It’s no secret that the Hollywood Comet loves musicals.
In 2010, I revealed I had seen 400 movie musicals over the course of eight years. Now that number is over 600. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
Show Boat (1936) – Musical #78

Studio: Universal Pictures

Director: James Whale

Starring:
Irene Dunne, Allan Jones, Charles Winninger, Helen Westley, Helen Morgan, Paul Robeson, Queenie Smith, Donald Cook, Sammy White, Hattie McDaniel, Marilyn Knowlden, Sunnie O’Dea, Arthur Hohl, J. Farrell MacDonald, Francis X. Mahoney, Clarence Muse, Eddie Rochester Anderson (uncredited), Dennis O’Keefe (uncredited), Barbara Pepper (uncredited), Bobs Watson (uncredited), Delmar Watson (uncredited),

Plot:
Set in the 1880s, the Cotton Palace Show Boat travels from town to town to perform. When the show’s leading lady Julie LaVerne (Morgan) is told to leave because of a case of miscegenation, or an interracial relationship, Capt. Andy (Winninger) and his wife (Westley) have to find a new leading man and leading lady. Their daughter Magnolia (Dunne) takes the part and a gambler Gaylord Ravenal (Jones) is hired. The two fall in love and are married, against Magnolia’s parent’s wishes. The couple moves to Chicago and lives off of Gaylord’s gambling success, which is short-lived.

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