User Reviews

Esther Williams stars in "This Time for Keeps," costarring Johnny Johnston, Dame May Witty, Jimmy Durante, and Lauritz Melchior. I guess the Third Reich was still a little too close for comfort, because the magnificent Heldentenor Melchior only sings Italian repertoire in this film, albeit magnificently. He was, of course, one of the all time great, if not the greatest, Wagnerian tenor in history.

Williams is the beautiful star of aquatic ballet when ex-GI Richard Johnson (Johnston) falls for her, having met her once while he was in the service. His father (Melchior) has other plans for him, and they include singing with an opera company and marrying the girl he left behind.

It's a thin story - after all, there has to be room for lots of swimming and singing. Esther is a goddess both in and out of the water, and Durante is terrific as her protective friend and work partner. Although referred to as a handsome man and a magnificent singer, Johnny Johnston makes a goofy looking leading man with a pleasant voice that only a father could think was suitable for opera, though he had some pretty high notes. Melchior rips up the sound system with "La Donna e Mobile" and "M'appari." Gorgeous. Durante's big number is "The Lost Chord," a real delight.

Entertaining, but a little draggy, with some beautiful location shots of Mackinac Island.

A film with great talent like Esther Williams, Lauritz Melchior, Jimmy Durante, Xavier Cugat and May Witty promises a lot, they're great enough individually but seeing them together in the same film is every bit as big a treat. None of the five stars disappoint, but 'This Time For Keeps' as a film could have been much more.

Getting the flaws out of the way, the script really lacks lustre in places, lacks wit and sophistication and anybody looking for sense will be short-changed. The story is flimsy nonsense and often painfully predictable with some draggy pacing in a few scenes that aren't musical numbers.

Despite singing decently, Johnnie Johnston is a charisma-free presence and fails to generate much chemistry with the rest of the cast. Richard Thorpe's direction is competent but undistinguished.

Conversely, 'This Time For Keeps' is lavishly mounted and shot in glorious Technicolor. The songs are pleasant, while the operatic/classical music segments provided by Melchior (which include the likes of "La Donna E Mobile", "M' Apari" and even a bit of Otello) are even better. They benefit from being energetically staged.

Most of the cast work very well. Williams radiates with charm and her swimming talent is second to none. Durante is very funny and seems to be having a ball. Melchior sings with his usual thrilling ring, sounding absolutely wonderful, and is cuddly and amusing. Cugat sends up a storm and Witty is just delightful.

Overall, a pleasant diversion but unexceptional, with the cast being the biggest merit. 6/10 Bethany Cox

This film is an enigma because, while it is a properly light-hearted musical (but weren't they all), it also boasts a great many oddities- starting with the strange title (exactly what in the film is "for keeps?"). Esther Williams plays a properly likable, properly beautiful, water ballerina whose relationship with Jimmy Durante (a legend whom I've always enjoyed) should have been that of a father and daughter, but instead is something a tad stranger. Thankfully, this isn't ignored in the film, as her actual love interest (Johnnie Johnston), whom Durante relentlessly 'protects' from Williams, challenges his interference in the film's 11th hour. (While Durante seems to have a bothered conscience about this, it is never confirmed or denied.) Co-starring with Williams and Durante is the very genteel and old-school tenor Lauritz Melchior as Johnston's meddlesome (and somewhat annoying) father. The musical numbers are delightful, if a tad uneven in quality. I wasn't particularly fond of Durante's "Lost Chord" routine, but it appears to be legendary with most listeners. I prefer Johnston's "Easy To Love," the various Xavier Cugat pieces, and most of all, the provocative striptease and swim of "Ten Percent Off."

What better entertainment. Once again, Esther Williams proves she's the queen of the MGM swimming spectacles. In glorious technicolor and looking like the dish she is, Miss Williams gives a delightful frothy performance. Her water scenes are very glamorous with underwater swimming scenes that take your breath away [kidding aside]. Add to this the comedic and charming Jimmy Durante who's a sort of fatherly type looking out for his swimming star. He too does some swimming, if you can believe it. The love interest in this flick is not one of the MGM stable studs you usually see [Van Johnson, Howard Keel or Fernando Lamas] but a pop singer of the times, Johnny Johnston, who has little film to his credit. He sings well, looks like a decent enough guy, but just doesn't have the stuff leading men are made of. A pleasant performance but not strong enough to allure the mermaid out of the water tank. Then there's Dame May Whitty, one of England's and MGM's stronger character women [remember her in Hitchcock's THE LADY VANISHES?] playing Esther's grandmother who once was a famous bareback rider in the circus, if you can believe it. And Lauritz Melchoir, the opera singer, who MGM was trying to make their newest singing star, playing the boy's papa. Not likely. More like grandpapa. But listen, for pure entertainment, silly plot and oh, those glorious swimming scenes and Esther Williams in gold lame bathing suits, who cares? Look for Richard Simmons in the rejected suitor scenes. He is always turning up in this type of role in most of the MGM musicals as boy friend, producer or whatever. Same type of role in ON AN ISLAND WITH YOU, another Williams musical, this time with Peter Lawford and Ricardo Montalban as her suitors. And round and round we go. But don't stop, Esther, you are a living doll, wet or dry.

The cast list of this movie reads like a George Carlin joke, but a careful viewer will discover why actors like Jimmy Durante and Esther Williams were hired over and over again.

The movie is a musical, not because the characters sing to advance the plot, but because the music is really what this film is about. The plot, such as it is, is easily spotted five minutes into the film and serves mainly to provide a framework for Esther Williams to do what she was best at. The same is true for Lauritz Melchior and Jimmy Durante. What they were good at is seen in the 21st Century as quaint, but again a careful viewer will find rewards.

As a Michigan resident, I watched the movie for its scenes of the boats that used to ply the waters of the Straits of Makinac. It doesn't matter that when the movie shows the "Chief Wawatam" docking at Mackinac Island, it's actually docking at Mackinaw City. I like seeing the boats that are now all just memories as they once were, an essential part of Michigan life.

So what if the "nightclubs" are so large they can only be Hollywood sound stages? So what if we are essentially seeing a remake of "The Jazz Singer?. Enjoy the music, the water ballet, Jimmy Durante's jokes and Xavier Cugat's teacup chihuahua.

The movie tells a simple, light-hearted love story between Leonora Cambaretti (Esther Williams), the leading swimmer in a water ballet show, and Ferdi Farro (Jimmy Durante), a singer who just returned from World War II. The plot is rather straight, without serious complications, harmless, sometimes naive, insubstantial. But within its limited scope it is well done and enjoyable.

As this is a musical movie, there is singing, dancing, and -- most remarkable -- the water ballet. The different numbers include some charming scenes. But you cannot compare the dancing with the wonderful performances that are known, for example, from Fred Astaire movies. Also the singing numbers do not reach the quality that is present, for instance, in "My Dream Is Yours" (with Doris Day as a singer), a movie that was produced at about the same time with a similar, though slightly more ambitious entertainment scope.

I recently have watched about a dozen Esther Williams movies. Some were quite good and most were pretty watchable despite the silly plots. However, I must say that of all the ones I've seen, this one is by far the worst. I think that unless you are the sort of person who wants to see all of her movies, this one is imminently skippable.

The film stars Williams as, what else, Nora, an underwater performer. She falls in love (though we know no reason why) with a very dull man named Dick Johnson (I am NOT making that up)--played by Johnny Johnston. However, in a subplot stolen right from "The Jazz Singer", Dick's father is very controlling and expects the young man to not only be an opera singer like himself but also marry the woman HE has picked out for the son! Not surprisingly, the father's actions created serious misunderstandings and nearly break up Nora and Dick. But the problem is Nora really, really loves Dick. Can her love of Dick triumph in the end?

The weakest link in the film is Johnston. While his voice is magnificent, he had as much charisma as a piece of moldy cheese...no,...perhaps less. Looking so plain and possessing very little personality, you have no idea why Nora loves this guy so much. As for me, after a while I really didn't care. Overall, a very simple plot that is too much like "The Jazz Singer" and with a leading man who makes paste seem exciting.

By the way, the underwater ballet scene near the beginning is among Esther's most famous. Yet, as you watch it you'll probably rightfully wonder how the audience who was supposedly watching it could possibly even see these tricks! Think about it--from the stage in the movie, all they could see (barely) is the top of the water!!

With This Time For Keeps MGM took care to cover as many possible musical tastes they could. Supporting Esther Williams in her water ballet sequences are Lauritz Melchior with some operatic arias, the latin rhythms of Xavier Cugat with Lina Romay, some comic songs from Jimmy Durante, and a few ballads from Johnny Johnson. Now if only we could have seen Dame May Whitty as a circus acrobat. She was in her younger days in this film where she is grandmother and guardian to Esther Williams and Sharon McManus.

Melchior is Johnson's father and he wants him to follow him in his career at the opera. Johnson has more popular tastes and has a yen for Williams. Who didn't in 1947?

Jimmy Durante is sort of a family retainer for Whitty and he spends the entire film guarding Esther's virtue. He also entertains between Esther's water sequences.

This Time For Keeps is a pleasant diversion and with so many genres of music and entertainment there will be something that pleases you. Has to be.

This movie is a waste of talent and time - yours if you watch it. The script often makes no sense - nor does the title, as one reviewer pointed out - and it sinks the whole enterprise. Esther Williams' swim numbers aren't at all interesting, nothing like those in movies like Jupiter's Daughter. Melchior gets to sing a lot, but he doesn't sing very well - it's often just loud, as in M'appari. He is much better in Thrill of Romance. The best performance in the movie is, to my mind, Durante's - though it's not one of his better movie appearances. The best number is his The Lost Chord, and that's not a great number.

All of these performers have given much better performances elsewhere. Go watch those, and leave this unfortunate mistake to rest in peace.

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I gave this movie another viewing tonight, and I confess my opinion of it isn't any better. It is a lot of talent put to no good use.

Melchior, who showed himself to be a really good comedian a year later in Luxury Liner, is almost completely wasted here. He was still a great tenor in 1947, but he just bellows his numbers here, especially La Donna è mobile from Rigoletto, where he doesn't even try to do the concluding runs in one breath. That was not a role he ever sang on the opera stage, and it was wrong for his voice. Why did they give it to him here? In Luxury Liner, he gets a few pop numbers and shows he could do a good job with them. (He also bellows *You'd be so easy to love* here.)

Johnny Johnston, the young romantic lead, is a non-entity. His voice is pleasant enough - though it sounds pretty thin when he sings *M'apparì* right after Melchior - but he has no screen charisma at all.

Most of the music here is either forgettable or not well performed.

Esther Williams is also wasted in this movie, with uninteresting swim numbers. But when she comes out of the water and we get a close up, we get to see that she was really, in addition to her talents, one very beautiful woman.

Again, for me Durante is the best thing in this movie, despite the fact that his role is basically unappealing and that he had been much better in other pictures. There are several totally extraneous numbers in this picture. (There are a LOT of musical numbers.) They should have been cut, and we should have been given several scenes with Melchior and Durante playing off each other.

Dull, dull is a good word for this. While nice color and musical numbers, everything else is terrible. Johnnie Johnston is the least charming and the dullest of all Williams leading men. Really bad casting. Spooky Jimmy Durante in love with Esther is in bad taste. He could be her grandfather. For shame. Time element is all off. One day in Michigan everything covered in snow and no-one around, then the next couple of days, sunny, bright without a trace of snow. Esther is a star of an aqua show but she's always away???? Again, makes no sense.

I saw this film many years ago and had forgotten the title until I was looking up "Johnny Johnston" on the website. I remember Johnston from the years he was a panelist on "Password," then hosted by Allen Ludden. When Johnston was introduced on "Password," it was mentioned he once was married to Kathryn Grayson of "Showboat" fame. I remember Johnston as a very attractive blond man with a terrific smile and sparkling personality when he served as a panelist. Yet, I did not realize Johnston had portrayed the love interest of Esther Williams in "This Time For Keeps." At any rate, I will track down DVDs of this movie and others in which Johnston appeared and the CD remakes of his vocal recordings (hit singles and movie soundtracks)during the 1930s and 1940s. It is unfortunate his talent was not more appreciated during his lifetime, as he passed away January 6, 1996.

It's the timeless story of Dick Johnson, a young man returning home from war who doesn't want to sing opera like his dad or marry his social-climbing fiancée. Instead he wants to sing in a nightclub and romance a beautiful swimmer. We've seen it all before.

A tired musical comedy that's more of a showcase for Jimmie Johnston than Esther Williams. Technicolor goddess Esther does get in the water a few times but there are no lavish swimming numbers here. Jimmie Johnston is as bland and vanilla as they come. In some scenes he looks less like an actor and more like a tourist who just wandered onto set and seems awestruck by the lights and cameras. Not surprising this is the biggest role of his career. Jimmy Durante provides the film's laughs. Child actress Sharon McManus steals every one of her scenes. The music is fine. "S'No Wonder They Fell in Love" is the best number. It's worth a look for Esther completists or anyone who might giggle every time they hear Dick Johnson.

Many scenes are filmed on Michigan's Mackinac Island, which to this day bans cars in favor of horses and bicycles. After seeing the movie, you can walk down every street and note that nearly 60 years later, nothing has changed.

Besides her water ballets, Esther always has at least one time in each film where she does one of her dives. She was in the Olympics once, they just cancelled the 1940 Olympics before she had her chance to compete. Then she just went into Hollywood and things took off for her from there.

Her fanatic for her in this film is Dick Johnston. He is first seen by the pool pretending to wear a bandage on his face. What he's actually doing is trying to make Esther feel sorry for him. She and her good friend Jimmy Durante (back again from "On an island with you") find out about Johnston doing that and take an instant disliking to him. But Esther soon will start falling for him and using her wonderful girlish charm of hers with him. Lauritz Melchior is back from " Thrill of a Romance" as Johnston's father, stealing every scene he's in again with his strong, talented opera voice. Esther, of course like in all her films, is the main one that makes things shine. I love old films from the 30s, 40s, and early 50s. Especially Judy Garland and Esther Williams. Hollywood's golden age would not have been the same without them.

Lauritz wants to arrange a marriage for his son, but his son only has eyes for Esther. She does another beautiful swimming number, with some nice underwater images, and Durante going under the water on a sinking platform and Esther pulling him up while wearing Durante's top hat. She looked so cute in that top hat. There's a sort of amusing scene by the pool where one of the swimming girl's three year old son is sitting on Durante's piano bench. Then Durante chases him up the diving board and the toddler dives into the pool. I've never seen such a small baby dive so well before. As Esther and Johnston become more romantically involved, Durante wants to see if Johnston will pass the "grandma" test. So Esther and Johnston take a trip up to wintertime Mackinac island where they need to travel by an icebreaker ship to get there. Grandma and Esther's little 7 year old niece take an instant liking to him. Then there's a very nice scene then with Johnston, Esther, and the niece all singing "Sno wonder we fell in love" on a sleigh. That scene was beautiful. Also beautiful is when we see Mackinac island in the springtime, the blossoms and the sweet 40s music and images of old fashioned Mackinac. Watching this really made it look like I was seeing into another age, a sweeter, more simple and innocent time that is now long gone. I seriously doubt modern day Mackinac has all horses and carriages and very few cars. I'm sure it looks much, much different now, just like almost anywhere else in modern 21st century America with Walmart and McDonalds, etc. I wish I was around back then, especially in the late 40s and early 50s when WW2 and the depression were over but the world was still so nice, simple, and innocent. I also liked a song Durante sang "The lost chord". I just love these films and the music and singing in them. I won't spoil the rest of the film in case there is someone reading this review who hasn't seen this film yet but wants to.

Note: I found out I was wrong when I said that Mackinac island looks very different today and looks just like most of the rest of 21st century America with traffic and Walmarts and etc. I guess I was just seeing how the other 99% of America today is like that. I did some reading up on modern Mackinac and was sorta surprised to find that the island still bans most cars, is still filled with horses, carriages, and bicycles. And that it still looks so beautiful and unspoiled, and still looks very much today like it did in the film. I never actually been there. Also, I read how the pool at the Grand hotel is named after Esther after she starred in the film there.

Williams is lovely as always in this colorful musical, but it lacks the effervescence and spectacle of some of her other, more memorable films. Here she plays the headliner of an aquatic show which also features piano-playing Durante, who has become a father figure to her over the years.

She's all set to settle down with kind, but bland Simmons when ex-GI Johnston spots her and recalls being charmed by her when he was hospitalized for a war injury. He begins wooing her heavily, but his father (opera singer Melchior) wants him to marry society debutante Stuart. Meanwhile, Johnston is busy trying to win over Williams' exacting grandmother Witty and precocious little niece McManus. There's a lot of music in the film and quite a bit of romantic complications and misunderstandings, but not really very much water ballet. At this stage in her career, Williams' acting hadn't quite reached a level of confidence or excellence so, while she is gorgeous and appealing, the film lacks the spark to put the contrived and convoluted story across. It doesn't help that the script is pretty lackluster or that her leading man Johnston is not exactly riveting either. He's an accomplished singer, but with very limited screen appeal. Durante holds things together to a point and Witty is always delightful. It just all seems to get spread a little thin by the time Melchior bellows out several numbers and Cugat (along with his worried little Chihuahua) performs several songs featuring an attractive female singer. One major asset (apart from the sight of Williams in her various drop-dead clothes and tasteful swimsuits) is the location work on Mackinac Island with it's stately buildings and eye-catching scenery. ("Somewhere in Time" enthusiasts will recall this magnificent location as well.) Fans of "Search for Tomorrow" will be delighted to see Stuart in her small role as the young fiancée.