Luna senza miele

For 1945 with the Code firmly in place this film was quite daring in its subject matter. But the Esther Williams audience only wanted to see Esther in a bathing suit in or out of the water and Thrill of a Romance gave the viewer plenty of both.

Esther is a swimming instructor at a public pool in Los Angeles and driving by one day is Howard Hughes like tycoon Carleton G. Young. He puts on quite the campaign and they wed.

But Young is far more interested in business and while at a resort hotel on their honeymoon, Carleton gets called away to Washington on a big deal. We know what his priorities are. So Esther is an unconsummated bride alone on her honeymoon, when up pops war hero Van Johnson.

So for a week she and Van keep each other company and look pretty sad all the while.

Now Thrill of a Romance was not advertised to be Hamlet, but I found the premise here to be way to silly. But with lots of shots of Esther wet and dry and music by Tommy Dorsey's Orchestra and Lauritz Melchior of the Metropolitan Opera we had a whole lot of music of every taste. A highlight is a drum solo by Buddy Rich who after Frank Sinatra left as the band's vocalist, was Dorsey's main attraction.

Young Jerry Scott who plays Lyonel a bellboy at the hotel gives a nice lyric tenor interpretation of Because which that year was revived in a big hit record by Perry Como.

Speaking of Sinatra, he recorded a song written for this film I Should Care which was authored by his personal arranger Axel Stordahl and Sammy Cahn. Also sold a few platters back in the day.

Melchior sung a wide range of both classical and popular tunes. And he sort of functioned in the role of a father confessor to both Johnson and Williams. Had this been done at Warner Brothers, Melchior's part would have been played by S.Z. Sakall. Melchior even had the cheeks for it.

It's a nice film, maybe a little too light and too silly for today's audience. But Esther Williams fans got what they wanted.

While this was the first time both Esther Williams and Van Johnson were the leads in a motion picture, this wasn't the first time they were in a scene together onscreen: that was in A Guy Named Joe a few years before when Ms. Williams had a brief dancing sequence with him. He's not the only man in her life here, another one played by Carleton G. Young also figures but watch the movie if you want to know what I'm talking about. There's also amusing supporting turns by Spring Byington and Henry Travers as Esther's relatives. By the way, I always think of Mr. Travers first as Clarence Oddbody, Angel 2nd Class from my favorite movie It's a Wonderful Life. While I'm not an opera fan, I did enjoy the singing of Lauritz Melchior especially when he performed with Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra. Incidentally, Tommy introes a teen named Helene Stanley-who does a fine piano and singing-as his daughter Susan but he wouldn't have such an offspring with that name until four years after this movie's release. There's also a nice singing performance by African-American teen Jerry Scott who plays a bellhop, which emphasizes the limitation of roles for his race in Hollywood at the time. Also, a fine drum solo from Dorsey's drummer Buddy Rich. In summary, I enjoyed this fluff Thrill of a Romance represented during this time of war all over the world that must have pleased many patrons looking for some distraction...

MGM could always depend on an ESTHER WILLIAMS movie to be breezy fun for movie fans who wanted escapism during the '40s in the form of light entertainment. And that's what they get here. VAN JOHNSON, a war hero she meets at a mountain resort, is her romantic interest and occasional swimming partner while her husband, CARLTON G. YOUNG, is neglecting her by performing his business duties.

And, of course, you have to have music in an Esther Williams movie. So, they have LAURITZ MELCHIOR, the chubby tenor from the Met, serving as a sort of S.Z. Sakall type providing gentle humor and suave charm in between some robust songs. Then they have TOMMY DORSEY and his Orchestra for fans of contemporary music with Buddy Rich beating on the drums.

The other standard ingredient is lush Technicolor that makes the most of some stunning scenery as well as some gorgeous shots of Esther in various swimming suits doing her thing in a pool of Olympic proportions. She also looks good on land in a series of smart outfits.

The weakness is a thin story that needs all the padding it gets. But for Esther Williams/Van Johnson fans, this had all the standard ingredients they looked for in this sort of musical.

The glorious voice of Wagnerian Tenor Lauritz Melchoir adorns this formulistic film, crafted by MGM staff writers.

After dominating the Met and international operatic stages along with colleague Soprano Helen Traubel, Melchoir along with Traubel and Ezio Pinza signed MGM contracts. The three appeared in light musicals for this studio, singing arias, light ballads and specialty numbers, which were incorporated into the plotlines.

Here Melchoir's role is quite gratuitous, yet all is forgotten when he opens his mouth and sings several varied selections.

His voice rings out like a bell, and he possesses a welcome warmth and humor in his screen presence. Joined by studio regulars Esther Williams, Van Johnson, and Bandleader Tommy Dorsey, Melchoir manages to punctuate the slightly sub-par plot with charm.

It's as though the project was cast first, then writers were called upon to write for each personality. While the proceedings may be a bit routine, the music, color and trappings are quite enjoyable, and a pleasant reminder of a gentle era of movie making.

Fun and easy flowing movie. Good old film but would LOVE to know the name of the girl playing piano with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra in the movie. This is not considered a "heavy" movie but light weight and one the kids could watch with mom and dad in today's society. Some typical water scenes of Esther Williams that all of us can enjoy and of course dream we could do the same in our pool. Costuming is tastefully done and this brings back some great music and actually there are several genres covered. Not for Head Bangers or Hip Hoppers but for those that want to hear what the good old stuff really was meant to sound like. Abit more actual acting in this movie than a lot of those that Esther was in. Watch and enjoy!