Musical Madness: Show Boat

There are two types of Hollywood musicals.  There are those that take a number of songs from a composer's catalogue and cobble a film around them, or there are those based on an original stage musical.  Today's selection is in the later group.  Show Boat (1951) is based on the 1927 Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein's musical of the same name and was previously adapted for the screen in 1936.  As a result much of the sensibilities that are on display in this version are very much influenced by it's previous existence on the stage.

Directed by George Sidney, the main story in Show Boat is that of 18 year old Magnolia Hawks (Kathryn Grayson), the daughter of Cotton Blossom (the name of the titular show boat) captain Andy Hawks (Joe E. Brown) and her marriage to gambler and milquetoast river scoundrel Gaylord (yup) Ravenal (played by 50s musical mainstay and Dallas alumn Howard Keel). The trajectory of this storyline is typical: they meet, fall in love, her parents don't approve, they run off together and get married, he abandons her, and eventually they are reunited. It's probably the most uninteresting part of the film. The film's other major plot thread concerns the character of Julie Laverne (Ava Gardner), the lead actress on the show boat who is hiding the fact that she is mulatto from everyone, but her white husband Steve (in the late nineteenth century it was illegal for African Americans to appear on stage and to be married to a white man). A jealous former suitor reveals Julie's secret and she and Steve are forced from the Showboat, eventually causing their marriage to break up and Julie to develop a serious drinking problem and fade into obscurity.

As far as film musicals go, Show Boat is not particularly great.  With the exception of the musical numbers sung by Julie (which I will get to in a moment) and William Warfield's show stopping rendition of Old Man River, the musical numbers fall incredibly short.  Because both Howard Keel and Kathryn Grayson were both trained operatic singers their numbers are sung in this manner, which makes them somewhat inaccessible to modern audiences.  The songs they do sing are unmemorable and so little to sell the core storyline.  There are also a couple of number performed by the Cotton Blossom's hoofer duo, played by Marge and Gower Champion.  But while charming do little for the film other than extend its run time.

At this point you are probably wondering why I am bothering to talk about this film?  While I think this is  one of the weakest film musicals I will talk about in this series, I think some of the backstage machinations illustrate the politics of the studio era.  For the part of Julie, MGM considered Judy Garland (who was on contract to another studio), Dinah Shore (not famous enough), and most interestingly Lena Horne. Lena Horne was especially interested in playing Julie, and actively campaigned for the part.  As the only African-American actress of the candidates and a famed vocalist, she would have been the ideal choice.  However, because it was against the production codes of the ages to show African Americans to be shown kissing or in romantic scenes with white actors, she was ruled out (much like Julie is cast off of the Cotton Blossom for her relationship with Steve).  In the end Ava Gardner was cast as Julie, who was on contract to MGM and was famous enough).

Just as Lena Horne was considered unsuitable for the role of Julie, Ava Gardner also experienced her own issues with regards to her musical numbers.  While not a famed vocalist like Horne, Gardner was more than a respectable vocalist in her own right, and practiced extensively for the role.  Though she originally sang along to the vocal tracks she recorded for her sequences, it was decided in post-production that her voice did not fit the overall tone of the film and vocalist Annette Warren's renditions of Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man and Bill were added to the final film.  The likely reason is to match the Julie vocals to the operatic singing style of Keel and Grayson.  Unfortunate, seeing as in the play Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man is described as a 'coloured' song and as such should be performed more like a bluesy torch song.  Situations like this were very typical in Hollywood musicals, with many of the major actors and actresses of the day being dubbed by professional vocalists.  If you do a search on YouTube you can find a number of these musical sequences with the actress' original vocals re-dubbed onto the film sequences.  Ava Gardner's lost Show Boat sequences just happen to be my favourite of this phenomena.

So, without further adieu,  you can compare the original film version of Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man to the Ava Gardner version and see what you think.

Annette Warren:

Ava Gardner:

Eight Day Halloween Advent Calendar - Two More Days...

Tomorrow is the big day...

In the meantime, we're sticking with the witch theme by offering up what is easily the most common Halloween pin-up pose - a bewitching bombshell astride her broomstick.  The lady in question is a familiar face round here, one of my personal faves- Miss Ava Gardner.

This picture demonstrates an interesting bit creative posing, as Miss. Gardner is clearly sitting on some sort of platform that has a broomstick attached to it.  The moon and cat look to be decals stuck to the wall behind Ava.  It's sort of sloppy and ingenious all at the same time.  What I really enjoy is the beaded tassels on the dress.  There's nothing like a chic witch.

A Bombshell for the Ages: Ava Gardner

Few women made the kind of impression that Ava Gardner did on the world.  Born on Christmas Eve on 1922, Ava Lavinia Gardner rose to fame in 1946 with a career-making role as femme fatale Kitty Collins in Robert Siodmak’s noir classic The Killers.  From that moment on the skies were the limit for Ava, and with her extraordinary good looks and often overlooked talent she became one of the great Hollywood stars of the late forties and fifties.

Ava was discovered in 1941 when a picture of her displayed in the window of her brother-in-law’s photography studio led to her being signed to a seven-year contract with MGM.  Once in Hollywood the studio went to work grooming Ms. Gardner to be a star.  During this time she also caught the attention of Mickey Rooney, whom she married soon after her arrival.  A year later they divorced, and she became involved for a brief time with Howard Hughes and later married bandleader Artie Shaw.  While on contract to MGM in the early stages of her career she was cast in bit parts, and spent a great deal of time posing for cheesecake pin-up photos for the studio.  Although, Ava’s photos never found the popularity of the iconic Betty Grable and Rita Hayworth pictures, her stunning beauty made them something special. 

Once her career took off after The Killers, and her marriage to Artie Shaw ended, Ava had many affairs with some of her famous leading men.  However it was her legendary affair and marriage to Frank Sinatra that immortalized Ava Gardner in the annals of great Hollywood beauties.  Theirs was a relationship of great intensity, made up of passionate love and volatile fighting.  Ultimately their marriage ended in 1957 after their long history of violent blow-ups had taken their final toll.  It is said that Ava was the great love of Sinatra’s life and he carried a torch for her up until his death.  The same has been said for Ava, who never remarried.

After her break-up with Sinatra, Ava left Hollywood for Spain where she befriended Ernest Hemmingway, became an avid fan of bullfighting (and bullfighters), took to drinking and dancing all night with bands of Gypsies, and became known for a wide range of bad behavior.  By the early sixties she was appearing in fewer pictures, and once Spain had lost its appeal she moved to London where she lived until her death in 1990. 

Some of Ava’s most famous films include Showboat, Snows of Kilimanjaro, Night of the Iguana, and Mogambo, for which she earned her only Oscar nomination.  Those who knew her loved her for her warmth, quick wit and salty language.   She was truly a bombshell for the ages. 

The Alberta Film Society is currently holding an eight film retrospective for famed director John Ford.  His 1952 film, Mogombo, staring Ava Gardner will be featured on October 18, 2010.  For more information visit their site at http://www.royalalbertamuseum.ca/events/movies/movies.cfm.