Esther Williams was at her peak when she made this aqua-musical, and MGM had to look no further than the box-office takings for the proof. Worldwide, the film was one of the top 10 moneymakers of the year and the following year Esther appeared in the 10 most popular film stars list for the first time. This one, though no great shakes in the story department, is splashy in more ways than one, and the studio sold it with lots of moody shots of Esther in slinky, shiny bathing suits. Peter Lawford and Ricardo Montalban mooned over her, Hawaiian backgrounds were lush and tropical, and producer Joe Pasternak's budget even allowed him to throw in Cyd Charisse, Jimmy Durante and ever-beaming Cuban-raised (Spanish-born) band-leader Xavier Cugat. Durante ripped into one of his speciality numbers, I Can Do Without Broadway, but even he couldn't upstage Esther. The story got itself un-waterlogged everytime she hit the waves.


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