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Well, it’s never really awful; it’s just been scrubbed too clean. Show Boat is a more rough and tough musical than this antiseptic MGM version would lead you to believe. Long gone is the racial subtext which gives it so much life and is a main thrust of the story and drama, which would explain why Julie feels so tacked on in spots and strangely underwritten. Even with all of these problems, Show Boat is still enjoyable, if never a standout film.
Originally set to star Lena Horne in her dream role, and she would have been magnificent, MGM’s studio heads chickened out, rewrote the role, gave it to Ava Gardner (much to her confusion and horror) and left the movie adrift with only one paddle. They were afraid that audiences in 1951 wouldn’t be able to cope with an interracial marriage, a black actress in a leading role and cut out practically all of the material concerning race except for the scene where it is revealed that Julie is half-black. This leads me to ask: why even do Show Boat if you’re going to remove all of that material from the script? Removing this part of the script also removes much of the discussion of poverty, but I guess poverty doesn’t exist in the MGM movie universe.
What we’re left with the fairly uninteresting and soggy central romance between Magnolia and Gaylord. Gaylord has also been cleaned up and made less of an out-and-out bastard and more of a lovable scamp. It helps that Howard Keel plays him, he may not be a great actor, but he’s charismatic and charming, which goes a long way. Kathryn Grayson as Magnolia is a bit of wash. I cannot stand her trill voice and she’s not much of an actress, especially when compared to Ava Gardner, Agnes Moorehead and Joe E. Brown. Brown and Moorehead may not be given much to do, but they do manage to breathe some life into their characters and line readings. And Show Boat belongs to Gardner, she manages to stay afloat of every sentimental turn her character takes and does her best to give it some life and believability. Her voice may be dubbed, but her descent into alcoholism and poverty, however grossly glossed over and underwritten, makes us wish that the film had spent more time following her around instead.
While this Show Boat is more concerned with presenting as much sumptuous costumes and sets that MGM could manage to get up the screen, director George Sidney still manages to create a couple of scenes which hint at a greater movie lurking underneath. “Ol’ Man River” is, unquestionably, the best sequence in the whole film. Just watch it for yourself; you’ll see what I mean. And whenever Sidney manages to slyly refer back to the original novel/stage show’s depiction of black culture being appropriated by white entertainers, it gives off a bit of sparkle. Consider the scene where Julie teaches Magnolia the song “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man of Mine.” After learning it, Magnolia will continue to use it as a signature song; she removes much of the soul and adds a slather of gooey emotionality to it.
So while the soul of Show Boat is missing and the emotions might be a little hollow, it does, on a technical level, offer much entertainment. The whole film feels like it was churned out of the musical factory, but every so often Gardner strikes a chord that reminds how underrated an actress she still is. A great beauty, yes, but she was never afraid to play emotionally lacerating scenes or even look a little ugly for the part. I didn’t hate it by any means, it just left me very cold.
