Bathing Beauty (1944)

A contrived misunderstanding leads to the breakup of a songwriter and his fiancée. She returns to work as a gym teacher at an all-girls school, but a legal loophole allows the man to enroll as one of her students.

Director:

George Sidney

Writers:

Kenneth Earl (story), M.M. Musselman (story)

Stars:

Red Skelton, Esther Williams, Basil Rathbone

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Red Skelton	...	Steve Elliot
Esther Williams	...	Caroline Brooks
Basil Rathbone	...	George Adams
Bill Goodwin	...	Professor Willis Evans
Jean Porter	...	Jean Allenwood
Nana Bryant	...	Dean Clinton
Carlos Ramírez	...	Carlos Ramirez
Ethel Smith	...	Ethel Smith - Music Teacher
Xavier Cugat and His Orchestra	...	Xavier Cugat and His Orchestra
Lina Romay	...	Lina Romay
Harry James and His Orchestra	...	Harry James and His Orchestra (as Harry James and His Music Makers)
Helen Forrest	...	Helen Forrest
Donald Meek	...	Chester Klazenfrantz
Jacqueline Dalya	...	Maria Dorango
Francis Pierlot	...	Professor Hendricks

Storyline

Songwriter Steve Elliott is about to marry Caroline Brooks. A strange woman who's been paid by Steve's agent to say she's his wife interrupts the ceremony. An angry Caroline gets her old job back teaching at a girl's college. Determined to win her back, Steve enrolls in the school to become its only male student.

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Plot Keywords:

women's college | water ballet | water musical | large dog | latin lover | 

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Taglines:

M.G.M's Mammoth Technicolor Musical Spectacle!

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Genres:

Comedy | Musical

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Certificate:

Passed

Did You Know?

Trivia

Some initial credits are not in the second set of credits, so the cast ordering uses the initial credits first and fills in the rest with the subsequent credits, according to IMDb policy.

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Quotes

Professor Hendricks: Are we keeping you awake, Mr. Elliot?
Steve Elliot: Barely.

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Connections

Edited into The Clown (1953)

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Soundtracks

Bim, Bam, Bum
(1935)
Music and Lyrics by Johnnie Camacho, Noro Morales and Harold Adamson
Sung by Lina Romay with Xavier Cugat and His Orchestra

User Reviews

A Great PWP (Plot, What Plot?) Wartime Morale Movie

The lack of plot is part of what is fun.

Released during the middle of WWII, it is a rather obvious excuse to show beautiful women in bathing suits and have lots of really good musical numbers.

There are several wonderful location shots, even though most of it was filmed on a sound stage. One of the locations look likes it was filmed in Palm Springs.

Red Skelton is adorable if a bit typecast. Ester Williams is stunningly beautiful and graceful.

All in all a thoroughly enjoyable, if silly, movie. A great movie for family viewing especially with younger children.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish French

Release Date:

July 1944 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Co-Ed

Filming Locations:

Lakeside Golf Club - 4500 Lakeside Drive, Burbank, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,361,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1