Starring Esther Williams, Peter Lawford, Ricardo Montaban, and Cyd Charisse
Directed by Richard Thorpe
Music and Lyrics by various
When most people think of an Esther Williams movie, they probably have something like this in mind. It has everything people usually associate with her vehicles - lavish swimming numbers, handsome charismatic leading men, decent music, color, all taking place in an exotic setting. Durante's back for this one, too, along with dancer Charisse and fatherly Leon Ames. How does this tropical post-war extravaganza look today? Let's begin on the set of movie star Rosalind Reynolds' (Williams) latest smash and find out...
The Story: Naval Lieutenant Lawrence "Larry" Kingslee (Lawford) gets a job on the set of Reynolds' movie as a technical advisor, just so he can dance with her. He saw her in a USO show at his base in the Pacific during World War II and fell for her, but she doesn't remember him. He finally flies away with her during a scene where she's supposed to sneak into a plane. They end up stranded on the island where he first met her. Her fiancée Ricardo Montez (Montalban) and the assistant director Jimmy Buckley (Durante) send a search party after her, but they end up caught by local natives. Even after they return, Reynolds helps Lawford avoid a court martial...but she still can't admit her own feelings for him, even as co-star Yvonne Torro (Charisse) goes after Ricardo.
The Song and Dance: At the very least, the story is a bit more creative than the bland romantic comedy trappings in This Time for Keeps. Lawford and Montalban are far more interesting leading men, too. Dick Simmons is also more appropriate as the stoic director than as a love interest. Durante has even more fun here with two separate running gags. He figures out what to do with the chihuahua Xaviar Cugat gives him after he plays with his orchestra and keeps putting off a little British girl (Kathryn Beaumont) whose mother insists she be given an audition. The color here is absolutely glorious, showing off the island settings to their best advantage.
Favorite Number: This is a rare musical where most of the best numbers are non-vocal. Montalban (dubbed by Bill Lee) does perform the title song in the opening, and we get two comedy numbers from Durante on the piano at the club, "I Know Darn Well I Can Do Without Broadway" and "I'll Do the Strut-Away In My Cut-Away." Charisse and Montalban get two nice dance numbers, a more typical ballroom duet with her in swirling yellow and black to Cugat at the nightclub, and a sexy dance for the film in a tropical bar with them sliding down the top. The huge "The Pagan Mask" watches Cyd Charisse and the glowing orange and yellow feather-clad native dancers as they swing her up the steps of a Hollywood jungle temple.
Williams is showed to best advantage in two long swimming sequences. The first is a strange dream sequence that has Williams in a glittering green and khaki swimsuit beguiling Lawford as he remembers how they met, complete with him and Montalban getting into an underwater fight. Everyone is "All Aboard" as Williams joins the chorus for her big water ballet.
Trivia: Despite the film making Hawaii a major tourist destination in the late 40's-early 50's, it was actually filmed in Florida.
Cyd Charisse tore ligaments in her knee getting thrown around during the "Pagan Mask" ceremonial dance. She'd already finished almost all of her dances and was seen in long-shots for the remaining filming...but it did take her out of her next scheduled film, Easter Parade. Esther Williams really did sprain her ankle falling into that hole and did her remaining scenes on crutches.
If Beaumont sounds familiar, she's best-known today as the voice of Alice in the Disney Alice In Wonderland and Wendy in Peter Pan.
What I Don't Like: For all his charm, Larry really comes off as an obsessive stalker rather than a lover who desperately wants to meet a pretty woman. Roz had every right to be angry and scared after he kidnapped her. She shouldn't have defended him at the court martial, either, especially given he clearly didn't want her help. The two only end up together in the end because the plot says so, not because there's any real attraction. She seems more at ease with Montalban than she ever did with Lawford (who wasn't happy to be there to begin with). Montalban has very little to do beyond his two dance numbers and looking appropriately pretty and concerned, and Charisse has even less.
The Big Finale: Plot problems aside, I still recommend this one for the good numbers and cast alone.
Home Media: Easily found in several Esther Williams DVD collections and on streaming.
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