Does anybody know why the roles of Joe and Queenie were practically cut down to nothing in this version? The character of Joe has basically been cut down to singing "Ol' Man River" and a few snippets of scenes here and there. Queenie fares even worse. She is virtually non-existent except for her brief scene with the jewelry, and she's seen during the miscegenation scene standing with Joe.
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........This may be one of the few times the remake of a movie was more inhibited then the original. In the 1936 version of "Show Boat" when Julie, played by Helen Morgan, sings "Can't Help Loving that Man" for Magnolia it is Queenie who points out only black people know the song hinting at Julie's mixed background. Julie more then hints at her black identity as she interacts with Queenie, Joe and the other blacks who join in. This scene is very close to the scene on U-tube from the 94' Broadway revival of "Show Boat" with Lonette McKee as Julia. In the 1951 version with Ava Gardner as Julie only Magnolia is present when Julie sings "Can't Help Loving that Man". There are no black people except off in the distance..........Also, in the original, When Joe sings "Old Man River" it is accompanied by scenes showing the hard life of black worker on the Mississippi. If I remember right in the 1951 version Julie and Bill are leaving, after her secret is discovered, as the song is song; powerful but not as powerful as the scene in the 36' original..........In 51" the Joe Breen censorship office not only pressured MGM not to cast Lena Horne as Julie, but also wanted the miscegenation references removed. The studio stood it's ground, sort of, but they apparently removed many racial references found in the stage and 1936 film version...........Why did the 36' version get away with so much? It's only my theory but Universal Studios, in the late thirties may have more back bone when it came to the Motion Picture Code. They did a number of controversial relationship movies during the thirties and were in a knock down drag out fight with the Breen office over the first version of "Imitation of Life" over the subject of miscegenation. They probably told Joseph Breen if he tried to force changes in the film version of what was then one of the most popular Broadway shows in recent times, to say nothing of many popular songs of the era, they would make sure everybody knew about it. What ever the real reason Universal did get "special permission" to deal with the then forbidden subject of miscegenation and everything else in the stage version.
TAG LINE: True genius is a beautiful thing, but ignorance is ugly to the bone.
One thing that none of the film versions of Show Boat have done (which I guess is understandable) is leave in Hammerstein's powerful lyrics to "Cotton Blossom" as he originally wrote them. The very first word that audiences heard was the the word *beep* What was even more shocking was that it came from the mouths of the black people. Hammerstein immediately jolts the audience into what will be a major theme of the show. The entire opening number then goes out of its way to play up the differences and disparity between the black and white societies of the day. Then later on "Queenie's Ballyhoo" makes the point about segregation even more strongly. What Hammerstein did was to use bigotry and racism to speak against them. Another thing is that even though Joe and Queenie are written as stereotypes of black men and women, they have a whole lot more insight and understanding than the white people around them do. Queenie is the one who picks up right away on Julie's past. Queenie is the one who understands before anyone else that trouble is going to come over Julie's being of mixed race. The point was made even more clear in the song called "Misery's Coming Around", a number that was cut from the original stage version. Joe is the philosopher who sings "Old Man River". The intentional contrast between the stability and clearheadedness of the principal black characters and the angst and drama of the white characters in Hammerstein's original libretto is lost to some degree in each of the film versions, faring the worst in the the 1951 version.
shareI think MGM itself is part of the reason. They weren't afraid of making musicals with dramatic plots like "Show Boat", but they didn't want to get too controversial. They wanted to preserve their wholesome, family musical image at the expense of almost everything else.
Universal was different. They didn't have Louis B. Mayer running things. He's the one most responsible for MGM's wholesome image. Universal produced films like "All Quiet on the Western Front" and their famous 1930's horror films. On top of that, Carl Laemmle and James Whale weren't interested in rewriting "Show Boat". They wanted to be faithful to it.
At least the characters Queenie & Joe were retained, albeit in cutdown fashion. In KISS ME KATE two years later the roles of Fred's valet and Lili's maid, black in the stage version, are turned white! Also in the stage version, Paul the valet leads the ensemble in "Another Opnin', Another Show," which is only heard as background in the film. Also, Ann Miller performs "Too Darn Hot." On stage, the number is done by a coupla black stagehands. What was up with THAT, MGM?
"May I bone your kipper, Mademoiselle?"
"Too Darn Hot." On stage, the number is done by a coupla black stagehands. What was up with THAT, MGM?The reason for changing the staging of "Too Darn Hot" was because it's position in the show was to open the 2nd Act. If they hadn't done what they did in the film the song would have been cut altogether.
They still could have found another way to leave it in. In "Show Boat" they were so determined to cut down the black roles that they even gave the Cakewalk to Ellie and Frank in one scene, and to the little girl Kim and Cap'n Andy in another, instead of letting it be performed by blacks.
shareLook at Ann.Miller!
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