''Dangerous When Wet'' is a 1953 American live-action/animated

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

starring

Esther Williams Esther Jane Williams (August 8, 1921 – June 6, 2013) was an American competitive swimmer and actress. She set regional and national records in her late teens on the Los Angeles Athletic Club swim team. Unable to compete in the 1940 Summer Ol ...

Fernando Lamas Fernando Álvaro Lamas y de Santos (January 9, 1915 – October 8, 1982) was an Argentine-American actor and director, and the father of actor Lorenzo Lamas. Biography Argentina Fernando Álvaro Lamas y de Santos was born in Buenos Aires, Arg ...

and

Jack Carson John Elmer Carson (October 27, 1910 – January 2, 1963) was a Canadian-born American film actor. Carson often played the role of comedic friend in films of the 1940s and 1950s, including ''The Strawberry Blonde'' (1941) with James Cagney and ...

, directed by

Charles Walters Charles Powell Walters (November 17, 1911 – August 13, 1982) was an American Hollywood director and choreographer most noted for his work in MGM musicals and comedies from the 1940s to the 1960s. Early years Charles Walters was born in Pasad ...

and featuring an animated swimming sequence starring Williams with the cat-and-mouse duo

Tom and Jerry ''Tom and Jerry'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated media franchise and series of comedy short films created in 1940 by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Best known for its 161 theatrical short films by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the series c ...

Plot summary

Katie Higgins is the wholesome daughter of a dairy farmer. The entire family (Pa, Ma, Suzie, Katie, and Junior) start the day with a brisk song and morning swim. One day, Katie meets traveling salesman Windy Weebe, who is instantly smitten. Weebe sells an

elixir ELIXIR (the European life-sciences Infrastructure for biological Information) is an initiative that will allow life science laboratories across Europe to share and store their research data as part of an organised network. Its goal is to bring t ...

that purports to turn the user into a peppy, fit specimen, and upon noticing the entire family's strength in the water, he suggests that they all attempt to swim the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

. The family and Weebe travel to England and learn that the channel's distance is 20 miles "as the seagull flies," but with the currents, it can be as many as 42 miles. Katie is the only one of the family strong enough to attempt this feat, so she begins training with Weebe as her coach. On a foggy day, Katie is rescued from the water by handsome Frenchman Andre Lanet, who falls for Katie and tries to woo her. Katie tries to stay focused on her swim, but she is pulled in different directions by Lanet and Weebe. In a

dream sequence A dream sequence is a technique used in storytelling, particularly in television and film, to set apart a brief interlude from the main story. The interlude may consist of a flashback, a flashforward, a fantasy, a vision, a dream, or some other ...

, Katie performs an underwater ballet with cartoon characters

as well as with animated depictions of the people in her life. The film ends happily with Katie's attempt to cross the channel and the resolution of her love-life issues.

Cast

Live-action cast

as Katie Higgins *

as André Lanet *

as Windy Weebe *

Charlotte Greenwood Frances Charlotte Greenwood (June 25, 1890 – December 28, 1977) was an American actress and dancer. Born in Philadelphia, Greenwood started in vaudeville, and starred on Broadway, movies and radio. Standing almost six feet tall (some sour ...

as Ma Higgins *

Denise Darcel Denise Darcel ( née Billecard, 8 September 1924 – 23 December 2011) was a French vaudevillian, actress and singer, who from 1948 and 1963, appeared in films in Cinema of the United States, Hollywood, and briefly on the stage, television ...

as Gigi Mignon *

William Demarest Carl William Demarest (February 27, 1892 – December 27, 1983) was an American character actor, known especially for his roles in screwball comedies by Preston Sturges and for playing Uncle Charley in the sitcom ''My Three Sons'' Demarest, w ...

as Pa Higgins *

Donna Corcoran Donna Corcoran (born September 29, 1942) is an American former child actress who appeared in nine Hollywood films from 1951 through 1955. She notably appeared in two aquatic musicals that featured Esther Williams (playing swimmer Annette Kellerm ...

as Junior Higgins *

Barbara Whiting Barbara Whiting Smith (May 19, 1931 – June 9, 2004) was an American actress and singer. Early life Whiting was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of music manager Eleanor Youngblood Whiting and composer Richard A. Whit ...

as Suzie Higgins * Bunny Waters as Greta *

Henri Letondal Henri Letondal (29 June 1901 – 15 February 1955) was a French-Canadian actor, critic, playwright and musician. He was born in Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by populatio ...

as Joubert *

Paul Bryar Paul Bryar (born Gabriel Paul Barrere; February 21, 1910 – August 30, 1985) was an American actor. In a career spanning nearly half a century, he appeared in numerous films and television series. Career Bryar appeared in nearly 220 fil ...

as Pierre *

Jack Raine Thomas Foster "Jack" Raine (18 May 1897 – 30 May 1979) was an English stage, television and film actor. He was a leading man of the British cinema in the late twenties and early thirties in such films as ''The Hate Ship'' (1929), '' Raise the ...

as Stuart Frye * Richard Alexander as

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

ian Channel swimmer * Tudor Owen as Old Salt *

Ann Codee Ann Codee (born Anna Marie Vannuefflin, 5 March 1890 – 18 May 1961) was a Belgian actress with numerous hit films on her résumé, such as '' Can-Can'', ''Kiss Me Kate'', and ''Interrupted Melody''. Born in Antwerp, Belgium, her name was s ...

as Mrs. Lanet * Darrell Wesley Clow as the

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

Swimmer

Voice cast

William Hanna William Denby Hanna (July 14, 1910 – March 22, 2001) was an American animator and cartoonist who was the creator of ''Tom and Jerry'' as well as the voice actor for the two title characters. Alongside Joseph Barbera, he also founded the ani ...

as Tom and Jerry (uncredited)

Production

The film was based on a story by Dorothy Kingsley. MGM liked the story, bought it and hired Kingsley to develop it into a screenplay. It was originally titled ''Everybody Swims'' and was intended as a vehicle for Esther Williams and

Debbie Reynolds Mary Frances "Debbie" Reynolds (April 1, 1932 – December 28, 2016) was an American actress, singer, and businesswoman. Her career spanned almost 70 years. She was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer for her portra ...

In the underwater sequences in which Williams speaks to Tom and Jerry,

Joseph Barbera Joseph Roland Barbera ( ; ; March 24, 1911 – December 18, 2006) was an American animator, director, producer, storyboard artist, and cartoon artist who co-founded the animation studio and production company Hanna-Barbera. Born to Italian im ...

animated pink bubbles coming from her mouth, an effect that cost $50,000. The film's ending was rewritten after an incident during the filming when

Johnny Weissmuller Johnny Weissmuller (born Johann Peter Weißmüller; June 2, 1904 – January 20, 1984) was an American Olympic swimmer, water polo player and actor. He was known for having one of the best competitive swimming records of the 20th century. H ...

(Esther's former Aquacade partner) dove into the water to swim alongside

Florence Chadwick Florence May Chadwick (November 9, 1918 – March 15, 1995) was an American swimmer known for long-distance open water swimming. She was the first woman to swim the English Channel in both directions, setting a time record each time. She was als ...

, whom he was coaching.

Casting

Reynolds was originally slated for the role of Williams's little sister Suzie. Though Williams knew of Lamas before he was cast as her love interest, the two had never been formally introduced. They married in 1969, and remained so until Lamas's death in 1982. When asked whether she had known Lamas when the studio suggested his name as her costar, Williams mentioned that "he starred in movies with

Jane Powell Jane Powell (born Suzanne Lorraine Burce; April 1, 1929 – September 16, 2021) was an American actress, singer, and dancer who first appeared in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musicals in the 1940s and 50s. With her soprano voice and girl-next-door image ...

Greer Garson Eileen Evelyn Greer Garson (29 September 1904 – 6 April 1996) was an English-American actress and singer. She was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer who became popular during the Second World War for her portrayal of strong women on the hom ...

, and

Lana Turner Lana Turner ( ; born Julia Jean Turner; February 8, 1921June 29, 1995) was an American actress. Over the course of her nearly 50-year career, she achieved fame as both a pin-up model and a film actress, as well as for her highly publicized per ...

, and heknew he was romantically linked to Lana Turner. And heheard he could swim. Yes, Fernando Lamas sounded like good casting." At first, Lamas declined the role, stating that he came to MGM to be a star, and only wanted to act in "important pictures." Williams convinced him that his part would be rewritten to be larger.The Million Dollar Mermaid: An Autobiography, By Esther Williams, Digby Diehl, Published by Harcourt Trade, 2000, ,

Release

According to MGM records, the film earned $2,230,000 in the U.S. and Canada and $1,025,000 elsewhere, recording a profit of $386,000.

Critical reception

In a contemporary review for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', critic

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...

wrote: " is frolicsome item not only dumps you quite often in the drink, but also gives you some rather pleasant company to clown around with while on dry ground. ... ere is nothing very special or spectacular about ''Dangerous When Wet'', but it comes as relaxing entertainment at this torpid time of the year." Crowther also called the Tom and Jerry sequence "outstanding." A review from ''Variety'' called the film "a light mixture of tunes, comedy, water ballet and Esther Williams in a bathing suit."

Home media

On July 17, 2007,

Warner Home Video Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc. (formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the home video distribution division of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Video ...

and

Turner Entertainment Turner Entertainment Company is an American multimedia company founded by Ted Turner in 1986. Purchased by Time Warner in 1996 as part of its acquisition of Turner Broadcasting System (TBS), the company was largely responsible for overseeing th ...

released ''Dangerous When Wet'' on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

as part of the Esther Williams Spotlight Collection, Volume 1. The five-disc set contained

digitally remastered Remaster refers to changing the quality of the sound or of the image, or both, of previously created recordings, either audiophonic, cinematic, or videographic. The terms digital remastering and digitally remastered are also used. Mastering A ...

versions of several of Williams's films including ''

Bathing Beauty ''Bathing Beauty'' is a 1944 musical film starring Red Skelton, Basil Rathbone, and Esther Williams, and directed by George Sidney. Although this was not Williams' screen debut, it was her first Technicolor musical. The film was initially to be ...

'' (1944), ''

Easy to Wed ''Easy to Wed'' is a 1946 Technicolor American musical comedy film directed by Edward Buzzell, and starring Van Johnson, Esther Williams, Lucille Ball, and Keenan Wynn. The screenplay by Dorothy Kingsley is an adaptation of the screenplay of ...

'' (1946), ''

On an Island with You ''On an Island with You'' is a 1948 musical Technicolor romantic comedy film directed by Richard Thorpe. It stars Esther Williams, Peter Lawford, Ricardo Montalbán, Cyd Charisse, Kathryn Beaumont and Jimmy Durante.Miller, Frank"Articles: On an ...

'' (1948) and '' Neptune's Daughter'' (1949)
The Tom and Jerry sequence is also featured in several

DVD and Blu-ray releases issued by Warner Home Video, including the ''

Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection The ''Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection'' is a series of two-disc DVD sets released by Warner Home Video. Originally planned as an uncensored, chronological set, the issued ''Spotlight Collection'' sets include selected ''Tom and Jerry'' shorts ...

'', Volume 1 (in the bonus features) and '' Tom and Jerry: The Deluxe Anniversary Collection'' (Disc 2, as a special short).

References

External links

* * * * {{Tom and Jerry 1953 films 1953 musical comedy films American musical comedy films American romantic comedy films American films with live action and animation American romantic musical films Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer animated films Films directed by Charles Walters Films scored by Georgie Stoll Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Swimming films Animated films about mice Tom and Jerry films Animated musical films 1950s American animated films Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio films 1950s English-language films