1h 35min | Comedy, Musical, Romance | 9 June 1949
Director: Edward Buzzell
Stars: Esther Williams, Red Skelton, Ricardo Montalban, Betty Garrett, Keenan Wynn, Xavier Cugat.
Jack Donohue ... musical numbers creation and direction
4 songs performed in the Soundtracks, with 1 really familiar: Baby, It's Cold Outside, Performed by Ricardo Montalban and Esther Williams, also performed by Red Skelton and Betty Garrett (roles reversed). It doesn't seem to list a song for the water ballet finale.
Part of that water ballet is fairly good: a long-ish sequence of women going into the water from a multi-level poolside structure. They go singly and in groups, striking some pose during descent. The in-water footage is not so interesting. What I remember is RM & EW swimming through floating banners being retracted by off-frame swimmers (we saw them unfurl the banners earlier) to make way for RM/EW as they approached. There's a bit of posing underwater by EW & chorus standing at the bottom of the pool, making me wonder how the audience was going to see this. But the in-water footage doesn't live up to the memory of the first ballet in Bathing Beauty ('44).
The plot is mistaken identity converted to deception: RS is mistaken for RM, and runs with it. RM knows that EW thinks her sister BG is dating him, but doesn't correct her (because that would end the plot too soon?)
The Eve Arden role is played by KW, who narrates, and gets left out in the cold romantically, but has the swimsuit company to keep him occupied (and exposed to unlimited shapely girls). Otherwise the couples end together as expected by their casting.
So this is pleasant, but not exciting. One of EW's evening gowns was brown. Really, brown? Even with sequins, not a color I would choose for nightlife.
MGM, dir. Buzzell; 6+
