Show Boat

Show Boat is a 1929 American romantic drama film based on the novel Show Boat by Edna Ferber. The film initially did not use the 1927 stage musical of the same name as a source, but scenes were later added into the film incorporating two of the songs from the musical as well as other songs. This version was released by Universal in two editions, one a silent film for movie theatres still not equipped for sound, and one a part-talkie with a sound prologue. The film was long believed to be lost, but most of it has been found and released on laserdisc and shown on Turner Classic Movies. A number of sections of the soundtrack were found in the mid-1990s on Vitaphone records, although the film was made with a Movietone soundtrack. Two more records were discovered in 2005.