Dangerous When Wet (1953)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

Charles Walters

Writer:

Dorothy Kingsley (writer)

Release Date:

3 July 1953 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Musical | Romance

Tagline:

See the amazing "Tom & Jerry" cartoon swimming spectacle with Esther!

Plot:

A young woman enters a contest to be the first to swim the English Channel. |

Plot Keywords:

Swimming | Part Animated | Beautiful Woman | Tom And Jerry | Breaking The Fourth Wall

Cast

Esther Williams	...	Katie Higgins
Fernando Lamas	...	André Lanet
Jack Carson	...	Windy Weebe
Charlotte Greenwood	...	Ma Higgins
Denise Darcel	...	Gigi Mignon
William Demarest	...	Pa Higgins
Donna Corcoran	...	Junior Higgins
Barbara Whiting	...	Suzie Higgins
Bunny Waters	...	Greta
Henri Letondal	...	Joubert
Paul Bryar	...	Pierre
Jack Raine	...	Stuart Frye
Richard Alexander	...	Egyptian Channel swimmer
Tudor Owen	...	Old Salt
Ann Codee	...	Mrs. Lanet

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | UK:U | USA:Approved (PCA #16230) | Australia:PG

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Goofs:

Continuity: In an early sequence, four of the family go swimming in a pond while Katy settles down on a log to read. The log is dry when she lies down. A few minutes later the rest of the family climb out of the pond over the log and drip water on the log. The log is already wet when they do this showing that there has been at least one previous take.

Quotes:

Katie Higgins: [shouting through the fog] Wendy. Wendy!
Windy Weebe: Katie where are you?
Katie Higgins: I'm on a yacht. With a Frenchman.
Windy Weebe: A Frenchman? Oh no.

Movie Connections:

Featured in That's Entertainment! III (1994)

Soundtrack:

I Got Out Of Bed on the Right Side

OK vehicle for the talents of Esther Williams...

A farm family from Arkansas is tapped to swim in a race across the English Channel as part of a health drink promotional campaign. MGM musical isn't smothered with the usual studio-gloss, and Esther Williams is spunky and likable, but the plot is still pretty thin. Esther's on-screen romance with Fernando Lamas generated sparks off-screen (they were soon married in real-life), yet only a smidgen of this chemistry makes it into the movie. It is probably best remembered for the wonderful dream sequence wherein Williams swims with various cartoon characters, including Tom and Jerry. Not too bad: **1/2 from ****