Directed by:
James WhaleScreenplay:
Edna FerberCinematography:
John J. MescallComposer:
Jerome KernCast:
Irene Dunne, Allan Jones, Charles Winninger, Paul Robeson, Helen Morgan, Helen Westley, Queenie Smith, Sammy White, Donald Cook, Hattie McDaniel, Arthur Hohl (more)Plots(1)
Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II's Showboat, based on Edna Ferber's 1926 novel, is a seminal American musical, the first to explore serious themes (most notably racism) and to truly integrate song with story and character. The plot follows three generations of a theatrical Mississippi riverboat family from the 1880s to the 1920s. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Cast
Irene Dunne
USA
Best movies:
The White Cliffs of Dover (1944)
Penny Serenade (1941)
Anna and the King of Siam (1946)
Allan Jones
USA
Best movies:
A Night at the Opera (1935)
Show Boat (1936)
A Day at the Races (1937)
Charles Winninger
USA
Best movies:
Destry Rides Again (1939)
Show Boat (1936)
Beyond Tomorrow (1940)
Paul Robeson
USA
Best movies:
Show Boat (1936)
Tales of Manhattan (1942)
Helen Morgan
USA
Best movies:
American Pop (1981) - a.f.
Show Boat (1936)
Applause (1929)
Helen Westley
USA
Best movies:
Alexander's Ragtime Band (1938)
Show Boat (1936)
Heidi (1937)
Queenie Smith
USA
Best movies:
Caged (1950)
Show Boat (1936)
The Day of the Locust (1975)
Sammy White
USA
Best movies:
Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956)
The Bad and the Beautiful (1952)
Show Boat (1936)
Donald Cook
USA
Best movies:
The Kiss Before the Mirror (1933)
Show Boat (1936)
The Public Enemy (1931)
Hattie McDaniel
USA
Best movies:
Gone with the Wind (1939)
Carefree (1938)
Vivacious Lady (1938)
Arthur Hohl
USA
Best movies:
Monsieur Verdoux (1947)
The Yearling (1946)
You Gotta Stay Happy (1948)
Charles Middleton
USA
Best movies:
I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)
The Good Earth (1937)
Gone with the Wind (1939)
J. Farrell MacDonald
USA
Best movies:
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
Sunrise (1927)
The Power and the Glory (1933)
Clarence Muse
USA
Best movies:
Double Indemnity (1944)
Love Crazy (1941)
Scarlet Street (1945)
Forrest Stanley
USA
Best movies:
Show Boat (1936)
The Cat and the Canary (1927)
The Tattered Dress (1957)
LeRoy Prinz
USA
Best movies:
Show Boat (1936)
May Beatty
New Zealand
Best movies:
If I Were King (1938)
Mad Love (1935)
Union Pacific (1939)
Edmund Cobb
USA
Best movies:
Miracle of Fatima (1952)
Double Indemnity (1944)
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson
USA
Best movies:
Gone with the Wind (1939)
Love Is News (1937)
Jezebel (1938)
James P. Burtis
USA
Best movies:
Carefree (1938)
Show Boat (1936)
The Texans (1938)