Saudade de Teus Lábios

The movie tells a simple, light-hearted love story between Leonora Cambaretti (Esther Williams), the leading swimmer in a water ballet show, and Ferdi Farro (Jimmy Durante), a singer who just returned from World War II. The plot is rather straight, without serious complications, harmless, sometimes naive, insubstantial. But within its limited scope it is well done and enjoyable.

As this is a musical movie, there is singing, dancing, and -- most remarkable -- the water ballet. The different numbers include some charming scenes. But you cannot compare the dancing with the wonderful performances that are known, for example, from Fred Astaire movies. Also the singing numbers do not reach the quality that is present, for instance, in "My Dream Is Yours" (with Doris Day as a singer), a movie that was produced at about the same time with a similar, though slightly more ambitious entertainment scope.

This film is an enigma because, while it is a properly light-hearted musical (but weren't they all), it also boasts a great many oddities- starting with the strange title (exactly what in the film is "for keeps?"). Esther Williams plays a properly likable, properly beautiful, water ballerina whose relationship with Jimmy Durante (a legend whom I've always enjoyed) should have been that of a father and daughter, but instead is something a tad stranger. Thankfully, this isn't ignored in the film, as her actual love interest (Johnnie Johnston), whom Durante relentlessly 'protects' from Williams, challenges his interference in the film's 11th hour. (While Durante seems to have a bothered conscience about this, it is never confirmed or denied.) Co-starring with Williams and Durante is the very genteel and old-school tenor Lauritz Melchior as Johnston's meddlesome (and somewhat annoying) father. The musical numbers are delightful, if a tad uneven in quality. I wasn't particularly fond of Durante's "Lost Chord" routine, but it appears to be legendary with most listeners. I prefer Johnston's "Easy To Love," the various Xavier Cugat pieces, and most of all, the provocative striptease and swim of "Ten Percent Off."

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.

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.

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.