Show Boat: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1951 Film) [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED] [SOUNDTRACK]

Kathryn Grayson, Oscar Hammerstein II, Jerome Kern, Joe E. Brown, William Warfield, Howard Keel, Show Boat (Related Recordings), Annette Warren

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 23, 1995)
• Original Release Date: September 24, 1951
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered, Soundtrack
• Label: Rhino / Wea
• ASIN: B0000033KL
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #16,433 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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  #36 in	Music > Broadway & Vocalists > Musicals > Classic Musicals
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great music and great singing!, October 2, 1999

By A Customer

Show Boat was MGM's biggest money maker in 1951 and has this soundtrack to explain why. It contains the singing of Kathryn Grayson, Howard Keel, William Warfield, Annette Warren and even outtakes of Ava Gardner (she had a decent voice). It also has a 28 minute page companion booklet. It's an excellent movie soundtrack, what more can I say?

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great version of landmark musical, March 3, 2005

By	Eugene August (Dayton, OH) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

MGM's 1951 version of the landmark Jerome Kern-Oscar Hammerstein II musical featured some of the finest voices and talents on the lot. Kathryn Grayson and Howard Keel are a vocal match made in heaven, and if William Warfield's rendition of "Ol' Man River" doesn't move you to tears, you're probably dead. Marge and Gower Champion stop the show every time they break into a song-and-dance number. Annette Warren's voice was dubbed for Ava Gardner's, and if Warren's performance has more polish, Gardner's renditions of "Can't Help Loving Dat Man" and "Bill" have greater dramatic impact. Luckily, both singers' versions are included on this CD. One could wish that Howard Keel's prologue to "You Are Love" (available on the old MGM Records album) had been included, and that the missing choral passages on some numbers had been somehow restored. Still, this is one of the all-time great soundtrack albums.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You'll cry and cry., February 7, 2001

By	darragh o'donoghue (dublin, ireland) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

'Show Boat' is the great American stage work of the twentieth century, drama or musical. Its downbeat daring; richly complex and austere scoring, which comments on, as well as provides, a narrative it subverts; above all, its treasurable songs, heartbreaking even at their most seemingly carefree (if you don't die when you hear 'Bill', you probably already have), make it one of the few musicals that never cheats on life in all its arbitrary-happy-sad ingloriousness. Despite some operetta-ish singing and too many softening strings, this is a highly creditable recording that surpasses the film it soundtracks, with some instrumentals that scorch the heart.