Bathing Beauty (Blu-ray Review)
- Review Date: Nov 29, 2024
- Format: Blu-ray Disc
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Director
George SidneyRelease Date(s)
1944 (October 1, 2024)Studio(s)
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (Warner Archive Collection)- Film/Program Grade: B+
- Video Grade: A
- Audio Grade: A
- Extras Grade: B
Review
Before making more than a few splashes in a series of spectacular water extravaganzas, Esther Williams appeared in small roles in non-watery pictures. But it was Bathing Beauty, originally planned as a vehicle for co-star Red Skeleton, that propelled her to stardom. Her reign as MGM’s mermaid would last eighteen years.
Williams plays Caroline Brooks, a college swimming coach who marries songwriter Steve Elliot (Skelton) but leaves him moments after tying the knot, deceived into believing that he’s already married and the father of three. The deception was engineered by producer George Adams (Basil Rathbone, The Hound of the Baskervilles), who needs Steve to complete a score for his upcoming water ballet and thinks matrimony will get in the way.
Caroline returns to her old job at the women’s college and Steve, ignorant of Adams’ scheme, sets out for the school after discovering a loophole that allows him to register as a student—the only male in the entire school. Steve’s goal is to win his wife back, but a series of comic obstacles lie in his path, including grumpy professors, a Great Dane that anticipates Steve’s every move, a tough ballet class, pretty sorority girls, and studying enough to maintain an acceptable GPA.
Williams does some diving and fancy swimming at the beginning of the picture but doesn’t get into the water again until the elaborate finale. She’s a knockout in costumes by Irene and has a commanding screen presence. If her acting is lacking, she makes up for it with an enthusiastic delivery and regal bearing.
Skelton, whose career progressed from medicine shows to vaudeville, radio, movies, and television, was at his peak popularity when he made Bathing Beauty. His comedy relies heavily on visual gags and slapstick. Some of his best bits in Bathing Beauty were created by an uncredited Buster Keaton. Seen today, Skelton’s routines may not have the impact they did 80 years ago, but his pantomime of a woman waking in the morning, putting on make-up, and struggling into a girdle still works. His ballet class sequence, however, falls flat and goes on far too long. Skelton wears a tutu, hardly the typical attire for a male ballet dancer. Maybe the idea was that no outfit suitable to a man would be available in a women’s college. In any case, the sight gag wears thin and his clumsy attempts to follow the directions of a stern ballet mistress never elicit the intended laughs.
Late in the film, there’s a nod to the classic stateroom scene in Night at the Opera. This sequence has particular resonance because it features Margaret Dumont, the Marx Brothers’ best-ever leading lady.
This film is filled with music. Young Janis Paige (Silk Stockings) is featured with Skelton and Jean Porter (Cry Danger) in a comic take on Loch Lomond, I’ll Take the High Note. Ethel Smith (Easy to Wed) performs Tico-Tico on the Hammond organ. Helen Forrest sings I Cried for You. The Xavier Cugat Orchestra (Holiday in Mexico) performs Bim Bam Bum with singer Lina Romay (Weekend at the Waldorf). Carlos Ramirez (Night and Day) croons the love song Magic Is the Moonlight. Harry James and His Orchestra (Springtime in the Rockies) swing with Trumpet Blues and Cantabile.
The film’s highlight is the climactic water ballet designed by John Murray Anderson. Williams rises on a platform flanked by giant seahorses, dives into the midst of young women performing synchronized swimming, and leads them in an aquatic dance forming geometric patterns and flower shapes seen in overhead and underwater shots. Williams swims underwater through a circle of rotating swimmers, appears to command fountains to shoot up a fine spray and huge fire jets to spring up within each fountain as she swims past, and a platform elevates her as still more spray follows her up. Even though later Esther Williams movies would top this ballet, it still astonishes with its magnificence.
Bathing Beauty was a box office success, earning $3,284,000 in the United States and Canada and $3,608,000 elsewhere. Reviews were positive. The New York Times’ Bosley Crowther wrote,“Bathing Beauty is a colorful shower of music, comedy and dance.” The film’s critical and financial success would lead to 18 more aquatic feature films starring Esther Williams.
Bathing Beauty was shot by director of photography Harry Stradling on 35 mm film with Technicolor three-strip cameras with spherical lenses, and presented in the Academy aspect ratio of 1.37:1. Picture quality on the Blu-ray from Warner Archive is excellent, with sharp detail. Contrast and grain quality are outstanding. Complexions, especially those of Williams and the other female performers, are especially well rendered and flattering, in keeping with the studio’s signature style of making its stars look glamorous. As with many MGM musicals, the color palette is breathtaking, ranging from dazzling primary hues to soft pastels. The final water production number pulls out all the stops with design, choreography, camera angles, and a huge cast of swimmers to form Williams’ aquatic chorus.
The soundtrack is English 2.0 Mono DTS-HD Master Audio. English SDH subtitles are an available option. Dialogue is clear and distinct. The musical sequences sound rich and exciting, with base notes particularly resonant. The water ballet music, by Johnny Green and Danielle Amfitheatrof, is dramatic and builds excitement as Williams performs one graceful aquatic move after another.
Bonus materials on the Blu-ray release from the Warner Archive Collection include the following:
- Private Screenings with Esther Williams (47:43)
- Mouse Trouble (7:28)
- Main Street Today (19:52)
- Original Theatrical Trailer (2:34)
Private Screenings with Esther Williams – This interview was conducted by Robert Osborne for Turner Classic Movies. Williams was known as the “reluctant movie star” because it was never her dream to become one. Her goal as a championship swimmer was to win her events in the Olympics, but the Olympics were canceled because of World War II. She got a job at a Los Angeles department store, found she enjoyed retail, and decided she would make that her career. When producer Billy Rose needed a replacement for Eleanor Holm in his Aquacade, a reluctant Williams ultimately accepted his invitation to replace her. Trained for speed, she now had to learn to “swim pretty,” and worked with Johnny Weissmuller, already famous for his Tarzan movies. She didn’t like the life, referring to it as “tacky.” MGM was thinking of producing a series of swimming pictures because of the success of 20th Century Fox’s profitable Sonja Henie-on-ice films. She was invited to see studio head Louis B. Mayer but initially refused because she had no experience acting, singing, or dancing. Bathing Beauty was her first starring role. Usually, the “dry scenes” were filmed first. She speaks about the elaborate treatment necessary to keep her hair in place during her scenes in the water. Williams believes that when Dore Schary took the reins of MGM, he wasted the studio’s resources by taking the emphasis off its long-cultivated star system. Williams was always involved in businesses because she was never sure how long her acting career would last. She did several successful TV specials, married former co-star Fernando Lamas, and stepped back from performing. Bathing Beauty was the first time synchronized swimming was shown on the screen.
Mouse Trouble – This MGM Technicolor cartoon, released in 1944, features Tom and Jerry. It was directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Tom gets hold of a book on how to catch mice and follows its advice as he tries to snare Jerry. Tom’s attempts fail, causing him to undergo assorted pummeling including having his nose slammed between a book’s pages and repeatedly being bested by a mousetrap. Other attempts to catch Jerry show who’s the cleverer of the two.
Main Street Today – Narrated by John Nesbitt, this 1944 World War II propaganda film features Ray Collins as Otis Bird, whose factory manufactures a part for howitzer cannons that has been essential to the success of the war effort. Production has to be increased, but he has difficulty filling a third shift because eligible men are either in the military or working at essential jobs. At a town meeting, other local business owners report that it’s difficult for them to get workers. A father stands up and reads a letter from his son in the army that leads to an outpouring of patriotism, and women step up to work at the factory.
Bathing Beauty might surprise young viewers with how successful the water extravaganzas of Esther Williams were and how many resources MGM put into them. Today they seem a charming artifact of another era, but their spectacle still amazes. Skelton’s comedy hasn’t fared anywhere near as well over the years. One thing is apparent—despite her limited skills in the acting department, Williams had definite star power and the camera loved her. She was a valuable commodity for MGM. Her films earned millions at the box office.
- Dennis Seuling