MovieChat Forums > Show Boat (1951) Discussion > WHY?

WHY?

posted 17 years ago by NSurone
6 replies | jump to latest

In a number of films that I've seen, there have been unanswered questions--I have written posts about them.
Well, this show is another. The question: just why did Steve dump Julie? Throughout the early parts, he was outspoken in his devotion to her, even to the point of sucking her blood in order to show the sheriff that he "had Negro blood in him". And when he and Julie leave the Cotton Blossom, they were very much in love and hopeful of the future.
So what happened? When we next see Julie, she is alone and destitute, with no explanation of why Steve just up and left her.
Does anyone have any suggestions?

[–] justoldbill 17 years ago

True to the spirit of Edna Ferber, Steve just ups and disappears forever, as does Gaylord Ravenal in the original novel. Many of Edna Ferber's male characters do that (or die), so that her female characters can grow in maturity and stature (Julie being an exception). In the novel, Ravenal disappears forever and Magnolia develops into a woman with a career of her own. Andy drowns in a storm and Parthy sucessfully continues to run the show boat on her own until her death and becomes her own "legend" on the river, etc.

As to Julie and Steve leaving the show boat "hopeful of the future", I certainly don't see that in either film version.

[–] dmnemaine 15 years ago

My take on this is that for a while Steve was able to stand up to the persecution and racism that followed them everywhere, but then he just reached a point where he couldn't handle it anymore and left.

[–] andrewwjohnson 14 years ago

I suppose Julie's brake up with Steve and falling into alcoholism served the needs of the story. Maybe it was supposed to be a comment on the destructive effects of racism. Just a guess................................................Steve and Julie presumable went north after her background was exposed. logically she would have continued to pass for white and they wouldn't have any problems; professionally or personally. The records would have stayed in the south and, since this is set during the late eighteen hundreds and early nineteen hundreds there isn't any data base to check on what people are.
TAG LINE: True genius is a beautiful thing, but ignorance is ugly to the bone.

[–] dmnemaine 14 years ago

There was just as much prejudice against bi-racial couples in the North as there was in the South. It's entirely logical that they were constantly hounded by someone threatening to expose Julie's true ancestry, and Steve just couldn't handle it any more.

[–] andrewwjohnson 14 years ago

In the superior 1936 version of "Show Boat", in the scene where Julie is singing at the club in Chicago, the manager says, "She was the best bet in Chicago till that curly-haired tramp (Steve)threw her down." This doesn't explain why he broke up with her; another women, suppressed feeling about Julie's background?. The reason is left to the imagination of the audience......................................................If she was recently the "best bet" in Chicago apparently Julie's secret wasn't exposed. I doubt a acknowledged black singer could have become that popular during the late eighteen and early nineteen hundreds: even in the north.
TAG LINE: True genius is a beautiful thing, but ignorance is ugly to the bone.

[–] dmnemaine 14 years ago

Okay. You do make a point, but you seem to be equating threatening someone with exposure of their secret with actual exposure of the secret. They aren't the same thing. Ever heard of blackmail? The whole premise behind Julie's story is that she is a mulatto married to a white man, which causes trouble for them. The logical conclusion is that this is a constant strain on their relationship -- the constant fear that someone is going to mess things up for them. If Julie was becoming more and more well known all the time, the threat of someone who knew her background popping out of the woodwork would increase proportionately. Some people can't handle the stress of having to constantly be on one's guard. It's entirely plausible and logically fits into the framework of the story that Steve reached his stress level breaking point.