Des jupons à l'horizon

Even though I am a fan of Esther Williams, I found this film very uneven.

Skirts Ahoy! was released in 1952 when the U.S. was involved in the Korean conflict. The roles of women in society were changed significantly during WWII, which ended only about five years before. The country was adjusting quickly and creating social phenomena (the baby boom, the suburban real estate boom, and a search for equilibrium in the roles of the sexes) that would be studied for decades. Esther Williams, Vivian Blaine and Joan Evans play three Waves in training at the Great Lakes U.S. Naval Training Center. They are rather aggressive in pursuit of men--an attitude that many men would find off-putting, especially in the early 50s.

Barry Sullivan plays the navy physician that Esther Williams pursues. I found his performance drab, making it difficult to understand her fascination with him.

Vivian Blaine practically plays Miss Adelaide from Guys and Dolls here, a role she perfected on Broadway in 1950 and, later, in the film (1955).

Esther gets her moments in the pool, of course. As usual, the aqua routines are not really a part of the overall plot. And the studio managed to throw in a number of music and dance numbers that are the same way, so that Esther is an audience member during them. It's pretty remarkable that the local dinner club features Billy Eckstine. In a show on the base, we find Keenan Wynn, Debbie Reynolds, Bobby Van and a full selection of orchestra, drill teams, and choral groups.

The dance number featuring Debbie and Bobby was fun. Both are so fresh that their roles are uncredited. Singin' in the Rain was released in the same year, so who knew Debbie would be such a hit when Skirts Ahoy! came to theaters?

I particularly enjoyed the performances of the (5) DeMarco Sisters. Great harmonies, great energy.

The film has an improbable resolution, but the entire plot is merely a device to separate the swimming and musical numbers.

This post-WWII film is very dated. The women recruits sing a song about how 'women are nothing without a man'. If you can put this sort of sentiment in the context that it was created, this film has a few things to recommend it. There are a few good musical numbers, and lots of camp humour. It's hilarious that none of the military personnel are ever shown doing anything remotely militant. The Navy is depicted as a social event, with shows, synchronized swimming, dating, hijinks.

The DeMarco Sisters contribute a few nice moments to this brief, shallow movie. They harmonize nicely, and perform with enthusiasm.

The movie is a mildly entertaining snapshot of the early Fifties, when America was still preoccupied with the war even while it was starting to focus its gaze on the changing relationship between the sexes.

A very dull musical, not comparable with what director Sidney Lanfield had made at 20th.Century Fox in the thirties. No wonder this was his last picture. An example of the difference between what the Freed unit and the Pasternak unit were doing at MGM at the time. Of course, Esther Williams was as beautiful as ever.

Esther Williams is top-billed and dripping-wet as usual (an underwater ballet with two cloying kiddies is especially hard to take), but the truly frightening presence here is that of Vivian Blaine, fast on the heels of her Broadway triumph in "Guys and Dolls." She had been a likeable but unremarkable singer at 20th in the 40s, then "G&D" gave her a new persona in the character of Adelaide, the adenoidal, Brooklynese nightclub dancer. Here she's Adelaide in all but name, and her rambunctiousness makes Betty Hutton look timid. Her overemphatic line readings and hoydenishness quickly become wearing, but you don't forget her.

Esther, who sang acceptably and had a nice comic sense in addition to her aquatic gifts, is a gracious presence and has more to act than usual. Here she's a headstrong rich girl who learns humility--not exactly a fresh idea, but it's spun out gracefully by screenwriter Isobel Lennart, and given some appealing feminist filigrees. The songs are OK, second-lead Joan Evans is dull, and the nearly two-hour running time feels padded out, especially with a couple of specialty numbers thrown in. But it's a decent Technicolor time-passer, with all that postwar Hollywood patriotism that seems to be coming back in vogue.

SKIRTS AHOY! (1952) is musical-comedy fluff aimed mostly at a female audience, but it's not too bad. It's pleasant enough and some of the songs by Harry Warren and Ralph Blane are fun ("What Makes a Wave?", "What Good Is a Gal?"). MGM's swimming superstar Esther Williams, "Guys and Dolls" standout Vivian Blaine, and Joan Evans join the Navy to escape their man troubles. Esther Williams performs a couple of dry-land musical numbers, but the script still finds time for her to visit the pool. In one scene she's accompanied by a couple pint-sized swimming prodigies (brother and sister Russell and Kathy Tongay). Keenan Wynn, Debbie Reynolds, and Bobby Van make celebrity cameos.