This was my second time through with this version of Oscar Hammerstein and Jerome Kern's classic stage adaptation of Edna Ferber's "Show Boat." Last time I mostly enjoyed just the musical aspects and I was disappointed that director James Whale kept the camera intimate so much of the time and didn't have more of an epic sensibility. This time around I enjoyed Whale's direction much more; there's those startling montages of faces, and the intimacy of his camera in general reinforces the story's drama. The characters here have substance because of it -- look at the expression on Joe's (Paul Robeson) face while Julie (Helen Morgan) and her husband Steve (Donald Cook) are being accused of miscegenation and specifically when the husband talks about "negro blood." It's one of the most powerful scenes in the play and it's handled really well here. One aspect that interests me is that it's placed into the context of a terribly cheesy melodrama scene that Julie and Steve are playing while Cap'n Andy (Charles Winninger) directs them. In the middle of the scene someone slips Steve the news and he whispers it to Julie, who breaks down and cannot finish the scene. The way Hammerstein set this up makes the subsequent "miscegenation" scene even more startling, particularly to contemporary audiences of the 20s and 30s, because a drama with a story of this type would never have been presented on a showboat. So there's a strong feeling of irony in the scene; it also introduces perhaps the show's major theme -- entertainment or the play itself as a perverted version of reality, and vice a versa. "Show Boat" is heightened melodrama -- an attempt to use melodramatic conventions (most importantly, the self-sacrifice of Julie's career) to make a comment on the artifice of how we live our lives. Consider that this was the first play in Broadway history to feature black and white actors singing together on stage, and at the same time makes a melodramatic device out of the concept of interracial marriage. This was an extremely provocative play, and Hammerstein obviously oversaw the production of this film as well because it's quite liberal for its time in how it depicts black characters in general (the blackface scene being a very unfortunate and hard to explain exception).
Whale was very liberal also, and I think he captured a lot of the transgressive racial humor of the play, as well as the majesty of Robeson singing "Old Man River" placed against the context of a startling montage of slave labor images. For preserving Robeson in this performance this movie is an irreplaceable classic if for no other reason. Even more popular with contemporary audiences, and equally a treat for fans of classic Broadway, is the nice version of Helen Morgan singing her torch song "Bill." She is the definitive Julie; she brings sensitivity and grace to the performance that just breaks your heart. Paul Robeson and Hattie McDaniel are hilarious fun, I love their patter number (written for the film, I believe). Charles Winninger is hilarious, again the original and definitive Cap'n Andy; his scene where he finishes the play for the audience after the actors run away is knock-down funny. You'll see the frightening visage of Charles Middleton of "Ming the Merciless" fame as the sheriff. Irene Dunne and Allan Jones are in my opinion very excellently cast in their roles. Jones has a tough role, a guy who leaves his wife and kid but you're still supposed to feel sorry for -- kind of like Billy Bigelow in "Carousel" except not as harsh.
Hammerstein had a thing for protagonists with traits that are hard to forgive -- another example would be Nellie Forbush's racism in "South Pacific." Hammerstein condemned racism his entire life, and he didn't just avoid showing racism in his plays, instead he put it out there as a theme and exposed it for its weaknesses and inhumanity. The original version of the play doesn't say "Darkies" work on the Mississippi, it says the dreaded "N" word. And he used it because he wanted to provoke thought and discussion, not because anything in the play or in the lyric suggests racism. Certainly various aspects of the film's depiction of black people could be considered offensive today, but this 1936 version overseen by Whale and Hammerstein is actually less racially offensive IMHO than the 51 version by MGM. In the MGM version all the black roles are reduced from what they are here, the Queenie character and the Joe character aren't nearly as well developed and the lyrics are further changed again to be even less provocative in various places. Just watch the way the scene at the very beginning with Queenie and Pete is handled -- in the 36 version Queenie (Hattie McDaniel) talks back to Pete and refuses to give him the jewelry or tell him who gave it to her ("ask me no questions, and I'll tell you no lies!"). In the 51 version, he simply snatches it off her body as she cowers in fear.
Also I want to single out Kern's score; he's one of the greats and this is his masterpiece, even better than anything Richard Rodgers ever did with Hammerstein.
This is the version people should seek out and watch for so many reasons. So many members of the original cast, a more faithful version of the script written by Hammerstein himself, plus the dance scenes in this one are actually appropriate to the period and not just big random extravaganzas of athletic 50s movie dancing. Hopefully this will be released soon on DVD so everyone can see "Show Boat" the way it should be seen. The original play is gone forever but this film is a testament to its uniqueness and innovation, and a stunning piece of cinema from James Whale as well.
Whale was very liberal also, and I think he captured a lot of the transgressive racial humor of the play, as well as the majesty of Robeson singing "Old Man River" placed against the context of a startling montage of slave labor images. For preserving Robeson in this performance this movie is an irreplaceable classic if for no other reason. Even more popular with contemporary audiences, and equally a treat for fans of classic Broadway, is the nice version of Helen Morgan singing her torch song "Bill." She is the definitive Julie; she brings sensitivity and grace to the performance that just breaks your heart. Paul Robeson and Hattie McDaniel are hilarious fun, I love their patter number (written for the film, I believe). Charles Winninger is hilarious, again the original and definitive Cap'n Andy; his scene where he finishes the play for the audience after the actors run away is knock-down funny. You'll see the frightening visage of Charles Middleton of "Ming the Merciless" fame as the sheriff. Irene Dunne and Allan Jones are in my opinion very excellently cast in their roles. Jones has a tough role, a guy who leaves his wife and kid but you're still supposed to feel sorry for -- kind of like Billy Bigelow in "Carousel" except not as harsh.
Hammerstein had a thing for protagonists with traits that are hard to forgive -- another example would be Nellie Forbush's racism in "South Pacific." Hammerstein condemned racism his entire life, and he didn't just avoid showing racism in his plays, instead he put it out there as a theme and exposed it for its weaknesses and inhumanity. The original version of the play doesn't say "Darkies" work on the Mississippi, it says the dreaded "N" word. And he used it because he wanted to provoke thought and discussion, not because anything in the play or in the lyric suggests racism. Certainly various aspects of the film's depiction of black people could be considered offensive today, but this 1936 version overseen by Whale and Hammerstein is actually less racially offensive IMHO than the 51 version by MGM. In the MGM version all the black roles are reduced from what they are here, the Queenie character and the Joe character aren't nearly as well developed and the lyrics are further changed again to be even less provocative in various places. Just watch the way the scene at the very beginning with Queenie and Pete is handled -- in the 36 version Queenie (Hattie McDaniel) talks back to Pete and refuses to give him the jewelry or tell him who gave it to her ("ask me no questions, and I'll tell you no lies!"). In the 51 version, he simply snatches it off her body as she cowers in fear.
Also I want to single out Kern's score; he's one of the greats and this is his masterpiece, even better than anything Richard Rodgers ever did with Hammerstein.
This is the version people should seek out and watch for so many reasons. So many members of the original cast, a more faithful version of the script written by Hammerstein himself, plus the dance scenes in this one are actually appropriate to the period and not just big random extravaganzas of athletic 50s movie dancing. Hopefully this will be released soon on DVD so everyone can see "Show Boat" the way it should be seen. The original play is gone forever but this film is a testament to its uniqueness and innovation, and a stunning piece of cinema from James Whale as well.