Show Boat (1936) on Netflix
NR19361h 53mComedyDramaMusicRomance
Magnolia Hawks, eighteen, performs with her family's show boat company on the Mississippi River. She becomes its new leading lady and falls for Gaylord Ravenal, a gambler.
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- Netflix4.4/5
- IMDb7.4/104,119 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes100%
Trailer
Plot summary
Magnolia Hawks is eighteen, and the Cotton Palace, her family's show boat on the Mississippi River, travels and puts on shows. Her father, Cap'n Andy Hawkes, is the captain, and her mother, Parthy, objects to her appearing on the stage. When the leading actress, Julie LaVerne, and her husband, Steve Baker, are forced to leave the boat, Magnolia is pushed into the spotlight as its new leading lady. A gambler named Gaylord Ravenal comes aboard, and Magnolia falls in love with him. The boat's comic dance team is Ellie May Chipley and Frank Schultz. The story covers about forty years, from the late 1880s into the 1920s.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Show Boat (1936)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- The 1934 version of Show Boat was to star Russ Columbo as the gambler Gaylord Ravenal, but the plans fell through when Columbo was killed that year in a shotgun accident and the production was rescheduled.
- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer bought the rights and all prints of the 1936 Show Boat from Universal because it wanted to remake the film, and the critically acclaimed original was withdrawn from circulation in the 1940s.
- The Kern and Hammerstein song "Why Do I Love You?" was filmed inside a running open-top automobile but cut just before the film's release to tighten the running time; Irene Dunne told The New York Times her car-ride rendition was too jerky and her separate soundtrack recording too smooth.
- Director James Whale was forced by time constraints to delete much of his ending sequence, including a "modern" dance number meant to contrast with the romantic "Old South" production number featuring Kim and to highlight black American contributions to dance and music.
- The role of Joe was written for Paul Robeson, who had already played it onstage in London in 1928 and in the Broadway revival of 1932.
- A planned reprise of "Ol' Man River," with Paul Robeson singing in old-age makeup as Joe, was deleted, so the released film never shows an aged Joe or Queenie.
