Dangerous When Wet

Esther Williams has the misfortune to be born to a family of irrepressible morning people. You know the type: always perky and cheerful first thing in the morning and ready to beat it into you if you're not. Esther enters a contest to swim the English Channel, and for some reason the time of the race is set only the night before. Wouldn't you know it, that's the night she's chosen to go out drinking with Fernando Lamas.

All in all, a delightful piece of fluff. This is the one where Esther dances a water ballet with Tom and Jerry.

Katie Higgins (Esther Williams) is the eldest daughter of a dairy-farming family of health nuts. Health tonic promoter Windy Weebe (Jack Carson) convinces her to enter a contest to swim the English Channel. After arriving in Europe, Katie finds herself pursued by a dashing Frenchman (Fernando Lamas). This is one of Esther's best movies. She's gorgeous here, as she always was -- the Queen of Technicolor. The cast is great. Highlights include Barbara Whiting's performance of the cheeky song "I Like Men," Esther's famous underwater ballet with Tom & Jerry, and pretty much every scene with William Demarest. It's a very funny and charming musical comedy. A must-see for Esther fans.

Arkansas farm family is tapped to swim in a race across the English Channel as part of a promotional campaign for a health drink. MGM musical isn't smothered with the usual studio-gloss, and Esther Williams is spunky and likable, but the plot is still pretty thin. Esther's on-screen romance with Fernando Lamas generated sparks off-screen (they were soon married in real-life), yet only a smidgen of this chemistry makes it into the movie. Not bad, overall; it's probably best remembered for the wonderful dream sequence wherein Williams swims with various cartoon characters, including Tom and Jerry. **1/2 from ****

Get ready to be wet and happy all over! William Demarest and Charlotte Greenwood are head of this family that practices healthy habits: eating right and plenty of exercise, which of course includes swimming. Enter Esther Williams who is in her element in this feel-good lightweight comedy musical. Fernando Lamas is an added plus to this story of a family that tries to swim the English Channel. Their chemistry and good looks make for much of this film's appeal. But, it works on so many other levels, too, with enjoyable and peppy songs and great acting by its supporting character actors William Demarest, Charlotte Greenwood (who has a very memorable dance number), and Jack Carson as her agent. Plus, a famous cat-and-mouse team is featured to good use. With that much talent, you can't go wrong. So, jump in and get wet all over. You'll feel better.

MGM always released an Esther Williams movie as a bit of relaxing summer entertainment with the Swimming Sweetheart obliging everyone by looking pretty in a bathing suit as she plunges into those big swimming pools.

Here she plunges into the English Channel to compete for top prize. She's from a family of health addicts headed by William Demarest and Charlotte Greenwood (who happen to look foolish during some of their song-and-dance routines) and encouraged by coach Jack Carson. Denise Darcel is her romantic rival--but wait, she has Fernando Lamas, a dashing Frenchman, ready to offer her romance aboard his yacht. It's all quite watchable, if silly, and definitely not one of Esther's finest moments.

A memorable highlight is her underwater fling with Tom & Jerry that is fun to watch and dazzling to contemplate. But the film itself is a light, airy entertainment that is strictly a no-brainer guaranteed to please the masses. And Esther, as usual, looks gorgeous in and out of a bathing suit. Real life hubby, Fernando Lamas, however, comes across as one of her less versatile leading men, no matter how handsome he is.

The musical interludes are few and far between. None of them are remarkable. What the film needed was a lift from a song like "Baby, It's Cold Outside" (as in 'Neptune's Daughter'), but instead there are a few dreary numbers such as "Ain't Nature Grand?" and "In My Wildest Dreams". The channel swimming scenes will have you rooting for Esther as you huff and puff with her! Could have been better, but what the heck.