Tonight's Movie: Dangerous When Wet (1953) - A Warner Archive Blu-ray Review

Esther Williams stars in DANGEROUS WHEN WET (1953), an MGM musical just released on Blu-ray by the Warner Archive Collection.

Esther plays farm girl Katie Higgins, who is recruited by a promoter named Windy (Jack Carson) to swim the English Channel.

Initially Katie's entire family plans to swim across, including parents (William Demarest and Charlotte Greenwood) and younger sisters (Barbara Whiting and Donna Corcoran), but ultimately it comes down to just Katie...and the family farm and a new bull depend on her success!

While training Katie meets a handsome Frenchman (Fernando Lamas, who would marry Williams in 1969). Windy is initially disappointed, as he also crushes on Katie, but then he meets a cheery French swimmer (Denise Darcel, WESTWARD THE WOMEN) who likes him. All's well that ends well!

Although this isn't in my top handful of Esther Williams favorites -- Dorothy Kingsley's screenplay is a bit sluggish and repetitive -- it's a bright and cheery film with a congenial cast, and I find it pleasant company.

"I Got Out of Bed on the Right Side" by Johnny Mercer and Arthur Schwartz provides an upbeat opening and closing to the movie.

Esther also has a nice swim sequence with Lamas in a lovely pool. Lamas was a champion swimmer in Argentina and was thus a perfect swimming partner for Williams; some of their synchronized moves look especially wonderful.

Best of all, this is the film where Esther swims with cartoon characters Tom and Jerry! It's a delightful sequence which really makes the movie.

The film was directed by Charles Walters; there's more about Walters in my 2015 review of Brent Phillips' biography of the director. The film was shot in Technicolor by Harold Rosson. It runs 95 minutes.

The Warner Archive Blu-ray print is from a new 1080p HD master from a 4K scan of the original Technicolor camera negatives. Like another Warner Archive Esther Williams Blu-ray, NEPTUNE'S DAUGHTER (1949), I felt some of the color was a bit more muted than I expected; that said, some scenes, including the brightly colored credits and the Tom and Jerry sequence, are quite vivid and lovely. Overall it's a good-looking disc with excellent sound.

Extras imported from the 2007 DVD release are an unused musical outtake with Lamas and Darcel; the Tom and Jerry cartoon THE CAT AND THE MERMOUSE (1949); the Pete Smith Speciality short THIS IS A LIVING? (1953); demo recordings by Johnny Mercer; an audio-only interview with Esther Williams; and the trailer. New for the Blu-ray is a song selection menu.

For more on the movie itself, here's a review my dear friend, the late Patricia Nolan Hall ("Caftan Woman"), wrote in 2020: "You couldn't ask for more when filling the time slot for a charming Sunday matinee."

Thanks to the Warner Archive for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray. Warner Archive Blu-rays may be ordered from the Amazon Warner Archive Collection Store, Movie Zyng, or from any online retailers were Blu-rays are sold.

Tweet