utgard14
Swimsuit designer (Esther Williams) has her hands full protecting her man-hungry sister (Betty Garrett). A case of mistaken identity has Esther thinking Betty's in love with Ricardo Montalban when it's really Red Skelton she's fallen for. Esther may spend most of the film out of the water but she's gorgeous as ever. Skelton and Garrett are lots of fun. Montalban is his flirty and charming best. There's also a live-action role for cartoon voice legend Mel Blanc, using his Speedy Gonzalez accent.Fluffy fun with likable performances from everyone and beautiful Technicolor. Oscar-winning "Baby It's Cold Outside" song is justifiably a classic. Aquatic finale is excellent. We also are treated to a brief tour of a swimsuit factory, which I'm not ashamed to admit I found pretty interesting.
MartinHafer
Like so many of Esther Williams' movies, this one is enjoyable but also complete nonsense. After all, a movie which features a lengthy underwater ballet at the end can't be taken very seriously! The film begins with a South American polo team coming to the States. Its star is José O'Rourke (Ricardo Montalban) and an idiot, Jack (Red Skelton), decides to pretend to be him in order to win Betty's heart (Betty Garrett). However, O'Rourke has no idea that Jack is posing as him--nor does Betty's sister, Eve (Williams). Instead, Even thinks that O'Rourke is a gigolo--with VERY bad intentions. When she confronts the real O'Rourke, he has no idea what's going on but goes along with it, as he's smitten with Eve. What's next? See this silly film for yourself.If you cannot let yourself just sit back and enjoy all the silliness, then you'll probably have a very hard time watching. After all, NO SANE PERSON would think Red Skelton looked or sounded Hispanic!! And, some of the music is silly (especially the water ballet). But, if you can forget about this, the film actually is pretty cute, funny and features the wonderful Oscar-winning song "Baby It's Cold Outside" for the first time in a movie. Well worth seeing...but silly and inconsequential.
haddock
I am astonished about the low rating of this movie! There are of course many musicals which are boring and this one - I admit - does not feature very much. No great songs (despite "Baby it's cold outside - Oscar!), no great dancing and absolutely no great acting. But there is something to make the film special: The comedic timing is perfectly, the gags drop fluently. The supporting roles are fantastic: Red Skelton at his best and the absolutely wonderful Betty Garrett to team him (they should have made more movies!). Xavier Cugat and his orchestra play enthusiastic samba rhythms, the decoration of the picture is bright and joyful! There is no single boring moment, the whole film is like a short trip to the Caribbean sea with a fancy cocktail in your hand!
Neil Doyle
Esther Williams had some fairly amusing comedies in the '40s that had her jumping into a pool every so often to keep her "Million Dollar Mermaid" label intact. She not only swims here, but joins in the fun and even lends herself to a funny rendition of "Baby, It's Cold Outside" with Ricardo Montalban while Red Skelton is doing his own version of the song with Betty Garrett. It's a wacky bit of fun about Red being mistaken for a polo player. He has some wild slapstick scenes--one of which has him joining a bevy of bathing beauties as he attempts to fit into a water ballet (reminiscent of his hijinks in "Bathing Beauty"). His partner in fun is Betty Garrett who delivers her own special brand of comedy with no strain at all.
Ricardo Montalban is an excellent foil for Esther's romantic scenes as the wealthy polo player. The blurb on the video jacket offers a quote from the N.Y. Times: "The most entertaining of all the aquatic spectacles in which Esther Williams has starred." 'Nuff said. Enjoy!
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