| Show Boat | |
|---|---|
&sq=&lang=&file=File:Poster_of_Show_Boat_(1929_film).jpg) | |
| Directed by | Harry A. Pollard |
| Written by | Charles Kenyon (continuity) Tom Reed |
| Based on | Show Boat 1926 novel by Edna Ferber Show Boat 1927 musical by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II |
| Produced by | Carl Laemmle |
| Starring | Laura La Plante Joseph Schildkraut Emily Fitzroy Otis Harlan |
| Cinematography | Gilbert Warrenton |
| Edited by | Daniel Mandell |
| Music by | Jerome Kern Joseph Cherniavsky |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 146 minutes (with prologue) 129 minutes (without prologue) 114 minutes (without sound sequences) |
| Country | United States |
| Languages | Sound (Part-Talkie) Talking Sequences English Intertitles |
| Box office | $1,643,000 (rentals)[1] |
Show Boat is a 1929 American pre-Code sound part-talkie romantic drama film based on the 1926 novel Show Boat by Edna Ferber. The film initially did not use the 1927 stage musical of the same name as a source, but scenes were later added into the film incorporating two of the songs from the musical as well as other songs. Many of these songs from the stage show were featured in a special prologue that was added to the picture before it was released. This film was produced and released by Universal. Like the majority of films during the early sound era, a silent version was made for movie theatres that had not yet converted to sound.
The film was long believed to be lost, but most of it has been found and released on LaserDisc and shown on Turner Classic Movies. Like most early sound films the film was released in both sound-on-disc and sound-on-film versions. A number of Vitaphone type records for the sound-on-disc version were located in the mid-1990s.[2] The soundtrack for the film was originally recorded using the sound-on-film Western Electric process and transferred to the disc format for those theatres that did not have the capability of playing the sound-on-film format. Two more soundtrack records were discovered in 2005.[3]
Due to being a film published in 1929, it will enter the public domain on January 1, 2025.
- ^ "All-Time Film Rental Champs". Variety. October 15, 1990. p. M150.
- ^ "The Vitaphone Project!".
- ^ "The Vitaphone Project!".