#1021: WHALE, James: Show Boat (1936)
WHALE, James (United States)
Show Boat [1936]
Spine #1021
Blu-ray
The Booklet
24-page booklet featuring an essay by critic Gary Giddins
Show Boat [1936]
Spine #1021
Blu-ray
Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II's immortal musical adaptation of Edna Ferber's sprawling novel receives its most faithful and enduring cinematic treatment under the elegant direction of James Whale. A rich portrait of changing American entertainment traditions and race relations, Show Boat spans five decades and three generations as it follows the fortunes of the stagestruck Magnolia (Irene Dunne), an aspiring actor whose journey takes her from her family's humble floating playhouse in the 1880s South to the bright footlights of the 1930s North. The cast of show-business legends includes Helen Morgan, Hattie McDaniel, Charles Winninger, and the great Paul Robeson, whose iconic, soul-shaking rendition of "Ol' Man River" is one of the crowning glories of the American stage and screen.
113 minutes
Black & White
Monaural
1:37:1 aspect ratio
Monaural
1:37:1 aspect ratio
Criterion Release 2020
Director/Writer
Stage play, screenplay by Oscar Hammerstein II.
Ferber was 42 when she wrote Show Boat, after doing much research on the subject.
Jerome Kern read the book and met with Ferber about adapting it for the stage. She had her doubts, but Kern told her that his librettist, Hammerstein, would “figure it out.”
James Whale also directed Frankenstein [1931] and The Invisible Man [1933].
The Film
Five reasons this film is so good:
- Whale, with his natural style with camera sets-ups and movement. Witness the 360 which slowly rotates around Paul Robeson (Joe) during Ol’ Man River. The film is beautifully edited;
- Charles Winninger (Cap’n Andy Hawks);
- Kern. The music teeters between the Victor Herbert-style operetta-type song and a great blues number like Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man”;
- Hattie McDaniel (Gone With the Wind);
- The orchestrator: Robert Russell Bennett.
Film Rating (0-60):
51
The ExtrasThe Booklet
24-page booklet featuring an essay by critic Gary Giddins
Giddins is always a good read.
Commentary
from 1989 featuring American-musical historian Miles Kreuger
The best kind of commentary — from an expert on every aspect of the film.
Commentary
from 1989 featuring American-musical historian Miles Kreuger
The best kind of commentary — from an expert on every aspect of the film.
Video interview 1
with James Whale biographer James Curtis
How Whale was truly an innovator in the early days of the talkies, and how he made the leap from horror films to more serious subject material — with the support of Universal’s Carl Laemmle, Jr. A serious look at his career and tragic death.
Video interview 2
How Whale was truly an innovator in the early days of the talkies, and how he made the leap from horror films to more serious subject material — with the support of Universal’s Carl Laemmle, Jr. A serious look at his career and tragic death.
Video interview 2
Recognizing Race in "Show Boat," a new interview program featuring professor and author Shana L. Redmond
How to understand Show Boat in the context of race relations — both then and now. Excellent video essay. Redmond keeps it real at all times.
Documentary
How to understand Show Boat in the context of race relations — both then and now. Excellent video essay. Redmond keeps it real at all times.
Documentary
Paul Robeson: Tribute to an Artist (1979), an Academy Award-winning short documentary by Saul J. Turell, newly restored. [see also Spine #370]
Four performances
Four performances
from the sound prologue of the 1929 film version of Show Boat, including songs from original Broadway cast members Helen Morgan, Jules Bledsoe, and Tess Gardella, plus twenty minutes of silent excerpts from the film, with audio commentary by Kreuger
Two radio adaptations
featuring stage and screen cast members Morgan, Allan Jones, and Charles Winninger; producer Orson Welles; and novelist Edna Ferber
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