Carnival Boat

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.