1h 49min | Comedy, Musical | 28 May 1952 | Color
Director: Sidney Lanfield
Stars: Esther Williams, Joan Evans, Vivian Blaine, Barry Sullivan.
Nick Castle ... musical numbers created and staged by
Alex Romero ... assistant choreographer (uncredited)
bootleg, good print.
10 songs performed per Soundtrack.
1st of 8 film credits for Bobby Van. He and Debbie Reynolds do a novelty duet in a show for the camp. Several other musical numbers occur that way, but sometimes characters sing to each other to express thoughts.
I'm confused about the time of the film. Since one of the WAVES (Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Service) gets sent to Paris for 4 years, this is clearly postwar, but is it '52? Why so many military, and why would WAVES be going to France for 4 years? Yes, per this blog (with links to sources). Women were being recruited to replace men (in non-combat jobs) who were going off to Korea. The military had again requested H'wood to make propaganda to recruit for them.
Vivian Blaine doesn't get to sing much: 2 numbers and both with others. Her accent is similar to Miss Adelaide in Guys and Dolls, which she originated on B'way (Nov 24, 1950 - Nov 28, 1953, don't know long she played the character).
EW does an interesting water ballet with 2 small children, brother & sister; lots of underwater stuff, leaving me gasping for air again. They swim like fish, clearly comfortable in the water. OMG, this is nauseating, from the little girl's IMDb bio:
She was a few days short of age 6, about a year after this film's release. She did a high dive (not 33') in the film, entered with little splash. This is their only IMDb credit.Died from injuries sustained when her father, who was her swimming coach, ordered her to dive from a 33-foot-tall platform. He was later convicted of child-endangerment charges and sentenced to ten years in prison.
Some of the physical training is EW leading some women in the pool, doing water ballet exercises. She winces once when she gets too much water in her mouth/face while barking instructions.
She also has a solo "dance" in the water with a floating penguin(?) in navy white.
All the production numbers are spartan. The only glamour is the big fur coat EW wears as a civilian (socialite), so that's very brief. And why the bleep would you take an expensive fur coat to a military training camp?
This is a weird mix of feminism and sexism. They're women in the military, but wearing skirts. They do physical training, and signed up to be sent wherever they're needed, but sing about What Good Is a Gal Without a Guy? EW is forward enough to invite BS to dinner, but takes it on the chin (and still falls in love with him) when he says he wants to be the initiator. She says she's used to getting what she asks for, but is learning to expect less (or something to that effect.)
MGM, dir. Lanfield; 6
