Esther Williams was nicknamed America's Mermaid for a good reason. She made a dozen films over a decade, from 1944 to 1953 in which she swam. Several of those were major productions built around her swimming. Just as Sonja Henie became the star of the ice in many Hollywood films of the golden era, Williams was the star of the water. That was usually a pool, including some lavishly built and designed ones. But, in a couple other films and this one, she tackles bigger waters.
All of these films were musicals, most with comedy and romance. This one includes an animated segment in which MGM's cartoon cat and mouse characters, Tom and Jerry, swim with Williams. That's one of those tricks of filmmakers with the animated segment and a live segment overlaid. Kids might still like it today - including some kids of 92, as the song goes. The cast overall is good, and has some familiar faces from comedies. Jack Carson, William Demarest and Charlotte Greenwood were well known actors of the day. Argentine-born Fernando Lamas was an actor and director. There also are some who had very short careers in film.
The story for this film is a little silly, and disjointed. Carson plays Windy Weebe, a traveling salesman who stumbles across the Higgins family in Arkansas. They are all health nuts of sorts who own a dairy farm but start their day out swimming together for exercise in the nearby lake. In the end, the group travels to Europe to swim the English Channel, under the sponsorship of Weebe's energy drink company. Esther's Katie Higgins is the only one who is qualified to compete eventually, and while training in the channel on a dense foggy day, she and her rowboat escort, Windy, get separated. That's when she meet Lamas, who is Andre Lanet. Well the romance will follow somewhat slowly, as Katie continues training and Andre continues pursuing her.
The family members and Lamas and Carson have some songs, and Charlotte Greenwood does one of her acrobatic dance gyrations. And, a French female swimmer, Gigi Mignon (played by Denise Darcel) has a thing for Carson.
The film seems to drag on a lot, and there are no hit songs. This is an MGM film, but nothing on the level of the big splashes Williams made in "Bathing Beauty" of 1944 and "Million Dollar Mermaid" of 1952.
It's interesting that Williams and Lamas would get married 16 years later. They would be in another film together - her last one. In 1961, Lamas directed a Spanish film, Magic Fountain, in the south of Spain. It has swimming, but wasn't released until 1963, and then never in the U. S. market. Lamas and Williams had both been divorced before that, he from his third wife, and she from her second husband. And, neither one would marry again until they wed each other eight years later on Dec. 31, 1969. That would end with his death in 1982 from pancreatic cancer. Williams's film career ended when she was 40. She had made some dramatic films, but when the musicals began to fade and Hollywood and the public seemed to tire of the swimming films, Esther Williams called it quits.
Among the rest of this cast, Demarest had the only long and enduring career in films. He had many top supporting roles with most of the leading actors for more than four decades. His best roles were in comedies and in his later years he played in TV roles. He was in 215 episodes, as Uncle Charley O'Casey, of the popular family comedy series, "My Three Sons," from 1965 to 1972.
Donna Corcoran, who plays the youngest Higgins family member, didn't go much beyond her childhood years, ending her acting career on TV's Donna Reed Show in 1963. Barbara Whiting, who sings a couple of songs as Suzie Higgins, was in her last of 20 acting credits in a TV movie in 1958. And French actress Denise Darcel, who pursues Carson in this film, was in just two more films and a few TV series before her film and acting career ended. She did work in the entertainment field after that.
Here's the one funny exchange that most people will smile or chuckle over. Katie Higgins (Williams), "How'd it get so dark?" André Lanet (Lamas), "The sun went down."
All of these films were musicals, most with comedy and romance. This one includes an animated segment in which MGM's cartoon cat and mouse characters, Tom and Jerry, swim with Williams. That's one of those tricks of filmmakers with the animated segment and a live segment overlaid. Kids might still like it today - including some kids of 92, as the song goes. The cast overall is good, and has some familiar faces from comedies. Jack Carson, William Demarest and Charlotte Greenwood were well known actors of the day. Argentine-born Fernando Lamas was an actor and director. There also are some who had very short careers in film.
The story for this film is a little silly, and disjointed. Carson plays Windy Weebe, a traveling salesman who stumbles across the Higgins family in Arkansas. They are all health nuts of sorts who own a dairy farm but start their day out swimming together for exercise in the nearby lake. In the end, the group travels to Europe to swim the English Channel, under the sponsorship of Weebe's energy drink company. Esther's Katie Higgins is the only one who is qualified to compete eventually, and while training in the channel on a dense foggy day, she and her rowboat escort, Windy, get separated. That's when she meet Lamas, who is Andre Lanet. Well the romance will follow somewhat slowly, as Katie continues training and Andre continues pursuing her.
The family members and Lamas and Carson have some songs, and Charlotte Greenwood does one of her acrobatic dance gyrations. And, a French female swimmer, Gigi Mignon (played by Denise Darcel) has a thing for Carson.
The film seems to drag on a lot, and there are no hit songs. This is an MGM film, but nothing on the level of the big splashes Williams made in "Bathing Beauty" of 1944 and "Million Dollar Mermaid" of 1952.
It's interesting that Williams and Lamas would get married 16 years later. They would be in another film together - her last one. In 1961, Lamas directed a Spanish film, Magic Fountain, in the south of Spain. It has swimming, but wasn't released until 1963, and then never in the U. S. market. Lamas and Williams had both been divorced before that, he from his third wife, and she from her second husband. And, neither one would marry again until they wed each other eight years later on Dec. 31, 1969. That would end with his death in 1982 from pancreatic cancer. Williams's film career ended when she was 40. She had made some dramatic films, but when the musicals began to fade and Hollywood and the public seemed to tire of the swimming films, Esther Williams called it quits.
Among the rest of this cast, Demarest had the only long and enduring career in films. He had many top supporting roles with most of the leading actors for more than four decades. His best roles were in comedies and in his later years he played in TV roles. He was in 215 episodes, as Uncle Charley O'Casey, of the popular family comedy series, "My Three Sons," from 1965 to 1972.
Donna Corcoran, who plays the youngest Higgins family member, didn't go much beyond her childhood years, ending her acting career on TV's Donna Reed Show in 1963. Barbara Whiting, who sings a couple of songs as Suzie Higgins, was in her last of 20 acting credits in a TV movie in 1958. And French actress Denise Darcel, who pursues Carson in this film, was in just two more films and a few TV series before her film and acting career ended. She did work in the entertainment field after that.
Here's the one funny exchange that most people will smile or chuckle over. Katie Higgins (Williams), "How'd it get so dark?" André Lanet (Lamas), "The sun went down."