Show Boat available on December 31 2013 from Amazon for 9.75
ISBN bar code 9780790744858 ξ1 registered December 31 2013
Product category is Book
Manufacturered by Warner Home Video
Product weight is 0.25 lbs.
Howard Keel, Ava Gardner, Kathryn Grayson. A sentimental story of complicated lives and loves on a Mississippi show boat. Score by Jerome Kern includes the songs Ol' Man River, Where's the Mate for Me, Can't Help Lovin' That Man and more. 1951/color/107 min/NR/fullscreen. The show that first defined the Broadway musical has never come to the screen intact, despite three tries. But take this splashy 1951 MGM extravaganza on its own terms, and it boggles the eyes. Not to mention the ears: The Kern-Hammerstein score includes some staples of the American songbook, such as "Make Believe," "After the Ball," and "Can't Help Lovin' That Man." Perhaps a riverboat gambler is almost too-easy casting for Howard Keel, and Kathryn Grayson is overly twittery, which may be why the film's middle sags when they take center stage. But any time the uncannily beautiful Ava Gardner smolders, a lush tragic undertone takes over (even if the most interesting parts of her story seem to take place offscreen). The physical production is extraordinary: the busy riverside setting, the outrageous color design, and best of all an "Old Man River" (sung by William Warfield) staged in the mists of morning. -- Robert Horton
