Show Boat
by James Whale
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Allan Jones, Charles Winninger, Helen Morgan, Irene Dunne, Paul RobesonDirector: James Whale
Cinematographer: John J. Mescall
Editor: Bernard W. Burton
Editor: Ted J. Kent
Producer: Carl Laemmle Jr.
Writer: Edna Ferber
Writer: Oscar Hammerstein II
Writer: Zoe Akins
Format: NTSC
Running Time: 113 minutes
Movie Reviews of Show Boat
Movie Review: One of the most remarkable musicals of the 1930s
Summary: 5 Stars
SHOW BOAT was one of the most original musicals of the 1930s and was, indeed, years ahead of its time. One has to compare it with all of the other movie musicals of its decade to realize just how unusual it was. Most other musicals of the decade were focused on the musical theater (think of all those Busby Berkeley musicals) or contained a heavy element of romantic comedy. There is certainly some of both of those elements in SHOW BOAT, but it completely exploded the boundaries that restricted the other films. There is an epic quality to SHOW BOAT that is completely missing in the other films, as well as a sense of Americana.
Virtually no one who sees this and the later MGM version will prefer the latter. This black and white version has a visual dynamism and energy completely lacking in the MGM color one. The editing is crisp and often startling, and the screen often shifts from one performer's face to another when one least anticipates it. The vitality the film emits carries the viewer along with it, something that can hardly be said of the later version. I even prefer the performances of the famous numbers, not least because MGM seemed determine to make each one more of a big performance number, which oddly had the effect of making them seem less personal and more remote. Even the greatest performance in the 1951 version, that of the great William Warfield as Joe, is surpassed by Paul Robeson's performance, more on the strength of his personality than his singing ability (Warfield was one of the truly great lieder singers of the past half century, but Robeson was both a great singer and a great actor).
The cast of the 1936 film also far surpasses that of the 1951 one. Irene Dunne was a much better actress than Kathryn Grayson and was, therefore, able to imbue Magnolia Hawks with far more depth. Though Allan Jones and Howard Keel are comparable, in every instance I would take the performer from the 1936 version over the later one. It is with a sense almost of regret that one watches Paul Robeson in this one. They added the song "Ah Still Suits Me" to the film to give Robeson a larger role, but even so one wishes that his screen time had been doubled. Robeson was, by any standard, one of the most amazing Americans of the 20th century, and is perhaps less well known than he deserves to be by the fact that he seemed to be capable of doing everything well. His resume seems impossible. He was Phi Beta Cappa valedictorian in his class at Rutgers where he was also an All American football player, played professional football while attending Columbia Law School, able to speak a couple of dozen languages, and excelled as an actor (both stage and screen), a singer, as an author, and as a political activist. The part of Joe was written specifically for him, as was "Old Man River," though his schedule prevented him from being in the original production. Although he recently appeared on a U.S. stamp, he should be remembered even more than he is. Partly because of his politics (he refused to cooperate with the Un-American Activities Committee) and partly because he refused to be in films in demeaning roles, he appeared in very few films.
James Whale is better known today than he was a few years ago, largely because of the film GODS AND MONSTERS, in which Ian McKellan portrayed him in his final days. The truth is that Whale was one of the great directors of the first decade of sound film, and his disappearance from the directing corps in Hollywood only a few years following SHOW BOAT is a tragedy. He was especially innovative in his use of the more technologically advanced and mobile cameras developed early in the 1930s, and the number of first-rate films was substantial. Most know of FRANKENSTEIN, THE INVISIBLE MAN, and BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN, but he also directed such stellar films as WATERLOO BRIDGE, JOURNEY'S END, and the remarkable THE OLD DARK HOUSE. Like Robeson, Whale, though known, deserves even more acclaim than has been given him.
This truly is one of the great classics of the American movie musical, and a film that anyone who loves movies should know. It has a great score, a great visual style, fine performances, and a magnificent cast. Now all it needs is the appropriate DVD treatment.
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