Neptune's Daughter

Released 5 years after Esther Williams' initial starring role in a 'swimusical', in the very well received "Bathing Beauty", Red Skelton is again prominently featured, and Xavier Cugat's band again has several lively productions. This time, instead of a romance between Esther's and Red's character, a more standard formula plot has Esther being wooed by famous polo player Jose O'Rourke, in the form of conventional handsome and suave Ricardo Montalban, while Red is pursued by Betty Garrett's typecast man-hungry character, who mistakenly believes him to be O'Rourke. You will likely recognize Betty from her role as a man-hungry taxi driver, who tries to bed Frank Sinatra, in "On the Town", released the same year. Ricardo and Esther make a rather bland romantic couple, compared with Red and Betty, in which Red has to pretend he is a South American, knowing only a few words of Spanish, as Cugat, for example, soon figures out. Despite all the glaring clues that Red can't be whom she thinks he is, Betty incongruously continues to believe, until near the end, that Red is O'Rourke. Cugat's band makes several appearances, the first 2 being especially noteworthy, and are the clear highlights of this film for me. Included in the first production is a nameless dance couple, who do a fancy dance routine, in very colorful outfits. This production is actually split into two parts, with Betty the primary featured performer in the second part, with some input by Red. The second production features a primitive jungle tribe theme, with some wild dancing to "Jungle Rhumba". There is a water show near the end, but it's nothing special. Besides Cugat's productions, the several musical numbers were composed by Frank Loesser. Betty's character expresses her fascination with men, in "I Love Those Men": part of Cugat's first production. During the swimsuit fashion show, Loesser's composition "On a Slow Boat to China" is sometimes heard in the background. Believe it or not, the words were considered by the Hays commission to be too racy to be sung by the principle characters to each other! Ricardo later expresses his fascination with Esther in "My Heart Beats Faster", as they dance around a bit. In their respective private residences, First Ricardo and Esther, then Red and Betty, sing the well-remembered counterpoint duet "Baby, It's Cold Outside", in playful scenes. The story is that Loesser actually composed this in '44, but it remained a privately-done song until MGM bought it for this film. It actually won the Oscar for Best Original Song, in a year with thin competition. In place of Red's joining a ballet class, in "Bathing Beauty", here he joins an otherwise all female swimming team doing warm-ups beside the pool, in order to escape a man chasing him. Not as amusing as the ballet caper , but will probably please Red's fans, he ending up with his neck pinned under a croquet wicket! The section where Red has to actually play polo, supposedly as O'Rourke, is totally unbelievable, if amusing. First, it takes a team of people to get him on a horse, which turns out to be a jumper, rather than a polo pony. This is merely the first of several horses, including a bucking bronco, that Red rides on and off the field of play. During the match, Red falls off his horse and is dragged by his stirrup for a spell, breaks his mallet, and hits a bag of polo balls on the sideline, scatting balls all over the field. Nonetheless, he manages to score enough goals to give the South American team a win, and thus preserve the reputation of the real O'Rourke, who has been kidnapped by a gang, who have bet on the South American team losing.(South America apparently is being treated as one country!) Keenan Wynn, aside from acting as the occasional narrator, has a rather minor character role....This was the second and last pairing of Esther and Ricardo as the leads. This film is presently part of a DVD collection of some of Esther's films.

MGM comedy-romance with music, filmed in Technicolor so glossy and bright it's practically edible, is a cute vehicle for swimming star Esther Williams, here playing a swimsuit designer and aquatic ballet swimmer (!) involved in a love/hate relationship with South American polo champion Ricardo Montalban. When she's trying to feign indifference or displeasure over someone's impertinence, Williams can get awfully pinchy and drab; thankfully, supporting players Betty Garrett, Red Skelton and, most especially, a relaxed Keenan Wynn give the picture a boost. Montalban manfully keeps up with Esther in the water (just barely), and works just as hard chasing her on land, though one may end up with the feeling that Wynn might be more sincere in his feelings towards her. Oscar winner for the sprightly song, "Baby, It's Cold Outside". ** from ****

While not a great film, and it won't be for all tastes, 'Neptune's Daughter' was to me an entertaining film that ticked most of the right boxes. 'Neptune's Daughter' is at its weakest in the story department, where the silly and thin mistaken-identity story is purely functional at best, where a few parts border on the improbable. Keenan Wynn is given little to do and his acting and narration felt like they belonged in another (darker) film because they seemed at odds here. Most of the comedy is a lot of good-natured fun, but some falls flat due to being overdone somewhat. However, 'Neptune's Daughter' is a beautiful-looking film, with opulent use of colour, handsome cinematography and elegant costumes and sets. The songs and music are pleasant and energetic, "Baby It's Cold Outside" being one of the most deserving wins in the Best Song category though Red Skelton and Betty Garrett's number with Xavier Cugat is a delight too. While not all the comedy works, most of it does and in a way that's genuinely amusing and good-natured. The highlight is Skelton and Garrett's first date in her apartment, a hilarious scene and beautifully played and executed. The staging for the songs is suitably spirited and always pleasing visually, though while the big water ballet is beautifully photographed and performed and fun it wasn't quite the "aqua spectacular" that was expected, just lacking the continuous energy and imagination of the best Esther Williams water ballets. Esther Williams is very charming and brightens up the screen whether in or out of the water, while Ricardo Montalban is suave, devilishly handsome and full of energy and charisma. Red Skelton seems to be really enjoying himself and is very funny, a riot even in his best bits, and bubbly Betty Garrett enchants the viewer from the moment she's introduced to her last second. Look out also for a rare live-action appearance from the immortal voice actor Mel Blanc, in case you don't spot him he's the mustachioed guy that sounds exactly like Speedy Gonzales. In conclusion, a very enjoyable film that did make me feel warm inside, though it is not masterpiece status. 7/10 Bethany Cox

The movie features a marvelous cast, each doing his or her specialty. But I especially like the unheralded Betty Garret as the ditzy sister who manages to steal several scenes. Williams has a few abbreviated swim scenes, but does more acting than paddling. Then too, making her a swimsuit designer gives us guys an eyeful of the modeling scenes. Frankly, though, I was disappointed with the big aqua number, which has legions of girls diving into the pool but little more. It's far from any kind of ballet that Williams is so good at. Of course, Skelton is made for movies like this where his slapstick comedy can blend into the overall shenanigans. However, a couple of his skits (mounting the horse & piling it on muscle- man Mazurki) went past their peak of hilarity. Good to see voice wizard Mel Blanc get a movie break after so many years of funny dialects on radio, TV, and cartoons. All in all, the movie's an entertaining and certainly colorful 90-minutes, but unfortunately not Williams' best.

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.

As I write this, the big news is that the #MeToo movement has led to the banning of this song by a Cleveland radio station. I find it sad to see censorship of things that are long since past and are criticized for things that were products of a different era. It is not that I don't believe that such attitudes should be criticized. Let me say it differently. It is definitely appropriate to criticize attitudes that condone or lead to abuse of women, or anyone. My concern is that our society focuses on criticism of things long past and not spend enough effort to prevent them in the future. It is a matter of hindsight being inferior to proactive efforts. I have been writing reviews of movies and books for a while now that point out how plot elements include actions which amount to sexual assault or other abuse or harassment without having those actions receive appropriate consequences. Many of them result in the characters involved becoming more friendly and often romantic. It is true not only about movies that are decades old, but even movies and books, especially romantic movies and books that have been produced during the last decade. It includes books written by best selling authors. It includes TV movies produced and/or shown on networks like the Hallmark Channel. Our society needs to stop looking to and criticizing the past. Our society needs to stop producing and buying these products. Now and in the future. We can't have it both ways. We can't have a story where a man forces himself on a woman, sometimes after multiple "no" responses, and have that woman ignore it, or worse fall in love with that abuser. This is not about censorship. It is about refusing to produce material like this in the first place. And if it is produce, it should not be rewarded financially.

She looked beautiful and youthful with her hair down, which happened infrequently in her movies, in an era when women wanted to look mature and sophisticated not young. My feeling about Baby, It's Cold Outside is it was the comedic use of obviously phony arguments to underline the flirtatious ploy. They also didn't have family or neighbors to care if they stayed. (This certainly wasn't the first or last time a song was shoehorned into a movie, such as Easter Parade being sung in a rural setting in Holiday Inn when it is about NYC, or Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, but this is undeniably one of the odder examples of that.) It reminded me,though, that my favorite Esther Williams scenes were set in winter, on Mackinac Island in This Time for Keeps. I enjoyed Red Skelton (who would have done well to learn Spanish!) and Betty Garrett. My eyes glazed over from disinterest when they weren't on. I loved some of Esther's clothes, though, especially the swimsuit and wrap in the teaching scene with Skelton. (Where we saw one of the strangest ways to knock a fellow out.) It seemed to me the Keenan Wynn character and the Skelton and Garrett characters didn't belong in the same movie. Wynn seemed like he would have fit a drama rather than a light comedy, such as Skelton and Garrett showing how NOT to mount a horse. (The stunt work in this movie deserves praise.) Wynn's character, narration, and background music struck me as being more appropriate for something dark, maybe a crime of passion. Williams and Montalban's characters were somewhere down the middle. The poor fellow really did "get the business" as was cruelly pointed out. Swimming scenes always make me wonder how many times everyone had to dry off and reshoot.

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.

ho-hum bit of nonsense as tough-minded businesswoman Esther Williams falls bit by bit for South American polo playboy Ricardo Montalban. Their courtship is paralleled by the romance between dorky masseur Skelton and William's man-hungry sister, Garrett. Best scene is the double version of "Baby it's Cold Outside" with Williams and Skelton as the coy maidens.

Esther Williams knows clothes, or should I say bathing suits. This Esther Williams outing shows her getting discovered by Keenan Wynn and going right into the bathing suit business. Keenan Wynn, unlike his role in "Easy to Wed," is so subdued he comes across rather uninteresting. Betty Garrett, as Esther's sister, pretty much takes the spotlight as she tries to snare Red Skelton. By the way, Ricardo Montalban is Esther's paramour and "Neptune's Daughter" does include the Oscar-winning song "Baby, It's Cold Outside." But otherwise this film doesn't have much to recommend it. It only makes you think of other Esther Williams movies that are better with this kind of material and talent. The title "Neptune's Daughter" I'm sure was though of to make it sound glamorous. But it does not showcase Esther and company at their best.