Fatta per amare

Easy to Love may yet when the definitive history of film is written to be Busby Berkeley's ultimate triumph. No longer confined by a motion picture sound studio, Berkeley stages a water ballet finale that is probably his ultimate fantasy number.

I have no doubt that somebody at MGM got together with someone at Florida's Cypress Gardens and decided to make a film promotion of the place. In essence that's what you have here. MGM shot the whole thing down there in Florida and the technicolor photography is spectacular.

When MGM did its compilation film That's Entertainment it was also mentioned that for one and one star alone did that studio construct a sound stage just for her. That would be Esther Williams, swimming star and movie star.

Esther's place at MGM was something akin to Sonja Henie's at 20th Century Fox. A sports star who was already a celebrity before becoming an actress, Esther because the Olympics of 1940 was canceled did not quite have the clout Henie did when dickering with the MGM brass. Yet Esther was as good a businesswoman as Henie and MGM did quite all right by her in marketing her to the public. She does some numbers in the tank, but that finale is something else.

For those of you who have only seen the finale because of That's Entertainment, the story is three guys and Esther and who she will choose. Her choice is her boss at Cypress Gardens Van Johnson, nightclub singer Tony Martin, and her swimming partner John Bromfield.

Tony Martin sings the Cole Porter classic title tune and several other numbers, the best of which is one sung with a chorus of senior citizens and Esther, That's What a Rainy Day is For. I particularly like that one it's perfectly suited to Martin's style. Besides the finale Esther a very cute number dressed in a clown get up with a seal and chimpanzee and a mechanical alligator. According to her memoirs they were among her most memorable co-stars.

I think it's unfortunate that Easy to Love did not utilize the musical talents of Van Johnson. He was signed by MGM in fact after he was spotted in the cast of Broadway's Too Many Girls. Of course he was no match for Tony Martin as a singer, but in films like Till the Clouds Roll By and Brigadoon he more than held his own. In fact MGM should have used him more in musicals generally than they did.

And for we who appreciate these things there's the sight of John Bromfield who spends most of the film in a bathing suit.

Easy to Love is quite the spectacle and real easy to take.

Release dates for this one indicate that M-G-M decorated the nation's movie screens with this tuneful treat on Christmas Day. It was a delightful concoction with Esther displaying just about everything that made her one of the studio's biggest box office favorites, including a frantic number where she's dressed as a clown and required, no doubt by Busby Berkeley, assisting director Charles Walters, to perform some exceedingly lively stunts in the course of an elaborate aquatic display of why she was still a champion when wet.

Tony Martin croons the title tune, a Cole Porter standard, to Esther as she languidly swims for what seems like miles in a moonlit lagoon and there's an extremely sweet little song, entitled "That's What a Rainy Day Is For," tossed off, as they could afford to do in those melodious times, by Mr. Martin again, to a roomful of charming elderly ladies surrounding Miss Williams. The final extravaganza, set in Florida's Cypress Gardens, involves motorboats, dozens of swimmers, and Esther dangling and diving from a helicopter, no doubt the brainchild of Mr. Berkeley, the scourge of everyone assigned to execute the products of his fertile imagination (and, according to some reports, his alcohol-fueled tirades.)

Of course the plot, with Esther pining for a remarkably disinterested Van Johnson, probably irritated even the tolerant audiences of the early Fifties, but it was scripted cleverly enough to display Esther's gift for light comedy, something that is not as appreciated as it should be. When that lengthy sequence of scenes from Esther Williams movies was put together for "That's Entertainment!" in 1974, a young acquaintance of mine, completely unfamiliar with Hollywood's one-and-only mermaid, exited the theater thoroughly besotted with her charms. He found himself literally at a loss for words to express his admiration. I don't know if he ever had the opportunity to see one of her pictures in its entirety, but this wouldn't have been a bad choice, were he limited to just one title.

While not quite an "easy to love" film, 'Easy to Love' is very much an "easy to like" film. Flaws and all, it is a very likable film, one of Esther Williams' most likable.

People will be disappointed at the paper-thin weakness of the story, and that other than the classic Cole Porter title number the songs while okay are not particularly memorable. While Williams swims through with flying colours, her two male leads are less than inspired. Van Johnson is relaxed in his rapport with Williams, but elsewhere looks uncomfortable and disinterested. Tony Martin's heavenly singing isn't enough to disguise his limited, wooden acting ability.

However, Williams is perfectly cast, her presence radiating star quality and she handles the comedic and romantic elements well and with a witty no-nonsense manner that never gets annoying. John Bromfield acquits himself well, as does a lively pre-'Baby Doll' Carroll Baker.

Then there is the involvement of Busby Berkeley. Responsible for some of the most jaw-dropping and imaginative choreography ever seen in film musical history, Berkeley does it again with his choreography of the water ballets something to be cherished forever.

'Easy to Love' looks glorious in rich, vibrant Technicolor, which is complemented by the cinematography and the beautifully designed costumes and sets. Charles Walters directs more than competently, while the pace is bright and breezy and the script is suitably peppy.

All in all, a very easy to like film. 7/10 Bethany Cox

What's good: beautiful Esther Williams. Enough can't be said about this. She was positively radiant the entire film. No actress brought technicolor to life like Esther Williams. Tan, fit, gorgeous Esther. Also the great Busby Berkeley aquatic numbers. Esther Williams plus Busby Berkeley equals a win every time.

What's bad: the men. Unfortunately, Esther is saddled with rather poor love interests here in Tony Martin and Van Johnson. There's no great chemistry to be had with either but Martin tries his soggy best. I definitely felt like he was attracted to Esther, although in a kind of scuzzy greaseball sort of way. He also has several terrible songs. MGM was pushing him extra hard in this. He wouldn't stop singing those terrible songs! I like Van Johnson but he's as exciting a male lead as a wooden plank. So bland and colorless. Esther really had some crappy choices here.

Honestly it's not one of the greats. The plot of Esther wanting Van but all he thinks about is business so she tries to make him jealous with Tony is pretty flimsy and the romance is blechh. But see it for the stunning Esther Williams in technicolor and the wonderful production numbers choreographed by the great Busby Berkeley.

Olympic-swimming-hopeful turned MGM-screen-sensation Williams does her thing as only she could in this light musical. She plays an overworked employee of Florida's Cypress Gardens (owned in this film by Johnson) who gets a chance to hit the big time for four times the money and half the work. While on a trip to New York City, in which Johnson works her like a galley slave, she falls for suave singer Martin who introduces her to a big-time producer. However, despite his autocratic treatment of her, she loves Johnson and can't decide what road to take. Meanwhile, back in Florida, she has yet another man to contend with, her hunky swim partner Bromfield, who wants to marry her. Worked in between all the romantic shenanigans and misunderstandings are several splashy (pun intended) swimming and/or skiing productions and a large handful of silky love songs sung by Martin. The film is simple, undemanding entertainment with beautiful and creative aquatic and water-ski moments to enliven the more familiar and routine romantic plotline. Williams is absolutely gorgeous in or out of the water and her acting, while it isn't anything tremendous, is perfectly acceptable as she shows affection and not a little amount of spunk. Johnson's character is pretty obnoxious at times, but he and Williams have a good rapport together. As an actor, Martin sings beautifully, but he's smooth enough not to detract from the film. It's hard to imagine Williams even glancing anywhere else but at the tanned, buff Bromfield, who spends a great deal of his screen time in teensy black swim trunks (but is just as yummy in pastel sportswear!) Baker has one scene as Martin's suspicious girlfriend. It's always a feast for the eyes when Williams swims in one of Busby Berkeley's elaborate concepts. Here she shares a blossom-strewn love duet with Bromfield, is the centerpiece of a skiing spectacular and hams it up as a clown in a slam-bang circus number (looking like the result of an affair between Ronald McDonald and Lucille Ball.) It should be noted that she was pregnant during the filming of this movie! Like most films of this ilk, it all turns out with a happy (if unbelievable!) ending for all. Martin's denouement is particularly amusing.