Showboat | Film No. 55

Showboat was a film I partook of during the period of my life known as the “High Musical Period.” It was called that because all I would watch were musicals. Showboat was a find from the library and I watched it because it was *SURPRISE* a musical. And it has Howard Keel, so it is exactly the type of film you think it is.

• 

• 

• 

Here are some things I noted when re-watching Showboat:

1. I never realized how crazy Kathryn Grayson’s eyes are. They. Never. Move. She smiles, the look the same. It is low key weird….. Maybe creepier than Nic Cage… THERE I SAID IT!
2. Why does Howard Keel always look like he is trying to smolder like Flynn Rider in Tangled? #smarmy
3. Why isn’t Ava Gardner in more of this film? She is sooooo cool.
4. WHO PLAYS ELLIE AND WHY ISN’T SHE IN EVERYTHING. SHE IS PRECIOUS AND HILARIOUS. Her number Life Upon the Wicked Stage is a classic.

• 

• 

On a larger, more important, *serious* note, this film is defined by one song that has stood the test of time and is the most identifiable part of the film. The song Ol’ Man River was written by Oscar Hammerstein II and it seeks to use the continuous flow of the Mississippi River as a metaphor for the unending flow of oppression of black people in the south. In the 1951 version that we are discussing, William Warfield was selected to sing the rare solo bass song. In addition to selecting Warfield (an unknown singer from New York), Roger Edens (a producer) also supervised the shooting of the scene in which Ol Man River is performed. This scene feels vastly different from the rest of the film. It is darker, with the addition of fog, and feels less happy and colorful than the rest of the film. The rest of the black characters in the film are seen happily picking cotton or playing music for the white characters. In this scene, a black man takes center stage and sings a haunting song about his life. It is an important scene in the film, but also in the larger landscape of film at the time. It is also the ONLY reason that I own the film now. #bestsong

• 

• 

Overall, this film is very boring. The director took out several comedic scenes in favor of pushing the storyline. This resulted in a slow moving sad film, full of long songs about love and loss and montages about the passing of time. It gets boring after a while. However, I will never get rid of this milt condition VHS that I know own. It is basically solid gold.

This post is part of my year end challenge to watch every movie that I own.  If you want to see the original post with a full list of all of the films.  Click here.