This is a forum on the character of Frank Schultz, not a discussion of what version of Showboat is the most faithful or best. Frank is hardly represented in the 1936 film, which is no more faithful to the 1927 version of Showboat than any other production since. As My oh my stated, the 1936 version changes the ending of the original play and additionally all of the musical numbers from the stage version are either greatly shortened or missing. The performances are painfully dated, except for Paul Robeson. The 1936 version is very good when judged as a film but as Showboats go, it is as much or no more a travesty than the 1951 version, which, by the way, Oscar Hammerstein II, who wrote both the original stage book and 1936 screenplay, greatly admired. It was Hammerstein who advised John Lee Mahin, the 1951 screenwriter, that given the mandated 2 hour running time of the new film, that he concentrate on a core portion of the story, because, based on his problems in adapting the 1936 film, Hammerstein believed a minimum of 3 hours screen time was needed to tell the complete story properly, which MGM was not willing to do. Otherwise, you would wind up with sort of a rushed, Cliff's Notes version of the original, which the 1936 film version clearly was. So, in my opinion, neither film version as a whole captured the magic of the stage production.
Regardless, the part of Frank Shultz was not that different from the stage version in the 1951 film and it does not discount the fact that for an actor aspiring to do the role, which is the question asked here, Champion's performance is much better to study than Sammy White in the 1936 film, whose Vaudeville exaggerations undermined the impact of the role at every turn and whose stiff interpretation was already dated by the time of this film. Of course, as I said in my previous post, this is my opinion, one which is as valid as anyone's and that is what forums like this are about. If we all agreed on everything, it would be a dull world indeed.
I do agree that you should listen to John McGlinn's 1988 studio recording of the complete "Showboat" score. Except for its authenticity, it is the worst performed, worst conducted recording of Showboat ever with trite, jazz age orchestrations and singing styles that are so embarrassingly inappropriate that Robert Russell Bennett changed them for the 1936 film & 1946 revival. The McGlinn recording is now a textbook example of everything that could go wrong, despite the best of intentions, with a performance of Showboat when historians instead of musicians are in charge. Again, only my opinion but more and more people these days are becoming disenchanted with this recording. So I have to respectfully disagree with My oh my but I can see his point and advise that you watch both film versions and form your own opinion but if you are contemplating playing Frank it is a good idea to shape your own interpretation based on your own observation of others having played the role and more importantly, read the stage book and the Edna Ferber novel on which the play is based, for the authors' take on the character.
My Avatar is the amazing young singer, James Anest
Updated On: 6/27/08 at 06:10 PM
