Awards 1951 --- Ceremony Number 24 (source: AMPAS)

AwardRecipientResult
Best CinematographyCharles RosherNominated
Best Music - ScoringAdolph Deutsch, Conrad SalingerNominated
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Show Boat BlogHub Articles:

Musical Monday: Show Boat (1936)

on Aug 12, 2019 From Comet Over Hollywood

It’s no secret that the Hollywood Comet loves musicals. In 2010, I revealed I had seen 400 movie musicals over the course of eight years. Now that number is over 600. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals. This week’s musical: Show Boat (1936) – Mus... Read full article

Musical Monday: Show Boat (1951)

on Jan 28, 2019 From Comet Over Hollywood

It’s no secret that the Hollywood Comet loves musicals. In 2010, I revealed I had seen 400 movie musicals over the course of eight years. Now that number is over 500. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals. This week’s musical: Show Boat (1951) – Mu... Read full article

Show Boat (1936)

By 4 Star Film Fan on Nov 4, 2017 From 4 Star Films

Most of what I know about riverboats can be gleaned from Mark Twain, Davy Crockett and the River Pirates, and that ever beloved Snoopy incarnation The World Famous River Boat Gambler. The 1936 musical Show Boat falls into that very same rich tradition but some clarification is in order. In truth, th... Read full article

Show Boat (1936)

By 4 Star Film Fan on Nov 4, 2017 From 4 Star Films

Most of what I know about riverboats can be gleaned from Mark Twain, Davy Crockett and the River Pirates, and that ever beloved Snoopy incarnation The World Famous River Boat Gambler. The 1936 musical Show Boat falls into that very same rich tradition but some clarification is in order. In truth, th... Read full article

Show Boat - The Story Behind One of America's Greatest Musicals

By The Metzinger Sisters on Oct 6, 2015 From Silver Scenes - A Blog for Classic Film Lovers

A Ziegfeld show typically summons to mind images of glorified girls in fantastic headdresses descending twirling staircases to the strains of haunting melodies. Florenz Ziegfeld was the great glorifier of the American girl, it’s true. It is also true that he produced lavish revues brimming wit... Read full article

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Show Boat Quotes:

Gaylord Ravenal: [borrowing Magnolia's jewels so that he can pawn them] Don't worry darling, it's only temporary. I'll get them back for you.
Magnolia: Everything can be temporary - -except us.
Magnolia: Julie, nothing's changed.
Julie: [embracing Magnolia] Oh Nollie, Nollie, always true! Stay happy now.
Magnolia: [to Gaylord Ravenal] I know there's no other woman... no flesh-and-blood woman. But I can't fight this Lady Luck of yours, this fancy queen in her green felt dress.
Julie: Mister... if you ever get to see Nollie, not get together with her I mean, but- if you ever do get to talk to her, don't ever tell her you saw me; I mean, don't ever tell her you saw me like this.
Julie: Pride is smaller than kindness.
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Show Boat Facts
Ava Gardner's original vocal track of "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man" and Annette Warren's dubbed-in vocal track of the song were both modelled on Lena Horne's rendition of it in the then-recent M-G-M biography of Jerome Kern, "Till the Clouds Roll By". Warren's vocal tracks of "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man" and "Bill", not Ava Gardner's, were the ones that eventually ended up being used in the film.
Poster advertisements for this film completely omitted Leif Erickson's name, while in the actual film credits, Erickson is billed before William Warfield (even though his role is smaller than Warfield's).
In the rough cut of the film, there was a sequence near the end, retained from the original Broadway show, in which a little old lady appeared reminiscing about Magnolia and Ravenal's romance. The two were supposed to listen to her monologue and then embrace. The old lady was subsequently edited out of the film entirely, because it was felt that her monologue slowed down the picture.
When viewing the rough cut, Arthur Freed, George Sidney, and Roger Edens came away feeling that the picture was too slow. In the rough cut, the scenes of Ravenal and Magnolia becoming rich, before suddenly going broke, lasted much longer. Roger Edens cut the "rich" scenes to a mere three minutes which showed a montage of quick scenes without dialogue, set to an orchestral accompaniment of "You Are Love". In the final print of the film, this is immediately followed by the scene in which Magnolia and Ravenal, still wealthy, sing "Why Do I Love You?", and this does contain dialogue. The scenes that followed, showing the couple in poverty, were also drastically tightened before the film's release, though they also contained dialogue.
The body of water which doubled as the "Mississippi River" throughout nearly all the river scenes was actually the lake used for the Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan movies made at M-G-M. This lake was also known as "The Lagoon" at MGM Studios because of its size. Several boats were moored there at the time of the big auction of studio properties, including the scaled replica of the "Bounty." The Lagoon was located on MGM's vast Backlot #3 at Overland and Jefferson Boulevards in Culver City, about one mile south of the studio's main lot.
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