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Steamboats in the Movies
Show Boat 1951 - MGM Studios


showboat1951


Show Boat (1951) MGM
1 hour 48 minutes
This is the third version of Show Boat, 1951, MGM's technicolor version. The Big Cotton Blossom replica boat is in Culver City.

Plot: The daughter of a showboat owner falls in love with a charming gambler, but their fairytale romance is threatened when his luck turns sour.

Director: George Sidney
Writers: John Lee Mahin (screen play)
(Based on the immortal musical play "Show Boat" by JEROME KERN)
Starring: Kathryn Grayson, Ava Gardner, Howard Keel


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Cotton Blossom MGM 1951 Show Boat Gaylord Ravenal Boys

Master shot high angle looking down from an elevation on the COTTON BLOSSOM during filming of MGM's 1951 "Show Boat. " Gaylord Ravenal and children in the foreground.


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Stars Ava Gardner and Kathryn Grayson.


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The COTTON BLOSSOM with chorus girls on the Natchez wharf from MGM's SHOW BOAT

From MGM's 1951 SHOW BOAT with the Cotton Blossom in the background and chorus girls in the foreground on the wharf at Natchez warming up the crowd to lure them into attending a performance on the showboat that night.


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SHOW BOAT 1951 CREDITS MGM

Instead of being taken on the full scale COTTON BLOSSOM boat this photo was made on a soundstage set of the exterior of the 'texas' cabin with door to the "GALLEY" in the background that was underneath the pilot house. The backdrop of a cloudy sky in the upper left hand corner confirms this identification.

The sign on the bulkhead upper left may very well have based on an actual item that could have been posted outside the dressing rooms of lady entertainers on actual showboats:

'NO LADY OF THE COMPANY ALLOWED ON DECK IN A WRAPPER.'

Eight members of the cast of SHOW BOAT are seated around a table celebrating the 1st birthday party of Kim Ravenal after her mother Magnolia Ravenal had returned to stay aboard her parents' (Andy and Parthy Hawks') showboat COTTON BLOSSOM after Magnolia and her husband Gaylord separated.

Counter clockwise from lower left to lower right are 4 actresses and 4 actors are identified below with the names of the characters that they portrayed.

Kathryn Grayson - Magnolia Hawks
Joe E. Brown - Cap'n Andy Hawks
Agnes Moorehead - Parthy Hawks
Frances E. Williams - Queenie
William Warfield - Joe
Owen McGiveney - Windy McClain (pilot of the COTTON BLOSSOM)
Gower Champion - Frank Schultz
Marge Champion - Ellie May Shipley

The little girl who played 1 year old Kim in this scene was not listed although the little actress/dancer Sheila Clark who played 4 year old Kim (when her father Gaylord returns to the COTTON BLOSSOM in the final sequence of the movie) is listed but not credited on IMDB.


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The Cotton Blossom (with William Warfield singing Old Man River) near the swinging stage at the foot of the curved staircase. The director (wearing a hat) is standing next to the cameraman on the crane suspended above the MGM lake, posing as the Mississippi River at Natchez.


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COTTON BLOSSOM MGM 1951

Filming the choreographed dance production number on the backlot lake in Culver City during the opening sequence after the COTTON BLOSSOM landed at Natchez.

In the lower left hand corner can be seen the circular back of a studio light and right arm of the technician next to it.


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Cotton Blossom in the empty MGM Lake

COTTON BLOSSOM MGM 1951

The lake is empty here, possibly prior to being filled with water to gently set the COTTON BLOSSOM afloat prior to the filming of MGM's 1951 Technicolor SHOW BOAT.


CottonBlossomApproachingNatchezLandingOpeningShowBoatMGM1951

COTTON BLOSSOM MGM 1951 approaching the landing at "Natchez" in a low angle frame capture from the opening sequence in the DVD of the movie.





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All captions provided by Dave Thomson, Steamboats.com primary contributor and historian.

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