Show Boat (1929)

[Harold Aherne]

The 1929 Show Boat is really much better than various historians have pronounced; it is a nicely-wrought document of human emotions and human conflict, with forceful and memorable uses of montage and a particularly good performance from Laura La Plante. If you are expecting that the picture will follow the plot of either musical remake, you will be disillusioned and distracted from the real virtues of Harry Pollard’s rendition.

Let’s get the big plot differences out of the way (caveat spoilers): Steve Baker is nowhere to be seen, and the interracial aspect of the plot is eliminated (at least in the general-release version that survives). Parthy pronounces Julie a “trollop” and ejects her from the show boat for being too close to Magnolia and seeming to take Parthy’s place (the possibility of Julie being partly black is never mentioned). The 1929 film concentrates squarely on Magnolia and Gaylord Ravenal, along with their mutual conflicts with Parthy. Unlike in the later film versions (but as in the novel), Captain Andy is drowned immediately after Kim’s birth and the character of Hetty Chilson is retained. Here, however, Julie *is* Hetty, not merely her secretary. There is a vague hint that Julie might actually be Magnolia’s mother, in a moving scene where Alma Rubens’s tears fall on a picture of Magnolia as a young girl. Joe and Queenie play a negligible role in the surviving version.

To enjoy the picture, you really have to understand it as a filming of the novel (with modifications) rather than the musical per se, although selections from Kern’s score come and go in the synchronised track. The silent and speaking sequences are laced together nicely, and both are directed equally well. We first hear Laura La Plante and Joseph Schildkraut speak during one of the melodrama sequences, and I at first wondered if it was a good idea to introduce their voices to the movie-going public using these lines! But the charm of the scene comes through when Ravenal begins whispering to Magnolia between their lines, finally proposing to her. We become quite deeply invested in their lives, as Ravenal’s good and lean times dictate that they stay in luxurious or dismal hotels. The transition between the two comes with Kim sleeping: there’s a perceptible shift between the beds she’s in, but we don’t notice the difference in surroundings until the camera pulls back. Pollard (or his editor, or the scenarist) uses a whirlpool as a transitional motif between several scenes.

Discussion of the 1929 filming cannot be quite complete without discussing the fragmentary soundtrack, at least in the print TCM aired this evening. The print was worn in certain sections, with a few jump cuts and abrupt transitions, but the cinematography of the paddle wheel and river shots were appropriately luminous. I’ve never heard the full story of where this print came from; the opening titles are reconstructed (they contain a 1956 copyright renewal notice), so I almost wonder if portions of this copy came from an overseas archive. Most of the captions looked original, nonetheless. The first sound sequence—from the melodrama up to Ravenal and Magnolia’s elopement—is aurally complete. The second long stretch of speaking is silent after Magnolia confronts her husband about his gambling and does not regain its sound until the last reel or so. But even here, I’m not entirely sure what’s original and what isn’t—there are no titles, so these scenes must have been sound originally, yet there is no dialogue and the action on the screen doesn’t entirely mesh with the musical score. Even where the original dialogue was not available to be printed on the screen, there is no real misunderstanding of what’s going on. Laura La Plante does very nicely with her lines, putting the right emotions into them. Schildkraut had ever so slight a German accent, but he did well, too—even though John Boles might have been a more obvious choice for Ravenal. The final scene, with a spiritual on the soundtrack and the Ravenals inching towards each other for a reunion, is a lovely and moving piece of cinema.

I could have sworn I read something a few years ago about more of the soundtrack and/or picture being rediscovered. Can anyone enlighten on that subject or on the preservation history of this title?

-Harold

[vitaphone]

Hi Harold. Actually I found the soundtrack disc with two more reels of previously missing sound for the 1929 version: reels 9 and 11. Both are all talking and singing, with Laura LaPlante actually singing "Old Man River" quite well. At some point in the future I am sure Warner Home Video will put this out with the other versions of SHOWBOAT. Ironically, I also just acquired a collection of over 80 1929-30 soundtrack discs (virtually all Columbia Pictures) from Australia. Included were discs for a number of Columbia one reel "Victor Gems", shot in Camden, NJ. Two star Jules Bledsoe, who sang in the original stage version of SHOWBOAT.

Ron Hutchinson
The Vitaphone Project

[Harlett O'Dowd]

Hi Harold. Actually I found the soundtrack disc with two more reels of previously missing sound for the 1929 version: reels 9 and 11. Both are all talking and singing, with Laura LaPlante actually singing "Old Man River" quite well. At some point in the future I am sure Warner Home Video will put this out with the other versions of SHOWBOAT. Ironically, I also just acquired a collection of over 80 1929-30 soundtrack discs (virtually all Columbia Pictures) from Australia. Included were discs for a number of Columbia one reel "Victor Gems", shot in Camden, NJ. Two star Jules Bledsoe, who sang in the original stage version of SHOWBOAT.

Ron Hutchinson
The Vitaphone Project

Oooh! I didn't know Bledsoe made any other film appearances - let alone in Camden. What did he sing?

(I took several classes in Victor Hall - the old Victor recording studio - now part of Rutgers and wonder/assume if that was their film studio as well.)

[Harlett O'Dowd]

The 1929 Show Boat is really much better than various historians have pronounced...

(SNIP)

I could have sworn I read something a few years ago about more of the soundtrack and/or picture being rediscovered. Can anyone enlighten on that subject or on the preservation history of this title?

-Harold

Harold, thanks for the review. I agree with you in feeling that, in many ways, the 1929 filming is the most effective of the three features made from this property.

It's easy to forget in 2009 what a BIG deal the miscegenation subplot was for the 1927 stage production and how brave Ziegfeld, Kern and Hammerstein (and later, Laemmle and Whale) were to include the subject in their projects at all. In addition to jettisoning the subject from the 1929 film, a 1940s radio adaptation of the musical made Julie's *crime* into being an illegal alien. Breen denied Freed outright from using the miscengenation subplot for the 1951 MGM film and it was only when Freed reminded him that Breen himself had given the green light to the 1936 version that MGM was able to move forward on their project.

I DVD-Rd the airing last night and did not get past the credits before I turned in, but I assume the print/score used is the same as what appeared on the so-called "Complete SHOW BOAT" laser collection of 15 or so years ago. The lack of some of the audio disks and prologue aside, we probably have the best of all possible 1929 Show Boats in the current TCM print.

The original road-show version ran almost three hours (when the intermission and prologue were included.) Pollard was taken to task by the critics of the day for pacing that was often leaden (even though A. B. Heath handled most, if not all, of the sound portions - including the prologue.)

As a result, more than 20 minutes was trimmed for the general release print and that's the film element that survives today. There are stories that a silent version for theatres that had not converted also survived - at least for a time - but I don't know of any archive holding such a print.

I also agree with you that the decision to turn Julie from the madame's secretary into Hitty Chilson herself was an inspired bit of writing. And for my money, the finale of the 1929 film is the most believable and touching conclusion I have ever encountered - on stage or screen - for this piece.

One question - I was a bit surprised by the semi-reconstructed prologue. I'm sure this was edited down to allow the whole package to run in a two-hour slot, but I could have sworn that the video of "Hey, Feller" was included on the earlier laser disc collection. Does anyone know the story on this newish "re-creation?" My understanding is that the extant Tess Gardella footage has been PD for years and I would assume someone would have an easier time plugging in the earlier digitized product than starting from scratch with just the audio track. Maybe a problem with the image on the master? Something else? Again, not a complaint, just a headscratcher.

[FrankFay]

It's quite a good movie. The opening reels, especially the river scenes and the boat landing, are full of life and movement. Harry Pollard was not the greatest of directors but he had a good eye for camera placement and a feeling for action, and wasn't afraid to move the camera, even if it was just for the sake of moving it- Uncle Tom's Cabin is full of arbitrary pans and pullbacks. He'd occasionally catch fire and for at least a reel or two produce something of greatness. (The Cohens and the Kellys is pretty damm funny too)

[vitaphone]

[quote="Harlett O'Dowd"][quote="vitaphone"]Hi Harold. Actually I found the soundtrack disc with two more reels of previously missing sound for the 1929 version: reels 9 and 11. Both are all talking and singing, with Laura LaPlante actually singing "Old Man River" quite well. At some point in the future I am sure Warner Home Video will put this out with the other versions of SHOWBOAT. Ironically, I also just acquired a collection of over 80 1929-30 soundtrack discs (virtually all Columbia Pictures) from Australia. Included were discs for a number of Columbia one reel "Victor Gems", shot in Camden, NJ. Two star Jules Bledsoe, who sang in the original stage version of SHOWBOAT.

Ron Hutchinson
The Vitaphone Project[/quote]


Oooh! I didn't know Bledsoe made any other film appearances - let alone in Camden. What did he sing?

(I took several classes in Victor Hall - the old Victor recording studio - now part of Rutgers and wonder/assume if that was their film studio as well.)[/quote]

++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I have not listened to all the discs yet, but I know they are alll Bledsoe. Will check and post. The Columbia Victor Gems one reel series of 1929-30 shorts were shot in a church building in Camden owned by Victor which I am told was demolished a few years ago. Was that where you took your classes?

Ron.

[Harlett O'Dowd]

I have not listened to all the discs yet, but I know they are alll Bledsoe. Will check and post. The Columbia Victor Gems one reel series of 1929-30 shorts were shot in a church building in Camden owned by Victor which I am told was demolished a few years ago. Was that where you took your classes?

Ron.

Victor Hall was not anything like a church I ever saw - but IIRC, the Hall was demolished a few years back as well. I'll be able to verify the building is (not) there Mothers Day weekend when I'm back in the area.

But that still doesn't mean the two buildings are one and the same - and there was no plaque or anything explaining the history of the building while I was there, it was simply campus oral history. You wouldn't happen to have a photo or address? I've wondered for years if the history I was told was in fact true - but never knew how to find out for sure.

[Harold Aherne]

Here's a useful history of the various studios Victor used. A more detailed chronology is located here.

A picture of the church that Victor purchased is on the bottom of this page. Additional data might be found in the memoirs of Harry Sooy, a Victor recording engineer for most of the acoustic era.

Ron, it's wonderful to hear about the newly-found Columbia soundtracks. Any chance that Billy Murray or Johnny Marvin might have appeared in some of these?

-Harold

[Harlett O'Dowd]

Here's a useful history of the various studios Victor used. A more detailed chronology is located here.

OK, a little googling
http://sociology.camden.rutgers.edu/the ... n&now.html

indicates that my Victor Hall was at Point & Pearl, was a 7-story building and, according to the link had been used to "press records" so, unless we're talking about:

"July 23, 1917 – 1918: Executive Building Auditorium
The eighth-floor auditorium was occasionally pressed into service for the recording of large ensembles prior to Victor's purchase of the Camden Trinity Church building. The first recordings of the Boston and Philadelphia symphony orchestras were made here."

then the oral history I received was, not surprisingly, not entirely accurate. FWIW, Victor Hall was razed in 1997.

BTW, the main Victor building still stands - including the stained glass Nippers and is now a condo:

http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM5QRH

[CoffeeDan]

Actually I found the soundtrack disc with two more reels of previously missing sound for the 1929 version: reels 9 and 11. Both are all talking and singing, with Laura LaPlante actually singing "Old Man River" quite well.

Laura LaPlante did not do her own singing or banjo playing in SHOW BOAT. Her singing voice was dubbed by Eva Olivotti, and even though another musician played the banjo, she did learn how to finger the instrument well enough to present the illusion she was really playing.

[FilmGauge]

I saw the 1929 SHOW BOAT on TCM about a dozen years ago. I understand there are film prints of the prologue songs (incomplete) out there in 16mm with at least some if not most of the picture portion along with the sound. On TCM, a card was put up in place of the picture.
Regarding the movie itself, the reconstruction has come a long way. Having been bought from Universal along with the 1936 version) by MGM for its remake, it is obvious that the elements have deteriorated through the decades. Universal did not care about its silent-era films, and probably did not have the complete Movietone sound and picture negatives to deliver to MGM. In 1977, I saw a reconstruction at MOMA. At the time, there was NO soundtrack, with picture elements made up from both the silent and part-talkie versions. The TCM showings have come a long way.
It had been publicized that in 2007, an 80th anniversary DVD set would be issued by Warner Bros. of the three movie versions; this never happened. Between the nation's economy and the possibility there was more in the way of material found to upgrade the 1929 version (we can only hope), the company never came through. [i]Now [/i]would a good time for Warner to rethink this, even if it becomes available through the Warner Archive catalog. The 1936 version is one of the finest filmings of a stage show, and needs a U.S. DVD/Blue Ray release. The 1929 is also worthy, and we all know they will sell.

[silentmovies742]

I was told by Warner that the DVD package is delayed due to problems with some film elements. That wasn't elaborated on, although apparantly it was talked about in one of their podcasts. From what i can gather the project is currently in limbo.

[FrankFay]

I'd really like to see a proper version of this. There are some truly great scenes in it- Harry Pollard was a very uneven director but he seems to have had a sense of movement. The first scene of the boat docking is a masterpiece.

[FilmGauge]

Let's all hope that by the time this DOES come our (if ever), it will have been worth the wait for a really restored version!