bobblom How great to be able to see a movie that included Tommy Dorsey, Buddy De Franco and Buddy Rich on the screen; it's a treat for an jazz lover. And when was the last time they made a movie that included an opera singer (Lauritz Melchior). Will it ever happen again? Maybe with Andrea Bochelli but he's never sung at the Met. This hodge-podge of a story and cast, set in incredibly beautiful California landscapes in hyper-Technicolor, has lots of nostalgic charm. There is a lot you can learn about life in America in 1945 watching this movie: what was salable to audiences, acceptable sex roles, what hairdos were hip, the fashions of the day. Notice how few people are fat? I can't stand Van Johnson, but I can live with is presence just to see the Yosemite scenery and the redwoods.

Neil Doyle MGM could always depend on an ESTHER WILLIAMS movie to be breezy fun for movie fans who wanted escapism during the '40s in the form of light entertainment. And that's what they get here. VAN JOHNSON, a war hero she meets at a mountain resort, is her romantic interest and occasional swimming partner while her husband, CARLTON G. YOUNG, is neglecting her by performing his business duties.And, of course, you have to have music in an Esther Williams movie. So, they have LAURITZ MELCHIOR, the chubby tenor from the Met, serving as a sort of S.Z. Sakall type providing gentle humor and suave charm in between some robust songs. Then they have TOMMY DORSEY and his Orchestra for fans of contemporary music with Buddy Rich beating on the drums.The other standard ingredient is lush Technicolor that makes the most of some stunning scenery as well as some gorgeous shots of Esther in various swimming suits doing her thing in a pool of Olympic proportions. She also looks good on land in a series of smart outfits.The weakness is a thin story that needs all the padding it gets. But for Esther Williams/Van Johnson fans, this had all the standard ingredients they looked for in this sort of musical.

docrob44 An exceptionally lovely film offering a wide spectrum of tastes in music, viz.the best of the big band era (Tommy Dorsey) along with the Metropolitan Opera's greatest Heldentenor, Lauritz Melchior. The plot, while rather predictable, is far from boring and stars Esther Williams doing her thing along with one of the biggest male heart throbs of the time, Van Johnson. What a delight in this year of 2006 to see a Hollywood production without a leftist twist, a secret agenda or graphic sex scenes seconds after the lovers first meet. It's just pure entertainment on an emotionally mature level. Sadly this film will be seen as trite and somewhat saccharine by most of today's viewers. For that reason I would recommend it only for older, more mature audiences or for the exceptional younger person who finds himself interested in what the world was like before the widespread corruption of moral values took place.

dexter-10 It is difficult to discern the main theme of this film because the script is in itself confusing. Most likely it has to do with the extraordinary number of hasty marriages which took place in America during World War Two. The problems surrounding such marriages seemed insurmountable. For example, need marriages of convenience be honored as Cynthia Glenn (Esther Williams) attempts to do when her husband goes to Washington for a week-long meeting during their Honeymoon? Tens of thousands of real life soldiers did in fact leave their new wives shortly after the ceremony, many times leaving unresolved domestic problems as well. Cynthia, a swimming instructor, falls in love with a Major Milvaine (Van Johnson) the non-swimmer, and the complication begins. The value of this film is that a Homefront problem is addressed within the frame of fairly good acting by both Johnson and Williams. Can Cynthia keep swimming with the Major without sinking her marriage?