Review of Thrill of a Romance

This was the second film in the expansive Esther Williams series, and she is particularly beautiful and vivacious. You will probably find this to be a letdown from the first film in this series: "Bathing Beauty", which is probably the most popular and enduring of this series. Here, there is no classic comedian, no water shows, and the musical scene is probably less diverse. As the title suggests, there is more emphasis on Esther's conflicted romantic life................ This is the first of 5 Esther films to costar Van Johnson. It features a very frustrating romance between Esther and Van. Esther marries handsome prominent businessman Bob Delbar(Charlton Young), but he is called away to Washington for an important business meeting shortly after the marriage ceremony. Thus, Esther spends a lonely wedding night in her room, weeping, except for a brief conversation on the patio with her hotel neighbor, played by Van, a decorated Naval pilot officer on leave for a week............. When the cat is away, the mice will play! The next day, Esther and Van get better acquainted in the hotel pool and restaurant. Van is a poor swimmer, so Esther gives him some pointers and assistance. By the end of the film, he's almost as good a swimmer as her. ..........Esther gets a call from her husband that he will probably be away for a week. Over the next week, Esther and Van gradually fall in love, but Esther periodically reminds him that she is married, so no hot and heavy stuff. At the end of the week, Esther gets a call from her husband saying he's afraid he will have to stay away for another week. Now, Esther is feeling more like a purely 'trophy wife', such as actress Heddy Lamar experienced in real life in her first marriage. As a result, Van extends his leave for another week. But, at one point, Esther feels her resistance faltering, thus asks Van to leave the hotel, which he reluctantly does, but soon returns, promising he won't pressure her to make love...........One day, a week later, they both decide to take a hike in the woods along the edge of Yosemite Valley. They go deeper into the forest than they had planned, then realize they weren't sure how return to the hotel. It was getting dark, so they decide to spend the night in the woods. Meanwhile, Esther's husband arrives, with Esther nowhere to be found. In the morning, he sees Esther and Van walking toward the hotel. He confronted them, and didn't believe Van's story that nothing sexual happened the prior night. He chewed out Van, who decided to leave the hotel. Later, the husband chewed out Esther and announced that he would file for an annulment. Poor man. Never got to consumate his marriage! Soon, Ether prepares to leave the hotel, Van already having left, not knowing about the husband's intention. I will leave the remainder of the story for you to discover. Of course, you know there will be a happy ending, somehow....................Esther's films almost always had a prominent musical element, and sometimes a professional comedian(think Red Skelton, Jimmy Durante, Lucille Ball). Here, we lack the latter, although Van and the opera singer Lourite Melchior(Nils) could create comedy. Lourite was an elderly internationally known opera singer. I don't know how you feel about having an opera singer as the main singer in an Esther film, but the MGM brass liked him so much, they invited him back for another Esther film. Here, he is larger than life and plays a prominent role in the film, sometimes advising or cheering up the lovers. His singing is scattered through the film. Perhaps his most memorable song is "I Love But Thee, through all Eternity". He also provides a bit of humor relating to his wife's attempt to eliminate his eating high calorie foods, given his excessive girth. ............Also, the Tommy Dorsey orchestra is much in evidence, sometimes backing up Lourite. Also, an African American young man, does an impressive sing of the classic "Because". Buddy Rich does an impressive drums and cymbals solo. And, 15y.o. Helen Stanley does well on the piano...............Before Esther marries, and at film's end, she's living with her aunt and uncle, played by the well recognized Spring Byington, and Henry Travers, respectively. Spring was among a handful of '30s - '50s actresses who were frequent mother, mother-in-law or aunt fixtures in films. She became even more famous in a variety of TV serials.