Show Boat

The third and (to date) last film version of the Edna Ferber/Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein II musical +Show Boat falls just short of greatness but is still a whale of a show. Howard Keel and Kathryn Grayson are in fine fettle as irresponsible gambler Gaylord Ravenal and showboat ingenue Magnolia ...more

Show Boat is one of MGM's best musical productions of the 1950s, an entertaining star vehicle that suffers primarily by comparison to the 1936 version. Director George Sidney is mostly interested in getting production values onto the screen, and he does so admirably, with a rousing opening sequence that establishes the tone and pacing to follow. The film both benefits and suffers from the star-laden casting choices. While Joe E. Brown is fun to watch doing his usual Joe E. Brown act, he fails to ...more