I had seen the 1951 version of Show Boat many times and I liked the movie a lot. Then, when I was about 30, I finally saw the Whale version of Show Boat and it was a revelation.
The '51 version has a much bigger budget and more sophisticated production values than the '36 version AND it boasted the talents of the incomparable Marge and Gower Champion and Joe E. Brown BUT...
The 1936 version is superior as both a movie and as a musical. While Ava Gardener is fine as Julie in the '51 version she is a poor second to the immortal Helen Morgan in the same role, a role which she had played, to great acclaim, on Broadway. Morgan IS Julie, world weary and melancholy yet determined to press on. It is a performance so charismatic that, once seen, cannot be forgotten. The same can be said for a very young Irene Dunne's effortless turn as Magnolia, the show's central character.
And what can be said of the great Paul Robeson that hasn't already been said? His "Ol Man River" is, quite simply, one of the best performances in the history of film or Broadway. The quality of his performance cannot be described - it must be seen and heard. Splendid and magnificent and so much more, Robeson will "own" that song forevermore. Oscar Hammerstein himself said that Robeson had taken the song away from him and had given it to the ages. One could not have higher praise than that.
Still, the movie isn't perfect. It suffers from the rewrite necessary to remove the more salient script points of the Broadway production that were forced upon the producers. Remember, this was 1936 and race relations were almost a taboo subject. That the "myscegenation" (race mixing) scene is almost wholly intact is a miracle. That much of the play's other less subtle references to race were left out is a shame but understandable given the times. And, it must be said, the 1936 production is FAR bolder than the 1951 version.
All movie versions suffer when compared against the Kern/Hammerstein original and they (both the play and the movies) are a far cry from Edna Ferber's wonderful but overwritten book. See the movie for what it is - the best that could be done in 1936 AND a showcase for two of the most remarkable talents in the history of entertainment, Paul Robeson and Helen Morgan.
The '51 version has a much bigger budget and more sophisticated production values than the '36 version AND it boasted the talents of the incomparable Marge and Gower Champion and Joe E. Brown BUT...
The 1936 version is superior as both a movie and as a musical. While Ava Gardener is fine as Julie in the '51 version she is a poor second to the immortal Helen Morgan in the same role, a role which she had played, to great acclaim, on Broadway. Morgan IS Julie, world weary and melancholy yet determined to press on. It is a performance so charismatic that, once seen, cannot be forgotten. The same can be said for a very young Irene Dunne's effortless turn as Magnolia, the show's central character.
And what can be said of the great Paul Robeson that hasn't already been said? His "Ol Man River" is, quite simply, one of the best performances in the history of film or Broadway. The quality of his performance cannot be described - it must be seen and heard. Splendid and magnificent and so much more, Robeson will "own" that song forevermore. Oscar Hammerstein himself said that Robeson had taken the song away from him and had given it to the ages. One could not have higher praise than that.
Still, the movie isn't perfect. It suffers from the rewrite necessary to remove the more salient script points of the Broadway production that were forced upon the producers. Remember, this was 1936 and race relations were almost a taboo subject. That the "myscegenation" (race mixing) scene is almost wholly intact is a miracle. That much of the play's other less subtle references to race were left out is a shame but understandable given the times. And, it must be said, the 1936 production is FAR bolder than the 1951 version.
All movie versions suffer when compared against the Kern/Hammerstein original and they (both the play and the movies) are a far cry from Edna Ferber's wonderful but overwritten book. See the movie for what it is - the best that could be done in 1936 AND a showcase for two of the most remarkable talents in the history of entertainment, Paul Robeson and Helen Morgan.