People are voting emotionally.

Highly Overrated But Still Good

A lot of fun.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Carnival Boat (1932)** 1/2 (out of 4)Jim Cannon (Hobart Bosworth) wants his lumberjack son Buck (William Boyd) to take over his job when he retires but the son just isn't really going for it. A problem happens between the two when the son falls in love with showgirl Honey (Ginger Rogers).CARNIVAL BOAT was a low-budget movie from RKO that was probably playing under a much bigger film and was quickly forgotten about by the public. Even film buffs have forgotten it, which is understandable considering there's nothing "classic" about it but at the same time there are some pretty interesting things that make it worth viewing.The best thing about the picture is the lumberjack setting with us getting to take a look at the type of equipment that was used back in the day by these loggers. There are some very fun scenes built around this including one with an out of control train. The highlight comes towards the end when a bunch of logs jam up a dam and we get a very fun action scene.I thought the three leads were quite good in their roles with Bosworth stealing the picture as the cranky old man. Edgar Kennedy and Marie PRevost are also on hand in small supporting parts. At just 61 minutes there's certainly nothing ground-breaking here and the love story is quite predictable but it's still worth watching.

It's an early and primitive RKO Pathe film from the young Ginger Rogers - the next year she teamed up with Fred and never looked back. And William Boyd still had a couple of years to go before he became Hopalong Cassidy for the rest of his life.Story relates the trials and tribulations of a logging company which is visited by a showboat containing an entertainment troupe; Ginger and Boyd love each other much to the opposition and disgust of his father wonderfully hammed by Hobart Bosworth. It's pretty much run of the sawmill stuff, except maybe in watching the cavalier attitude workers had to moving gargantuan pieces of timber around in some scenes, whenever it was timber anyway. The runaway train sequence was taken at warp speed - but you should know how it'll all end. That's right, Ginger was worrying about her (tree) feller for nothing!I didn't see a carnival and only a little bit of boat but it's short and almost sweet with a harmless inconsequentiality to preclude serious criticism; worth an hour of my time.

After performing in five feature films and four short subjects for Paramount at its Long Island, NY, studios, by day, and performing on Broadway by evening, Ginger Rogers heads to Hollywood, in 1931, to sign with Pathé Studio, a forerunner to RKO-Radio Pictures. "Carnival Boat" becomes Ginger's third at Pathé, and her first feature film of 1932.Although a pre-platinum Ginger receives star billing, and her character's festive entertainment vessel the title, most of the action of this film transpires at a lumber camp, with much conflict occurring among lumberjacks for the succession of power pending the retirement of Jim Gannon (Hobart Bosworth).Well, an abrasive Hack Logan (Fred Kohler), for one, places himself in contention for the foreman position and, especially, in contention against Gannon Jr. (William Boyd), whose father, Jim, stands in contention against Jr.'s fancying Honey (Ginger Rogers), the star performer of the "Carnival Boat," a steamship paddle-boat, which floats along the waterway and docks near the lumber camp.Fighting for the top lumbering position begins with the saws and escalates onto the roofs of railroad cars, piloted by a runaway locomotive down the mountain track, which certainly provides compelling footage, which certainly stands the test of time to captivate audience attention.Honey, all the while, stands by Jr., who continues to champion their romance, as (Ginger) sings, "How I Could Go for You" aboard the entertainment vessel, where a good time is had by one and all except for the disapproving Sr., who seems prepared to cry "Timber!" at any given moment.Marie Prevost has a role as "Babe," with Edgar Kennedy as "Baldy," a lumberjack. William Boyd, the film's leading man, doesn't seem to appear anywhere near the credit list here although his moniker does roll across the screen below Ginger's.

Up and coming star Ginger Rogers takes a distinct second place to the special effects in a story about the men in a logging camp and the women on a Carnival Boat they should avoid. Ginger's partnered with William Boyd who was not yet Hopalong Cassidy.Boyd is the son of the camp foreman Hobart Bosworth who is feeling the effects of his age. He'd like to see his son succeed him as foreman of the camp, but Fred Kohler has an impressive record for the job and he's not squeamish about what he has to do for that promotion.At the same time Ginger works a Carnival Boat which provides the men of the woods some amusement and like the saloons of the old west relieves them of their wages. Boyd likes Ginger, but Bosworth doesn't feel she's a suitable bride for his son.I think you can probably figure out where and how this is all going to end. The plot is trite, but the special effects that include a runaway logging train and a river log jam are really first rate for their time. It makes Carnival Boat something to see if one can.