This Time for Keeps

Esther Williams stars in "This Time for Keeps," costarring Johnny Johnston, Dame May Witty, Jimmy Durante, and Lauritz Melchior. I guess the Third Reich was still a little too close for comfort, because the magnificent Heldentenor Melchior only sings Italian repertoire in this film, albeit magnificently. He was, of course, one of the all time great, if not the greatest, Wagnerian tenor in history.

Williams is the beautiful star of aquatic ballet when ex-GI Richard Johnson (Johnston) falls for her, having met her once while he was in the service. His father (Melchior) has other plans for him, and they include singing with an opera company and marrying the girl he left behind.

It's a thin story - after all, there has to be room for lots of swimming and singing. Esther is a goddess both in and out of the water, and Durante is terrific as her protective friend and work partner. Although referred to as a handsome man and a magnificent singer, Johnny Johnston makes a goofy looking leading man with a pleasant voice that only a father could think was suitable for opera, though he had some pretty high notes. Melchior rips up the sound system with "La Donna e Mobile" and "M'appari." Gorgeous. Durante's big number is "The Lost Chord," a real delight.

Entertaining, but a little draggy, with some beautiful location shots of Mackinac Island.

Williams is lovely as always in this colorful musical, but it lacks the effervescence and spectacle of some of her other, more memorable films. Here she plays the headliner of an aquatic show which also features piano-playing Durante, who has become a father figure to her over the years.

She's all set to settle down with kind, but bland Simmons when ex-GI Johnston spots her and recalls being charmed by her when he was hospitalized for a war injury. He begins wooing her heavily, but his father (opera singer Melchior) wants him to marry society debutante Stuart. Meanwhile, Johnston is busy trying to win over Williams' exacting grandmother Witty and precocious little niece McManus. There's a lot of music in the film and quite a bit of romantic complications and misunderstandings, but not really very much water ballet. At this stage in her career, Williams' acting hadn't quite reached a level of confidence or excellence so, while she is gorgeous and appealing, the film lacks the spark to put the contrived and convoluted story across. It doesn't help that the script is pretty lackluster or that her leading man Johnston is not exactly riveting either. He's an accomplished singer, but with very limited screen appeal. Durante holds things together to a point and Witty is always delightful. It just all seems to get spread a little thin by the time Melchior bellows out several numbers and Cugat (along with his worried little Chihuahua) performs several songs featuring an attractive female singer. One major asset (apart from the sight of Williams in her various drop-dead clothes and tasteful swimsuits) is the location work on Mackinac Island with it's stately buildings and eye-catching scenery. ("Somewhere in Time" enthusiasts will recall this magnificent location as well.) Fans of "Search for Tomorrow" will be delighted to see Stuart in her small role as the young fiancée.

What better entertainment. Once again, Esther Williams proves she's the queen of the MGM swimming spectacles. In glorious technicolor and looking like the dish she is, Miss Williams gives a delightful frothy performance. Her water scenes are very glamorous with underwater swimming scenes that take your breath away [kidding aside]. Add to this the comedic and charming Jimmy Durante who's a sort of fatherly type looking out for his swimming star. He too does some swimming, if you can believe it. The love interest in this flick is not one of the MGM stable studs you usually see [Van Johnson, Howard Keel or Fernando Lamas] but a pop singer of the times, Johnny Johnston, who has little film to his credit. He sings well, looks like a decent enough guy, but just doesn't have the stuff leading men are made of. A pleasant performance but not strong enough to allure the mermaid out of the water tank. Then there's Dame May Whitty, one of England's and MGM's stronger character women [remember her in Hitchcock's THE LADY VANISHES?] playing Esther's grandmother who once was a famous bareback rider in the circus, if you can believe it. And Lauritz Melchoir, the opera singer, who MGM was trying to make their newest singing star, playing the boy's papa. Not likely. More like grandpapa. But listen, for pure entertainment, silly plot and oh, those glorious swimming scenes and Esther Williams in gold lame bathing suits, who cares? Look for Richard Simmons in the rejected suitor scenes. He is always turning up in this type of role in most of the MGM musicals as boy friend, producer or whatever. Same type of role in ON AN ISLAND WITH YOU, another Williams musical, this time with Peter Lawford and Ricardo Montalban as her suitors. And round and round we go. But don't stop, Esther, you are a living doll, wet or dry.

Besides her water ballets, Esther always has at least one time in each film where she does one of her dives. She was in the Olympics once, they just cancelled the 1940 Olympics before she had her chance to compete. Then she just went into Hollywood and things took off for her from there.

Her fanatic for her in this film is Dick Johnston. He is first seen by the pool pretending to wear a bandage on his face. What he's actually doing is trying to make Esther feel sorry for him. She and her good friend Jimmy Durante (back again from "On an island with you") find out about Johnston doing that and take an instant disliking to him. But Esther soon will start falling for him and using her wonderful girlish charm of hers with him. Lauritz Melchior is back from " Thrill of a Romance" as Johnston's father, stealing every scene he's in again with his strong, talented opera voice. Esther, of course like in all her films, is the main one that makes things shine. I love old films from the 30s, 40s, and early 50s. Especially Judy Garland and Esther Williams. Hollywood's golden age would not have been the same without them.

Lauritz wants to arrange a marriage for his son, but his son only has eyes for Esther. She does another beautiful swimming number, with some nice underwater images, and Durante going under the water on a sinking platform and Esther pulling him up while wearing Durante's top hat. She looked so cute in that top hat. There's a sort of amusing scene by the pool where one of the swimming girl's three year old son is sitting on Durante's piano bench. Then Durante chases him up the diving board and the toddler dives into the pool. I've never seen such a small baby dive so well before. As Esther and Johnston become more romantically involved, Durante wants to see if Johnston will pass the "grandma" test. So Esther and Johnston take a trip up to wintertime Mackinac island where they need to travel by an icebreaker ship to get there. Grandma and Esther's little 7 year old niece take an instant liking to him. Then there's a very nice scene then with Johnston, Esther, and the niece all singing "Sno wonder we fell in love" on a sleigh. That scene was beautiful. Also beautiful is when we see Mackinac island in the springtime, the blossoms and the sweet 40s music and images of old fashioned Mackinac. Watching this really made it look like I was seeing into another age, a sweeter, more simple and innocent time that is now long gone. I seriously doubt modern day Mackinac has all horses and carriages and very few cars. I'm sure it looks much, much different now, just like almost anywhere else in modern 21st century America with Walmart and McDonalds, etc. I wish I was around back then, especially in the late 40s and early 50s when WW2 and the depression were over but the world was still so nice, simple, and innocent. I also liked a song Durante sang "The lost chord". I just love these films and the music and singing in them. I won't spoil the rest of the film in case there is someone reading this review who hasn't seen this film yet but wants to.

Note: I found out I was wrong when I said that Mackinac island looks very different today and looks just like most of the rest of 21st century America with traffic and Walmarts and etc. I guess I was just seeing how the other 99% of America today is like that. I did some reading up on modern Mackinac and was sorta surprised to find that the island still bans most cars, is still filled with horses, carriages, and bicycles. And that it still looks so beautiful and unspoiled, and still looks very much today like it did in the film. I never actually been there. Also, I read how the pool at the Grand hotel is named after Esther after she starred in the film there.

With This Time For Keeps MGM took care to cover as many possible musical tastes they could. Supporting Esther Williams in her water ballet sequences are Lauritz Melchior with some operatic arias, the latin rhythms of Xavier Cugat with Lina Romay, some comic songs from Jimmy Durante, and a few ballads from Johnny Johnson. Now if only we could have seen Dame May Whitty as a circus acrobat. She was in her younger days in this film where she is grandmother and guardian to Esther Williams and Sharon McManus.

Melchior is Johnson's father and he wants him to follow him in his career at the opera. Johnson has more popular tastes and has a yen for Williams. Who didn't in 1947?

Jimmy Durante is sort of a family retainer for Whitty and he spends the entire film guarding Esther's virtue. He also entertains between Esther's water sequences.

This Time For Keeps is a pleasant diversion and with so many genres of music and entertainment there will be something that pleases you. Has to be.