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| ~Show Boat~ 1929 |
| ~4704-165: Joseph Schildkraut & Laura La Plante (Emily Fitzroy in background)~ |
| ~LM 20009: Joseph Schildkraut & Laura La Plante~ |
| ~S.B.P. 16: Laura La Plante & Joseph Schildkraut~ |
| ~4704-143: Emily Fitzroy, Jane La Verne, Laura La Plant & Joseph Schildkraut~ |
| ~4704-84: Laura La Plante, Jane La Verne, Emily Fitzroy & Otis Harlan~ |
| ~Plot Synopsis~ |
Show Boat was a part-silent, part-talkie adaptation of the book by Edna Ferber. The film traces the
life of Magnolia Hawkes (Laura La Plante), daughter of Captain Andy of the Cotton Blossom, a 19th
century show boat. Magnolia's head is turned by handsome gambler Gaylord Ravenal (Joseph
Schildkraut), who woos and weds her. He turns out to be a poor husband and provider, eventually
deserting Magnolia and her daughter. But Magnolia, harking upon her performing experiences while
on her father's show boat, becomes a successful stage star and raises her daughter all by herself.
Though filmed just two years after the Broadway debut of the Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein Jr.
musical Show Boat, this film is more closely based on the source novel than the stage play. While the
immortal "Ol' Man River" was retained, the rest of the Broadway version's songs were jettisoned in
favor of several forgettable tunes written by entrepreneur Billy Rose, who convinced the movie's
producers that the public had grown tired of hearing the Kern-Hammerstein score! Show Boat
would be remade twice, with most of the original songs intact and without Rose's "improvements,"
in 1936 and 1951.
Plot Synopsis by Hal Erickson, AllMovie.com
life of Magnolia Hawkes (Laura La Plante), daughter of Captain Andy of the Cotton Blossom, a 19th
century show boat. Magnolia's head is turned by handsome gambler Gaylord Ravenal (Joseph
Schildkraut), who woos and weds her. He turns out to be a poor husband and provider, eventually
deserting Magnolia and her daughter. But Magnolia, harking upon her performing experiences while
on her father's show boat, becomes a successful stage star and raises her daughter all by herself.
Though filmed just two years after the Broadway debut of the Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein Jr.
musical Show Boat, this film is more closely based on the source novel than the stage play. While the
immortal "Ol' Man River" was retained, the rest of the Broadway version's songs were jettisoned in
favor of several forgettable tunes written by entrepreneur Billy Rose, who convinced the movie's
producers that the public had grown tired of hearing the Kern-Hammerstein score! Show Boat
would be remade twice, with most of the original songs intact and without Rose's "improvements,"
in 1936 and 1951.
Plot Synopsis by Hal Erickson, AllMovie.com
| Directed by: Harry A. Pollard Arch Heath - prologue Written by: Charles Kenyon - continuity Harry A. Pollard - dialogue Tom Reed - dialogue & titles Based on the novel Show Boat by Edna Ferber (Garden City, NY, 1926) and the musical of the same name by Edna Ferber, Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein, II (New York, 27 Dec 1927). |
| ~Cast~ Laura La Plante ... Magnolia Hawks Joseph Schildkraut ... Gaylord Ravenal Emily Fitzroy ... Parthenia 'Parthy' Ann Hawks Otis Harlan ... Capt. Andy Hawks / Master of Ceremonies in Prologue Alma Rubens ... Julie Dozier Jack McDonald ... Windy McClain Jane La Verne ... Magnolia as a Child / Kim Neely Edwards ... Schultzy Elise Bartlett ... Elly Stepin Fetchit ... Joe Jules Bledsoe ... Joe [prologue] Tess Gardella ... Queenie [prologue] (as Aunt Jemima) Carl Laemmle ... Himself [prologue] Helen Morgan ... Julie [prologue] Plantation Singers ... Offscreen chorus Dixie Jubilee Singers ... Themselves (as Jubilee Chorus) Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. ... Himself [prologue] Max Asher ... Utility Man (uncredited) Matthew 'Stymie' Beard ... Child (uncredited) The Billbrew Chorus ... Singers (uncredited) George Chesebro ... Steve Baker (uncredited) Jim Coleman ... Stagehand (uncredited) Claude Collins ... (uncredited) Carl Herlinger ... Wheelsman (uncredited) Harry Holden ... Means (uncredited) Gertrude Howard ... Queenie (uncredited) Theodore Lorch ... Frank (uncredited) Ralph Yearsley ... The Killer (uncredited) |
| ~4704-93: Alma Rubens & Jane La Verne~ |
| ~4704-75: Alma Rubens & Otis Harlan~ |
| ~4704-81: Laura La Plante & Alma Rubens~ |
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| ~Remaining Credits~ Produced & Released by: Universal Pictures Produced by: Carl Laemmle Original Music by: Joseph Cherniavsky Cinematography by: Gilbert Warrenton Film Editing by: Daniel Mandell Art Direction by: Charles D. Hall Costume Design by: Johanna Mathieson Makeup Artist: Jane Rene Assistant Director: Robert Ross Sound Department Joseph Cherniavsky .... synchronisation C. Roy Hunter .... recording supervisor Jack Foley .... foley artist (uncredited) Special Effects by Frank H. Booth .... special effects photographer (uncredited) Editorial Department Maurice Pivar .... supervising editor Music Department Victor Baravalle .... conductor: prologue Robert Russell Bennett .... orchestrator: prologue Jules Bledsoe .... singing voice: Stepin Fetchit (uncredited) Eva Olivetti .... singing voice: Laura La Plante (uncredited) Will Vodery .... music arranger: vocals, prologue only (uncredited) Other crew Carl Laemmle .... presenter Edward J. Montaigne .... story supervisor Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. .... producer: stage play (as Florenz Ziegfeld) Length: 14 Reels Runtime: 147 Minutes Released: July 28, 1929 Premiere in Palm Beach, FL: March 16, 1929 |
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