Edna Ferber knew nothing of Show Boats and to be honest neither did I. But a chance comment by a promoter, after bats nesting in the chandeliers of her local playhouse had driven other patrons into the street, led Edna not only to find out about Show Boats but to write a novel about one such boat.
From the 1880s to the 1920s show boats would stagger up and down the Mississippi taking plays and shows to the good folk of America. Vagabond playhouses that came to you, if you were in foot, horse or stage coach distance of that mighty river.
But I have an advantage over Edna. I have seen a film of the musical that was created from her 1926 novel. The Broadway musical, courtesy of Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II, appeared the very next year, 1927.
Of course it never dawned on me that the basis of “Show Boat”, despite all the gorgeous music and songs, might be real. But now I realise, it was!
And Edna? Edna Ferber was a most fecund woman despite the apparent absence of sex in her life. She wrote 13 novels, 8 plays, a number of collections of short stories and a screen play. Three of her books, including “Show Boat”, were turned into movies. One movie that cast a long shadow was “Giant”, released in 1952 and starring Rock Hudson, James Dean and Elizabeth Taylor.
Edna was a dangerous soul to joust with. When admonished by a now forgotten male that the suit she was wearing made her look like a man she retorted, as does yours!
And why am I interested in Edna Ferber today? Well I have only just discovered her and prior death should never stand in the way of a celebrating a great writer.
At the End of the Day 