<p>1926. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Edna Ferber's famous novel， Show Boat， tells parallel love stories of two doomed marriages that are set on a Mississippi show boat. Magnolia， the sheltered daughter of the Cotton Blossom's owner， falls in love and runs off to Chicago with a dashing riverboat gambler. Their marriage is wrecked by his love for Lady Luck and she returns home to her family to have her baby. Ultimately， she reconciles with her wandering mate to give the marriage another try. The star singer on the Cotton Blossom， beautiful Julie LaVerne and her husband run afoul of Southern law when the sheriff discovers that she is mulatto and her husband is white. They are forced to leave the show boat and flee because Southern law forbids miscegenation.</p>