Juego de pasiones

Van Johnson and Esther Williams at their loveliest. Wonderful music throughout. A delightful picture for anyone who has ever been or hopes to be in love.

We have beautiful Esther Williams swimming and diving. We have Van Johnson sincere and radiant. We have Melchior in fine classical voice, Tommy Dorsey playing Grieg on the trombone (!) along with other classic Dorsey hits. And a couple of new songs. The movie mostly takes place in a resort with Olympic swimming pool and a sound-stage with a view over Yosemite Valley.

It's all very light, but let yourself be carried away, and it will steal your heart.

I didn't recognize Esther Williams when I saw her with her hair down, and had to look here to see who the actress was...what a beautiful woman! And the costumes were wonderful, along with the scenery of Yosemite, making this movie the perfect diversion for a lazy Sunday afternoon. The plot was a bit slow, and at today's standards left a lot to the imagination, however the innocence of post-WWII "romance" made this an absolutely charming tale. Van Johnson was good (as always, in my opinion), but the tenor actually stole the show and provided the perfect sounding board for both characters so that we could see that they weren't really philanderers -- just caught up in a difficult situation. My husband and I both enjoyed this movie, and I got a lot of great costume ideas, as well! I recommend this movie to anyone who is nostalgic for a simpler time and doesn't want to have to think too much -- just watch and be entertained!

Thrill of a Romance is such a VERY nice film. I watched it last night and totally enjoyed this cute and entertaining film. Nice swimming scenes with both Esther and Van together. Wonderful diving from Esther in this film and the music was wonderful.

This film is a wonderful way to end any romantic evening. MonaK

This movie had a huge impact on my life. In 1945 when I was nine years old, my grandfather offered to pay for boxing lessons for me. The problem was that I was not interested in having boxing lessons, however my parents and I had recently seen the Thrill of a Romance movie; and needless to say I developed a huge crush on Ester Williams. I asked my mother if she thought that my grandfather would pay for swimming lessons, and he did! As a result of seeing this movie, I learned to swim and then swam competitively from age ten through high school and then played four years water polo at UCLA. During the summers, while in college and continuing until age 62, I worked as a lifeguard and pool manager. Both daughters also swam competitively and had summer lifeguard jobs....... Thank You Ester Williams :-)

Enjoyed this 1945 film with young stars like Van Johnson and Esther Williams starting out on a brilliant career in the entertainment of swimming and musicals. Esther Williams,(Cynthia Glenn) was a swimming instructor at a pool and was noticed by a very rich business man who immediately swept her off her feet and got married to Cynthia. There honeymoon was a complete disaster because her husband had a business meeting in Washington, D.C. and he left her all alone without even making love. Van Johnson,(Major Thomas Milvaine) has a room next door to Cynthia and notices her crying on her balcony and gets acquainted with her and they begin to start seeing each other off and on. Cynthia finds out her husband will be gone for a whole week and in the meantime decides to teach Tom Milvaine some swimming lessons and they start dancing and taking long walks in the woods. Lauritz Melchior,(Nils Knudsen) sings many songs since he was a great opera star. You will even see Tommy Dorsey and his orchestra and Buddy Rich burning up his set of drums. Enjoyable musical with plenty of romance and entertainment from 1945.