|
|
Online Store - Show Boat (1936)
|
List Price: $19.98
Our Price: $45.99
Your Save: $ ( % )
Availability: N/A
Manufacturer: MGM (Video)
Starring: Irene Dunne, Allan Jones, Charles Winninger, Paul Robeson, Helen Morgan
Directed By: James Whale
|
Average Customer Rating:  
|
|
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9786301976244
Format: Black & White
ISBN: 630197624X
Label: MGM (Video)
Manufacturer: MGM (Video)
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: MGM (Video)
Release Date: 1998-09-01
Running Time: 113
Studio: MGM (Video)
Theatrical Release Date: 1936-05-14
|
|
|
|
|
|
Editorial Reviews:
|
Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II's Showboat, based on Edna Ferber's 1926 novel, is a seminal American musical, the first to explore serious themes (most notably racism) and to truly integrate song with story and character. The plot follows three generations of a theatrical Mississippi riverboat family from the 1880s to the 1920s. The 1936 film version, directed by Englishman James Whale (Frankenstein), is probably the one that best captures the spirit its creators intended. First and foremost, it features Paul Robeson as Joe. His indelible rendition of "Ol' Man River," delivered strong, straight, and without bathos, is a stunningly powerful anthem about the plight of African Americans in the United States. (The song is set against a fascinating expressionist montage in 1930s social realist style.) Other standout performances include torch singer Helen Morgan as Julie, the actress banished from the showboat for her "mixed race" ancestry. Her "Bill" and "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man" are simply sublime. Hattie McDaniel (Gone With the Wind) is her usual outrageous self. Irene Dunne (The Awful Truth) is spunky and delightful as Magnolia Ravenal. Her most endearing moment occurs early in the film when she leads the company in a funky cakewalk, swinging her hips with joyful abandon. (She also does a number in blackface!) When Dunne and the narrative leave the riverboat for the big bad city, fame, and heartbreak, the movie loses much of its snap and substance and descends into rather conventional melodrama. Still, this film represents an essential moment in the American musical theater, one not to be missed. --Laura Mirsky
|
|
|
Spotlight customer reviews:
|
Customer Rating:
Summary: OK, So WHERE is it? WHY do we NOT have it?
Comment: Luckily, I am one of the few who owns this wonderful, early Hollywood Cinematic Gem, in the Criterion Edition that came out on LaserDisc in 1989. I thank my Lucky Stars every time I watch it!
Inquiring Minds, INCLUDING MINE, want to know WHERE IS IT on DVD?
WHY do we NOT have this Hollywood Masterpiece on DVD, since it has ALREADY been "mastered" digitally by Criterion, and transferring it to DVD should, certainly, be a SIMPLE matter, thus the Question, Again, WHERE IS IT?
This grand old film is certainly one of the finest musical film productions that EVER came out of Hollywood, and being such an early one, it must, then, bespeak of those who produced and directed, and did all the other technical and design work, etc., involved to bring this all about.
Of course, it was not the original film version...that came out in 1929, and was edited and censored, thus it is negated, and becomes a moot point, or film.
And so it is that this, the 1936 version, is recognized as the "first" and will be endeared to many because of this perception of the "first"...most people do not even realize there was a prior film of "Show Boat" before this one. When I refer to this one as "first" it is, again, because the original 1929 one is forgotten, or best forgotten.
The later version of 1951, with Grayson/Keel, just does not hold up to this original film version of the great Kern/Hammerstein Musical.
Of course, further, this first film version had many of the Original Broadway Cast in it, which, certainly, helped to add "authenticity" to it, if you will, since they had "lived" their parts previously on the stage.
And, in general, the cast simply just WAS better all round than the later version from MGM in 1951. Also, for some reason, I find that black and white just "fits" this story SO much better....it just "tells" better in good old black and white than with all the Technicolor Goo-Gaa foisted onto it by the "masters", if you will, at MGM...they did not, after all, "know everything!" This is what I consider a "small" story...intimate, touching, and black and white and shades of gray just "fit" it well.
If I had to pick only 5 film musicals to be able to keep forever, this would figure in, first, rightly, with Carousel, Oklahoma, The King and I, and Singing in the Rain....all others would have to fall by the wayside, including The Band Wagon, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, The Unsinkable Molly Brown, An American in Paris, Funny Face, and My Fair Lady...all big favorites of mine, but those 5 must reign supreme!
One last time, I ask, WHERE IS THIS? and WHY DO WE NOT HAVE IT for our enjoyment?
When we look at all the "trash" that has been foisted onto us on DVD, it is all the more sad that we do not have films like this one, and, too, The African Queen....WHERE IS THAT, Also?
Inquiring Minds Want to Know......
Customer Rating:
Summary: 1936 showboat
Comment: I have purchased two (one 'new', the other 'like new') video copies of the 1936 Showboat and returned both because of their less than sterling quality. I love musicals and the 1936 Showboat is my favorite one. Its absolutely incredible that this classic, which so many movie goers think is the best musical on film, hasn't been put in DVD format yet. Why aren't the champions of movies (Scorcese, are you listening?) pushing hard to get this film on DVD? Come on Hollywood, get this film on DVD for all musical movie lovers to enjoy. David in Pacific Grove
Customer Rating:
Summary: Where is it?
Comment: This is an out-and-out classic that should be permanently available on DVD. So where is it? Surely, MGM must know the value of their product, and this one is worth its weight in gold-dust - the entire cast is superb (other reviewers have named them all, so I wont repeat them), it's in beautiful black-and-white, it gives a much fuller version of the score than the lame 50's remake, and it's much better sung, plus it's got period charm by the bucketful. Yet every time I do a search, all I can come up with is Howard Keel and Kathryn Grayson. Please!!!!!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Why oh WHY Is This Movie not Available on DVD???
Comment: Like most people who have posted reviews of this film, I also state most emphatically that it is the best version of the seminal Kern/Hammerstein 1927 musical. Not only does it boast some of the wonderful original Broadway cast, it is more faithful to Ferber's novel than the 1951 version. For those who balked at the film's "happy ending," that was also the way the original stage play was written. In the novel, Nolie finds out second hand that Gaylord has died after being shot in a gambling dispute. Also, Captain Andy dies by falling off the boat and drowning the night Kim is born. With all the other tragedies in the play, can we blame Hammerstein for lightening up the plot somewhat???
All that aside, Irene Dunne is remarkably convincing and sings and acts beautifully as Magnolia (and can that girl shuffle, as Queenie -- the incomparable Hattie McDaniel [the first African-American ever to win an Oscar] -- remarks during "Can't Help Lovin' That Man"). Allan Jones is handsome and charming and more than vocally capable as the ne'er-do-well Gaylord. Helen Morgan tears at your heartstrings as she sings the torch song "Bill." And if anyone can offer a more definitive rendition of "Ol' Man River" than the immortal Paul Robeson, I'd like to hear it!!!
Get this film out on DVD ASAP!!!!!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Stunning...
Comment: I just returned from viewing the Warner Brothers 35mm studio-print of the 1936 version, at the Heights Theater in Minneapolis. Although I'm a musical lover, I never considered the 1951 version any more than adequate... This, on the the other hand, left me breathless. Yes, the blackface (and a few other) scenes are painful, but, overall, this is one fantastic movie musical. I hope it becomes available on DVD, soon...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
