Bathing Beauty (1944), 8+ Color

A contrived misunderstanding leads to the breakup of a songwriter and his fiancée. She returns to work as a gym teacher at an all-girls school, but a legal loophole allows the man to enroll as one of her students.
1h 41min | Comedy, Musical | July 1944 | Color
Director: George Sidney
Stars: Red Skelton, Esther Williams, Basil Rathbone.
Robert Alton ... dance director
John Murray Anderson ... water ballet
Jack Donohue ... dance director

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036628/
The disc turned up dead for ch13-23, but I found this online. The print is slightly less sharp than on dvd.


Musical performances ([27 custom chapters w/menu]; replacement disc has 14 chapters w/NO menu):

• ch1 [2]. Bim, Bam, Bum, Sung by Lina Romay with Xavier Cugat and His Orchestra 
• ch1 [3]. Magic is the Moonlight (Te quiero dijiste), Sung by Carlos Ramírez in Spanish with Xavier Cugat and His Orchestra, swum by EW in ch2.
• ch3 [6]. Trumpet Blues and Cantabile, Instrumental played by Harry James and His Orchestra with Harry James on trumpet 
• ch5 [9]. By the Waters of Minnetonka: an Indian Love Song, Played by Ethel Smith on organ with the MGM Studio Orchestra 
• ch5 [10]. Tico-tico no fubá, Played by Ethel Smith on organ with the MGM Studio Orchestra 
• ch6 [13]. Loch Lomond, Sung by the Co-eds with Ethel Smith on organ 
• ch6 [14]. I'll Take the High Note, Sung and danced by Red Skelton, Jean Porter, Janis Paige, Carlos Ramírez, Helen Forrest, Harry James and Buddy Moreno with Harry James and His Orchestra and Ethel Smith on organ 
• ch8 [18]. Alma Llanera, Sung by Lina Romay and chorus with Xavier Cugat and His Orchestra 
• ch9 [19]. Waltz of the Flowers, Danced at the Eurythmics session by the Co-eds and Red Skelton 
• ch10 [21]. Hora Staccato, Played by Harry James on trumpet with Harry James and His Orchestra 
• ch10 [22]. I Cried for You, Sung by Helen Forrest with Harry James and His Orchestra 
• ch12-3 [24-6]. Water ballet finale:
• Boogie Woogie, Played by Harry James and His Orchestra before and during the water ballet sequence 
• The Thrill of a New Romance, Instrumental played by Xavier Cugat and His Orchestra at the start of and during the water ballet sequence 
• Die Fledermaus Overture, Played in the score for Caroline's participation in the water ballet sequence 

Margaret Dumont is in a late scene in RS's "dorm" room during the parent visits. The end of that scene is worthy of the Marx Brothers.

This film is packed with music, all of it good. I think I let this run 4 times in a loop while I found and organized the booklets for (mostly Criterion) dvds.

Things preventing a higher rating:

• No real romance here. RS is mad about EW, and they even marry at one moment, but I don't feel much chemistry coming from EW. But she disparaged her own acting in this one. And he's here for the comedy, not because he's a dreamy leading man.
• Only 1 real water ballet. It's fabulous, spectacular, beautiful. I wonder if we get only 1 per film in future.
• Other than the pool-side dancing in the finale, there's not much dancing. There's a little in the Latin numbers with Cugat's Orch & Lina Romay.

Definitely worthwhile to watch the dvd supplement of her TCM interview with Osborne (special features are on original release only). They discuss her Olympic hopes (her year, 1940, the games were canceled due to the war; her events were swimming for speed - no such thing as synchronized swimming until the '84 games in L.A.), her early experiences in show biz, and her marriage to Fernando Lamas among other topics.

MGM, dir. Sidney; 8+