Neptune's Daughter (1949)

A swimsuit fashion designer is determined to protect her scatterbrained sister from a South American heart-breaker, but a case of mistaken identity complicates matters.

Director:

Edward Buzzell

Writers:

Dorothy Kingsley (screenplay), Ray Singer (additional dialogue)

Stars:

Esther Williams, Red Skelton, Ricardo Montalban

Won 1 Oscar. Another 1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Esther Williams	...	Eve Barrett
Red Skelton	...	Jack Spratt
Ricardo Montalban	...	José O'Rourke
Betty Garrett	...	Betty Barrett
Keenan Wynn	...	Joe Backett
Xavier Cugat	...	Xavier Cugat
Ted de Corsia	...	Lukie Luzette
Mike Mazurki	...	Mac Mozolla
Mel Blanc	...	Pancho
George Mann	...	Tall Wrangler
Frank Mitchell	...	Little Wrangler

Storyline

Scatterbrained Betty Barrett mistakes masseur Jack Spratt for Jose O'Rourke, the captain of the South American polo team. Spratt goes along with the charade, but the situation becomes more complicated when they fall in love. Meanwhile, Betty's sensible older sister Eve fears Betty's heart will be broken when Jose returns to South America. She arranges to meet with the real O'Rourke and love soon blossoms between them as well.

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Plot Keywords:

slapstick comedy | womanizer | polo player | mistaken identity | bare chested male | 

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Taglines:

The "Baby, It's Cold Outside" Technicolor Hit!

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Genres:

Comedy | Musical | Romance | Sport

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

June 1949 (USA)

Also Known As:

Neptune's Daughter

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In a 1999 interview, Esther Williams recalled that she and Ricardo Montalban were originally supposed to sing Frank Loesser's song, "I'd Love to Get You (On a Slow Boat to China)" in this film. But MGM's censors rejected the song as too suggestive. (Strangely, they interpreted "get" as "have" in a sexual sense.) When Williams asked Loesser for a new song, he offered the now-classic, "Baby, It's Cold Outside." The MGM censors offered no objection to it, even though Williams thought the lyrics were even more suggestive than "Slow Boat To China". Nearly 70 years later, in 2018, radio stations in Cleveland and San Francisco banned the song on the basis that it was too suggestive and contained implications of sexual harassment.

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Goofs

Throughout the movie Mel Blanc's character is referred to as Julio, but in the cast credits at the end of the film his name is Pancho.

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Quotes

Eve Barrett: If you keep throwing yourself at men you are only going to get hurt!
Betty Barrett: Not if my aim is good!

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Connections

Referenced in Good Morning Britain: Episode dated 5 December 2018 (2018)

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Soundtracks

On a Slow Boat to China
Written by Frank Loesser
Performed as instrumental scoring for bathing suit fashion sequence

User Reviews

"Any woman that's over size 20 should have her bathing suit made-to-order."

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.