...at least in the video version I saw. The Joe character only pops up to sing Ole Man River; we're not told how or why he had such a warm relationship with Julie before they say goodbye. And what happened to Julie's husband? No answer in the movie (at least this version).
I also thought the Champions were excellent but got too much screen time, considering their limited role in the plot.
I haven't read book or saw play,but I did see original movie with Helen Morgan and Irene Dunne. In that one Joe was played by the wonderful Paul Robeson and Queenie was played by that wonderful actress Hattie MacDaniel. In the original,the trouble maker guys wants to know why Queenie is wearing jewelry he gave Julie,Hattie sasses back,ask me no questions and I'll tell u no lies. Her character was more fun and she even had a song number. By the fifties black critics had reduced Mammy and servile type roles so in this remake Queenie barely appears. Interestingly,in the original,both white and blacks could see show,on different levels of boat,but in remake this didn't happen. I guess MGM was worried about upsetting the sensitive south about racial purity.
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Thanks. Is that version for sale?
share"Interestingly,in the original,both white and blacks could see show,on different levels of boat,but in remake this didn't happen. I guess MGM was worried about upsetting the sensitive south about racial purity."
Isn't that one of the major POINTS of the show; the evils of "upsetting the sensitive south about racial purity"????!
Joe had a warm relationship with Julie because she was part black and she could relate to him. Joe could also relate to Julie's situation.
Just before Julie sings "Bill", Mr. Green, the nightclub manager, says, "These fool one-man girls. Their fellow walks out on them and they gotta tear themselves apart till they hit bottom. And I gotta suffer for it". This indicates that Steve walked out on Julie at one point, and that's why she becomes an alcoholic.
Listen to the dialogue more closely, and you'll catch these bits.
I thought that Marge and Gower Champion were two of the best reasons for enjoying the MGM version. Their "Life Upon the Wicked Stage" was priceless.
When the film was made, the South was in the habit of cutting scenes with black players (especially if they sang and danced), so it was probably why MGM decided to cut a lot of the black choral singing and characterizations that existed in the play. They replaced this with more emphasis on numbers by, for example, the Champions.
You can imagine all the continuity problems for audiences in the South if they went to see this film and half of the plotline was missing. Don't forget--segregation was still a big issue in the South at the time of the '51 SHOW BOAT.
Joe and Julie (Ave Gardner) were close because Joe knew that Julie was really passing for white. He was not going to ever rat on her. He was just glad to see Julie " getting over ' on the white man.........
shareThe only person in the troupe who knew Julie's true story was her husband, Steve. Julie wasn't "'getting over' on the white man". Indeed, she was married to one, and hardly out of contempt. "Getting over on the white man" was not what passing for white meant in those days. It was hardly a game and those who attempted it weren't doing it for sport. They did so at high risk and at great peril.
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