La fille de Neptune

Lame musical comedy starring Esther Williams and Ricardo Montalbahn. Williams plays a bathing suit designer who wants to protect her sister, Betty Garrett, from Montalbahn, a polo star and Lothario whom Garrett has fallen for. Really, though, Garrett has fallen for Red Skelton, who pretends to be Montalbahn. While Williams thinks she's keeping Montalbahn occupied, the two, as you expect, fall in love. Williams is a pretty boring actress, famously only "something" when she's wet, and she's kept out of the water for 95% of the movie, and they even cut away from what promises to be an epic water ballet in the final moments. The only amusing moments come between Skelton and Garrett, though their antics never rise above slightly amusing. They have good chemistry, though. It's too bad their studio didn't recognize it at the time, because they should have been paired again. There are two bits of interest in the film: first, it won the Oscar for best song, Frank Loesser's "Baby, It's Cold Outside". Now there's a trivia question! The song doesn't even make sense in the movie. As far as I could tell, the movie takes place in California. Even if I'm incorrect on that, it certainly was never cold in the movie, and why would someone even write a song about the cold and snowstorms for an Esther Williams movie? Weird. It's a great song, of course, and the best part of the film. Both couples sing it in full back to back, with Garrett and Skelton reversing the roles the second time around. The second thing, there's this one character in the movie named Pancho, who works for the polo team or something. When he began to talk, I was thinking, "Wow, what a stereotypical accent. Sounds just like Speedy Gonzales." Then, "Wow, really a lot like Speedy Gonzales. Wait a second… that actor looks like…" Yes, it was! Mel Blanc, playing a guy who sounds just like Speedy Gonzales. I didn't know Mel Blanc did anything live action.

Esther Williams had some fairly amusing comedies in the '40s that had her jumping into a pool every so often to keep her "Million Dollar Mermaid" label intact. She not only swims here, but joins in the fun and even lends herself to a funny rendition of "Baby, It's Cold Outside" with Ricardo Montalban while Red Skelton is doing his own version of the song with Betty Garrett. It's a wacky bit of fun about Red being mistaken for a polo player. He has some wild slapstick scenes--one of which has him joining a bevy of bathing beauties as he attempts to fit into a water ballet (reminiscent of his hijinks in "Bathing Beauty"). His partner in fun is Betty Garrett who delivers her own special brand of comedy with no strain at all.

Ricardo Montalban is an excellent foil for Esther's romantic scenes as the wealthy polo player. The blurb on the video jacket offers a quote from the N.Y. Times: "The most entertaining of all the aquatic spectacles in which Esther Williams has starred."

'Nuff said. Enjoy!

The movie features a marvelous cast, each doing his or her specialty. But I especially like the unheralded Betty Garret as the ditzy sister who manages to steal several scenes. Williams has a few abbreviated swim scenes, but does more acting than paddling. Then too, making her a swimsuit designer gives us guys an eyeful of the modeling scenes. Frankly, though, I was disappointed with the big aqua number, which has legions of girls diving into the pool but little more. It's far from any kind of ballet that Williams is so good at.

Of course, Skelton is made for movies like this where his slapstick comedy can blend into the overall shenanigans. However, a couple of his skits (mounting the horse & piling it on muscle- man Mazurki) went past their peak of hilarity. Good to see voice wizard Mel Blanc get a movie break after so many years of funny dialects on radio, TV, and cartoons. All in all, the movie's an entertaining and certainly colorful 90-minutes, but unfortunately not Williams' best.

Esther Williams knows clothes, or should I say bathing suits. This Esther Williams outing shows her getting discovered by Keenan Wynn and going right into the bathing suit business. Keenan Wynn, unlike his role in "Easy to Wed," is so subdued he comes across rather uninteresting. Betty Garrett, as Esther's sister, pretty much takes the spotlight as she tries to snare Red Skelton. By the way, Ricardo Montalban is Esther's paramour and "Neptune's Daughter" does include the Oscar-winning song "Baby, It's Cold Outside." But otherwise this film doesn't have much to recommend it. It only makes you think of other Esther Williams movies that are better with this kind of material and talent. The title "Neptune's Daughter" I'm sure was though of to make it sound glamorous. But it does not showcase Esther and company at their best.

I am astonished about the low rating of this movie! There are of course many musicals which are boring and this one - I admit - does not feature very much. No great songs (despite "Baby it's cold outside - Oscar!), no great dancing and absolutely no great acting. But there is something to make the film special: The comedic timing is perfectly, the gags drop fluently. The supporting roles are fantastic: Red Skelton at his best and the absolutely wonderful Betty Garrett to team him (they should have made more movies!). Xavier Cugat and his orchestra play enthusiastic samba rhythms, the decoration of the picture is bright and joyful! There is no single boring moment, the whole film is like a short trip to the Caribbean sea with a fancy cocktail in your hand!