Show Boat (1936)★ 7.4/10
- Comedy
- Drama
- Romance
- Musical
Directed by: James Whale
Written by: Edna Ferber, Oscar Hammerstein II, Zoe Akins
Despite her mother's objections, the naive young daughter of a show boat captain is thrust into the limelight as the company's new leading lady.
- Original title
- Show Boat
- Storyline
- Adaptation of the Broadway musical. Magnolia Hawks is the lovely but protected, and thus very naive, daughter of Cap'n Andy Hawks, the genial proprietor of a show boat that cruises the Missisippi, and his nagging wife, Parthy. She is best friends with the show boat's star, Julie LaVerne, but Julie and her husband Steve are forced to leave when it is revealed that Julie has "Negro" blood in her, thereby breaking the state law by being married to the white Steve. Magnolia replaces Julie as the show boat's female star, and the show's new male star is the suave gambler Gaylord Ravenal. "Nola" and Gaylord fall in love and marry against Parthy's wishes. They and their young daughter lead the high life when Gaylord is lucky in gambling, but live like dirt when he's unlucky. During one such unlucky streak, a broken Gaylord leaves Nola, and she is forced to start over by returning to the stage. Like Old Man River, as the famous song from this show goes, she just keeps rollin' along.
- Rating
- 7.4 / 10 · 4,119
- Companies
- Universal Pictures, Universal Pictures Canada, General Film Distributors (GFD), Universal Pictures Corporation of Far East, Universal Film, Universal Films of Norway Akfieselskap, MGM/UA Television Distribution, MGM/UA Home Video, The Criterion Collection, ClassicLine, Warner Archive Collection, Warner Home Video
- Release dates
- US May 14, 1936
- FR August 20, 1936
- IT August 31, 1936
- NL October 1, 1936
- SE October 5, 1936
- JP November 1, 1936
- AU November 7, 1936
- HU November 12, 1936
- DK December 26, 1936
- FI January 3, 1937
- PT March 10, 1937
- ES July 10, 1939