Show Boat

Show Boat is a 1951 film based on the musical by Jerome Kern (music) and Oscar Hammerstein II (script and lyrics) and the novel by Edna Ferber. Filmed previously in 1936 and featuring the great Paul Robeson, the Oscar-nominated Kern-Hammerstein musical was remade in 1951 by MGM in Technicolour, starring Kathryn Grayson, Ava Gardner and Howard Keel with Joe E. Brown, Marge Champion, Gower Champion, William Warfeild, Robert Sterling, Agnes Moorhead and Leif Erikson. It was adapted by John Lee Mahin, directed by George Sidney and produced by Arthur Freed. Filmed in the typical MGM lavish style, it is the most financially successful of the film adaptations of the play and is one of MGM's most popular musicals. This version has been digitally re-mastered from newly-discovered production elements and includes rare behind-the-scenes photos.