"Queenie's Ballyhoo" - Show Boat (1929)

A very rare clip of the original Broadway production of Show Boat at the Ziegfeld Theatre. In this scene, Queenie (played here by blackface Italian American actress Tess Gardella--aka: Aunt Jemima) tries to get "colored folks" to fill the show boat's balcony after Captain Andy bemoans the lack of seats sold in that section.

This was specially recorded in 1929 along with other numbers from the show as a prologue to a film version of Edna Ferber's novel of the same name. The producers of the film saw great potential in making what was at first a silent film into a film version of the critically acclaimed musical. They re-shot various scenes and incorporated them into the completed movie and also played audio over some of the silent scenes. Having bought the film rights to the musical, Universal planned to re-do the whole thing properly. In 1936, they released what is considered by many the definitive film version of the classic Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein stage musical.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Show
• Boat
• Tess
• Gardella
• Queenie
• Showboat
• Ziegfeld
• Theatre
• Theater
• Musical
• Broadway
• Rare
• Classic
• Stage
• Performance
• Live
• 1929
• Aunt
• Jemima
• Blackface

[al1936ful]

If the picture for this still exists, I don't see why TCM shows only the sound portion whenever they telecast the 1929 "Show Boat".

[friendsfamilyaccount]

Do any of the other numbers recorded in 1929 survive? I assume these were made at the Vitaphone studios in NYC? Thanks for uploading these two - amazing theater history.

[friendsfamilyaccount]

@surgedeb GOOD grief - why? Because it's a Black woman singing a long time ago?? Sheesh - if you know anything about Showboat, it was the first show ever to portray an African American woman (Julie) as a fully dimensional, equal character, married to a white man. The show changed the way Black performers/characters were seen.

[simolionshane]

just because showboat represents the changes in white and black seperation doesn't make it racist. It makes it a piece of history to be admired. Political correctness goes a little too far sometimes.

[dancerpixproductions]

@surgedeb Though I can see how you might think it to be racist, and there are many foul racial connotations, it can also be seen as a beautiful thing. Blacks (like myself) weren't even given the dignity of playing themselves before this! Show boat was one of the first shows to paint African Americans in a positive light. So you see, even though many of the things were racist, many were paving the way to civil rights, and racial equality in the eyes of the men around them. :)

[surgedeb]

@madamerotten Yes, amazingly racist.

[madamerotten]

This is absolutely amazing.

[chkjns]

Sorry to see you're starting over again but thanks for persevering ! ! !

I'm creating a series of music playlists for each of the past 100 years, the evolution of pop music over 4 generations, making my channel your ticket to any past year.

I had Queenie on 1929 before and have added your replacement upload here ! !