I've never seen the Broadway play on which both this grande MGM musical and the 1937 version are based (hey, I'm not THAT old!), but this 1951 version shows clearly the role casting plays in the way that characters come across and are remembered. Howard Keel is a pretty strong and forceful guy to be a deadbeat dad & cowardly gambler character. And would Ava Gardner just roll over when some land-lubber gendarme comes to accuse her of being "the product of miscegenation" (!). Well, her character flees down the "ol' man river" and never really recovers from the humiliation of it all. Hey, not the Ava I (think/believe/assume) that I know! And how is it that Gardner dubbing Annette Warren's singing voice (in the style of Lena Horne, she'd say years later) is more convincing than when Kathryn Grayson is lip-syncing to her OWN singing? Oh well, the movie definitely has its merits and moments: the sets, riverboat and dock all were built and dressed sparing no expense, and the cast are great both to look at & listen to. I'd give it a 7.5/10, if half points existed!
P. S. I thought it was worth mentioning that William Warfield, a very fine singer in his own right, has the unenviable task of singing "Ol' Man River" in this version of "Show Boat" just 15 years after it had been sung in the '30s version by Paul Robeson, one of the greatest voices of the entire twentieth century. Now that's what I call a mixed blessing, at best!
P. S. I thought it was worth mentioning that William Warfield, a very fine singer in his own right, has the unenviable task of singing "Ol' Man River" in this version of "Show Boat" just 15 years after it had been sung in the '30s version by Paul Robeson, one of the greatest voices of the entire twentieth century. Now that's what I call a mixed blessing, at best!