Numa Ilha com Você

Musical-comedy vehicle for swimming star Esther Williams set in Hawaii. Peter Lawford has a rather hopeless role as a moony-eyed Lieutenant who becomes obsessed with Esther, playing a movie actress; she's already involved with her co-star (Ricardo Montalban) and is also busy sparring with her unloved movie-rival (Cyd Charisse, in a demeaning part as a girl nobody seems to want). In its day, probably a very acceptable piece of fluff, but in this age of celebrity stalkers, Lawford's intrusive, seemingly off-balanced fan is unintentionally creepy (at one point he even kidnaps Williams, but she stops him from being arrested). Only for die-hard MGM musical buffs, although Esther's swimming sequences are not on their usual grand scale here. *1/2 from ****

One doesn't come to this type of picture with high expectations, but many such films rely on familiar story elements, star turns, colorful settings and lively music to deliver pleasant, unchallenging entertainment that will satisfy an audience. No studio did this better than MGM.

But something went wrong this time around. Maybe it was having four screenwriters contributing to a dull, contrived story. Maybe it was making a musical in which the leading lady is neither a singer nor a dancer, in which one of the male leads also neither sings nor dances, in which the other leading man dances but does not sing, and in which none of the foregoing trio has the slightest flair for comedy. What to do? Give Jimmy Durante a couple of night club scenes in which he can do some familiar turns (which he has done far better elsewhere), fill some time with Cugat's orchestra, have some "native" dancers cavort at a festival. You get the idea. Even Esther's wet scenes don't compare favorably with those in most of her other films. And Peter Lawford, a firmly-established would-be leading man without a shred of discernible talent? His character here, supposedly infatuated and preoccupied, becomes thoroughly distasteful, so much so that his romantic reconciliation with Esther becomes impossible to accept.

Any redeeming qualities in this picture? You bet. Cyd Charisse (whose role, like Durante's, has nothing to do with the plot) is featured in two dance routines with Ricardo Montalban. He is surprisingly good, and she is unsurprisingly great. Perhaps one of those four screenwriters suggested that since they were making a musical without any leading players who could sing, they had better use at least somebody who could claim to be a dancer. Good thinking, MGM. You made the right choice. As for the rest...the sooner forgotten, the better.

"On an Island with You" offers, as Neil Doyle has already remarked on this forum, escapist entertainment to warm any fan of this genre with the magnificent colors and the music in the film. MGM was the studio that excelled in this type of movies and this Esther Williams vehicle offers a lot of fun. Although predictable, it offers the viewer a nice time at the movies.

Directed by Richard Thorpe, the movie takes us to a movie location where a film is being shot. The gorgeous Rosalind Reynolds is the star that combines acting with water ballet and incidental singing and dancing. Rosalind is attracted to a Navy Lieutenant that is serving as technical adviser to the movie. Larry Kingsley, in turn, seems to have fallen head over heels with the beautiful Rosalind.

Esther Williams looks ravishingly beautiful in her water scenes as well as in her scenes with Peter Lawford, who plays Larry. Ricardo Montalban and Cyd Charisse play roles in the film and they become involved with one another with the blessing of her mother in a funny scene at the end of the picture.

The great Jimmy Durante almost steals the film from its stars. As Jimmy Doyle, the assistant to the director, he plays a key part in the movie and makes it his own. Xavier Cugat and his orchestra are also seen in the picture.

"On an Island with You" will not disappoint.

The heck with the other critics on this movie. Esther gets into a Navy Airforce jacket and perches on a table for one of the most sexy pin-up poses of all time. Peter Lawford was adequate in an Esther Williams movie. Jimmy Durante was adequate in an Esther Williams movie. Ricardo Montalban was adequate in an Esther ... well, you get the idea. Cyd Charisse was more than adequate as a dancer and Ricardo fared much better when he danced with Cyd.

The colored tropical Island scenery is terrific. Xaviar Cugat is one creature that I will never understand. Guess I don't like Bongos. I have the video and play it over from time to time which is more than I can say for a great many of the MGM musicals. If Peter was upset because he just came off of "Good News" and resented playing in an Esther Williams movie, I have news for him .... he will be better remembered for "On An Island With You" than in "Good News". That one I have only played once.

Thin and fairly dull Esther Williams vehicle, with Peter Lawford as her love interest. Williams and Lawford are both boring, and have no chemistry together. They are upstaged by just about every single other person in the cast, Cyd Charisse, Ricardo Montalban, Xavier Cugat, Jimmy Durante (whom you'd think was the star of the movie as much as he's in it), Kathryn Beaumont and even a chihuahua. Williams does have a good swimming number near the end, and she wears some fantastic costumes. I can't say anything good about Lawford. Recently departed dancer Cyd Charisse has the two best sequences in the movie, an erotic dance with Montalban and, the best scene in the movie, her dance on the stairs, aided by a group of masked natives. The Technicolor cinematography is beautiful throughout the movie, but it's downright dazzling in that number. At first I thought this was going to be a poor choice in honoring Charisse, but it turned out to be perfect. Child star Kathryn Beaumont went on to provide the voices for Disney's Alice in Wonderland and Wendy Darling. The DVD for this was stunning.