Fatta per amare

Julie Hallerton (Esther Williams) is the under-paid aquatic star of Cypress Gardens. Her boss Ray Lloyd (Van Johnson) is secretly one love with her, but he had competition from handsome singer Barry Gordon (Tony Martin) and park employee Hank (John Bromfield).

In 1952-53, Esther Williams was on a role. She had her two best films, Million Dollar Mermaid and Dangerous When Wet, released, and Easy to Love is also one of her best films.

The main plot is pretty thin, but Esther's charms keep it going. The romance between her and Johnson is unbelievable, mainly due to the fact that his character is a jerk to her throughout the film! Tony Martin is good, and gets a couple good songs to sing, while Edna Skinner is fun as Esther's roommate. The songs are all good, but Cole Porter titular song is surprisingly the worst.

The main pleasure of the film is Busby Berkeley's three spectacular aquatic numbers: the one with Esther as a clown has to be seen to be believed, and the big water-ski finale is fantastic. Overall, good fun.

Despite the fact that most films done with Esther Williams are just "Little Ditties" The cast in this movie is absolutely delightful. And the choreographed water scenes of water skiing and swimming by Busby Berkley are beautiful. So is the song Easy to Love, sang here by Tony Martin. The cast includes Van Johnson, who gives a touching performance. There is something about this actor that pierces through me in whatever part he plays. There is an appearance of beautiful Cyd Charisse at the end of the film together with her husband Tony Martin. Seeing this movie brings back memories of the time that TV was not available and Cinema was the most prevalent outing. There is nothing frightening or harmful in this kind of film it is pure entertainment.

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.

A likeable enough film. A treat for the eyes. I must admit that, knowing Busby Berkeley was ijnvolved, I was actually frightened for those in the final water number, even though this all happened 70 years ago. It was dangerous to let him play with motorized vehicles. Interesting to read that this was Esther Williams' favorite film. I'm not a fan of Tony Martin, and he looked a little old to be involved in these highjinks. But he was in very good voice, especially with the song about a rainy day.

I liked seeing "Easy to Love" because it showed a part of Florida history that is now gone. Cypress Gardens was a premier destination in Central Florida up until Disney opened the Magic Kingdom in 1971. Following this, it was a steady decline until a few years ago when the property was bought by Legoland. I know that things change and I probably wouldn't have even liked Cypress Gardens but it is a shame that so much of the 1950s and 60s kitsch in Florida is gone--and this film is at least a nice chance to see a bit of it.

The film stars Esther Williams as the premier star of the theme park, Julie. Her boss, Ray (Van Johnson), is not an easy man to like--he's all business and seems more content to exploit this star than anything else. Yet, inexplicably, Julie secretly loves him. I frankly saw NOTHING about the man that would make anyone fall for him. Laer, tiring of this seemingly pointless love, she begins spending time with a famous singer, Barry Gordon (Tony Martin). He at least says he loves her, though he is a playboy. In addition to these guys is Hank (John Bromfield)--a nice guy who works at the park and who openly and repeatedly tells her he loves her....plus he's rich. Of the three, the choice is obvious....Hank. However, considering that John Bromfield is not exactly a star, it's obvious he hasn't a prayer in the world. So who does she pick? See for yourself. Just be forewarned--it's a HUGE step backwards for women and I would hate to see my daughters pick a guy like that! As a romance, the film was definitely lacking. But, it was fun, a bit silly (in a good way--offering the most ridiculously over the top scenes of Williams doing the water stunts), and I liked Tony Martin's singing (particularly "That's What a Rainy Day is For"). Worth seeing if you like the old fashioned Hollywood musicals of the 50s--though I do suspect that a lot of younger folks today would find them all awfully silly.

By the way, at the very end, look for a cute little cameo between Martin and Cyd Charisse--Martin's real-life wife.