Show Boat (1936) - Part 9/16: "Gallivantin' Around"

[thebackgroundartiste]

Despite the historical accuracy I don't enjoy this scene and I'm glad that it wasn't included in the 1950's version. Was it in the most recent stage version? I don't know but I have never enjoyed blackface or minstrel numbers. I just don't see any entertainment value in them.

[tallytigerful]

this is my first time watching this original version and i must admit i am enjoying it much more than the 1950's version. this scene is hilarious! i burst out laughing at work and my office all stopped their busy days to see who the idoit was. lol

[zac613]

love this version of ShowBoat compared to the 1951 version. it's funny hearing the idiots complaining about the black face number. back in the day some black actors/actresses would paint themselves white and pretend to be white.... like the character Julie did in this movie. You can't erase history and if u try to rewrite history or forget it..... the event u are try to rewrite or forget will happen again.

[musicaltheatergeek79]

I'm as liberal as they come and I think those griping about the blackface scene are morons. It's history. That's how things were like back in the 1880s. To accuse the movie of shame and bigotry because of these scenes is to deny history. Last year, HUCKBLEBERRY FINN was updated and the word "nigger" replaced with "slave" to appease those modern readers who are offended by the term. But Mark Twain wasn't being racist, he was using the vernacular of his youth.

[turetskygambit]

@musicaltheatergeek79 Ever since the word "nigger" became considered as inappropriate it became probably the most popular word in any urban school hallway. That's the irony of our history. A totally innocent scene like the one in this film is considered "racist" in the country where the word "nigger" is pronounced hundred times a day by every American teen of any race.

[queenmedesa]

Black performers weren´t allowed to act with white ones in the same stage in those times,specially in the South

[GekkoKamen]

Political correctness is an idiocy. Black-faced shows were amusing and were something enjoyed even by the blacks.

[Kailoa36]

One of the funniest scenes in the show.

[moorewjr]

I'm sure she would be ashamed. however, they did not have awareness then that we have today (except those who refuse to be enlightened.)

[lamllemaussade]

@ectorlove Times were different then... A lot of classic movies have blackface scenes in them (see Holiday Inn). Thankfully, we've come a long way since then.

[ectorlove]

The racial disrepect at 07:52 is something I would hope even Irene Dunne would be ashamed of today.

[BernardProfitendieu]

@ectorlove why? Showboat was filmed in the 1930s, but set historically in the 1880's - should they have pretended blackface shows on the river didn't exist in the 19th century just in case some misguided, politically correct vigilantes were going to arrive on the scene 75 years later? your comment is ignorant.

On top of that, Irene Dunne has been dead for over 20 years - she's feeling no shame about anything, sister!.

[3investigators]

@BernardProfitendieu Amen. This is a seminal film of a seminal play. It's artistic and historical significance speaks for itself.

[ectorlove]

This is funny...pleasant surprise!