Show Boat
Brief Synopsis
First screen version of the classic musical about romance among the musical performers on a Mississippi showboat.
Cast & Crew
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Harry Pollard
Director
Helen Morgan
Jules Bledsoe
Tess "aunt Jemima" Gardella
The Jubilee Singers
Carl Laemmle
Film Details
Genre
Musical
Drama
Romance
Silent
Release Date
Jul
28,
1929
Premiere Information
World premiere in Palm Beach, FL: 16 Mar 1929
Production Company
Universal Pictures Corp.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
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).
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 58m
Sound
Mono (Western Electric Sound System) (talking and singing sequences), Silent
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.33 : 1
Film Length
11,650ft
(14 reels)
Synopsis
Brought up on a showboat, Magnolia Hawks, the star of her family's river-going revue, marries Gaylord Ravenal, a charming river gambler. Magnolia's father, Captain Andy, is swept overboard in a storm, and Magnolia and Gaylord, harassed by Magnolia's strict, overbearing mother, sell their interest in the showboat to the widow and go to Chicago. Gaylord loses the money at the gambling tables, and, following the suggestion of Magnolia's mother, leaves his family, convinced that they would be better off without him. To support herself and her child, Magnolia goes on the variety stage and makes a success singing Negro spirituals. Magnolia's mother dies, and Magnolia returns to the showboat to be reunited with the reformed Gaylord.
Director
Harry Pollard
Director
Cast
Helen Morgan
Jules Bledsoe
Tess "aunt Jemima" Gardella
The Jubilee Singers
Carl Laemmle
Florenz Ziegfeld
Laura La Plante
Magnolia
Joseph Schildkraut
Gaylord Ravenal
Otis Harlan
Capt. Andy Hawks
Emily Fitzroy
Parthenia Hawks
Alma Rubens
Julie
Elsie Bartlett
Elly
Jack Mcdonald
Windy
Jane La Verne
Magnolia as a child/Kim
Neely Edwards
Schultzy
Theodore Lorch
Frank
Stepin Fetchit
Joe
Gertrude Howard
Queenie
Ralph Yearsley
The killer
George Chesebro
Steve
Harry Holden
Means
Max Asher
Utility man
Jim Coleman
Stagehand
Carl Herlinger
Wheelsman
The Billbrew Chorus
Crew
Gene Austin
Composer
Frank H. Booth
Special Effects Photographer
Edward Cahn
Film Editor
Joseph Cherniavsky
Music Director
Joseph Cherniavsky
Composer
Leo Friedman
Composer
Charles D. Hall
Art Director
Oscar Hammerstein Ii
Composer
Arch Heath
Addl Director
C. Roy Hunter
Recording Engineer
Gene Jefferson
Composer
Charles Kenyon
Scen
Jerome Kern
Composer
Carl Laemmle
Presented By
Daniel Mandell
Film Editor
Johanna Mathieson
Costumes
Edward J. Montagne
Story Supervisor
William H. Myddleton
Composer
Eva Olivotti
Singing voice for Laura La Plante
Maceo Pinkard
Composer
Maurice Pivar
Editing Supervisor
Harry Pollard
Dial
Tom Reed
Dial and titles
Jane Rene
Makeup
Billy Rose
Composer
Robert Ross
Assistant Director
Nathaniel Shilkret
Composer
Gilbert Warrenton
Director of Photography
P. G. Wodehouse
Composer
Joseph C. Wright
Unit Manager
Film Details
Genre
Musical
Drama
Romance
Silent
Release Date
Jul
28,
1929
Premiere Information
World premiere in Palm Beach, FL: 16 Mar 1929
Production Company
Universal Pictures Corp.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
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).
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 58m
Sound
Mono (Western Electric Sound System) (talking and singing sequences), Silent
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.33 : 1
Film Length
11,650ft
(14 reels)
Articles
Show Boat (1929)
First screen version of the classic musical about romance among the musical performers on a Mississippi showboat.
Show Boat (1929)
First screen version of the classic musical about romance among the musical performers on a Mississippi showboat.
Quotes
Trivia
Filmed as a silent, with some of the scenes later reshot with dialogue and songs. For the premiere, a 18 minute prologue was added, featuring members of the original Broadway cast: 'Morgan, Helen' (Julie), Jules Bledsoe (Joe) and Tess Gardella (Queenie). The prologue's soundtrack exists, but some parts of the film are missing. Please check your attic.
Laura La Plante's singing was dubbed by Eva Olivotti.
Update: some of the "lost" footage of the prologue has been found, both sound and picture, and this includes footage apparently not included in Turner Classic Movies' (TCM) edition of the film. Some of this once-lost footage is included in "A&E Biography"'s episode "Great Ziegfeld". The discovered footage includes Jules Bledsoe singing "Ol' Man River" with the Jubilee Singers in full costume. Also featured on this "Biography" episode were scenes of Tess Gardella singing "C'mon Folks" and 'Morgan, Helen' singing "Bill." All of these scenes survive in only faintly tolerable sound and picture quality, but at least they survive.
The "miscegenation" sequence, so important to the novel, the stage musical, the two later film versions, and the 1989 television remake, was considered too controversial to retain in this film.
Notes
Universal Pictures acquired the rights to the Jerome Kern-Oscar Hammerstein score after the film had been shot as a part-talking drama. Several scenes were then reshot to include songs, and an eighteen-minute sound prologue was added. The prologue included short speeches by Carl Laemmle and Florenz Ziegfeld and songs from the stage production were performed by Helen Morgan, Jules Bledsoe and Tess "Aunt Jemima" Gardella. Two other filmed versions of the play were made, in 1936 and 1951 (see entries below).
