Esther Williams Articles

Howard Keel on TCM: SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS, SHOW BOAT, KISS ME KATE Callaway Went Thataway is a pleasant comedy in which Keel has two roles: that of a cowboy star who spends most of his time wasted and a naive hick hired to impersonate said cowboy star. Keel is fine in both comedic roles, and so is Dorothy McGuire as the Hollywood slicker [...]

Jean-Paul Belmondo, Jean Seberg in Jean-Luc Godard's Breathless (top); Ginger Rogers, Fred Astaire in Mark Sandrich's Top Hat (upper middle); Steve Sekely's Day of the Triffids (lower middle); Jack La Rue (right) in No Orchids for Miss Blandish (bottom) Screened last night at the TCM Classic Film Festival, currently taking place at Mann's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, was a new restoration of the George Cukor-directed, [...]

Van Johnson, Esther Williams Esther Williams Box Set, Vol. 2: Part I If you find yourself unmoved by what you've read so far, then I suggest you skip this Esther Williams set altogether as, historical and sociological dimensions aside, these films are pretty dreadful. The visual style usually hovers around the level of "faceless competence" (but, curiously enough, the dullest-looking of the bunch, This Time [...]

TCM Spotlight: Esther Williams, Vol. 2 (Thrill of a Romance / Fiesta / This Time for Keeps / Pagan Love Song / Million Dollar Mermaid / Easy to Love) Twenty-first century moviegoers don't understand Esther Williams, and you get funny looks when you try to explain her appeal. Why on earth would you go to the movies just to see someone swim? It must be [...]