MOVIE · 1951
Show Boat
DramaFamilyMusicalRomance108 min
Magnolia, the daughter of a Mississippi show boat owner, grows up performing from town to town until a scandal in the company pushes her into a leading role. Kathryn Grayson is Magnolia, raised backstage on the Cotton Blossom and suddenly carrying the show when Ava Gardner’s Julie LaVerne is forced out after her mixed-race ancestry is exposed. As the troupe keeps moving along the river, Magnolia’s new part brings her together with gambler Gaylord Ravenal (Howard Keel), turning stage partnership into romance. George Sidney’s adaptation of the Broadway musical keeps the riverboat pageantry, the love story, and the strain of racial prejudice side by side.
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