Dangerous When Wet (Charles Walters, 1953): USA

Reviewed by Kathleen Amboy.  Viewed on DVD.

  One of Esther Williams’ finer films made at MGM, is Dangerous When Wet.  A light-hearted musical with a cameo appearance by cartoon characters Tom and Jerry.

Katie Higgins (Esther Williams) and her family are health enthusiasts and avid swimmers, who raise cattle for a living.  Out for their usual morning swim, Katie meets up with traveling promoter Windy Weebe (Jack Carson), who is busy peddling a health elixir (or snake oil) labeled as Liquipep.

Windy is unsuccessful in vying for the attentions of Katie, but soon realizes her potential as a long distance swimmer.  Securing Liquipep as a sponsor, Katie and her family travel to England with the intent of swimming the English Channel using Windy’s talents as a trainer.

The family is eliminated from the competition, save only for Katie, who meets up with a romantic French lothario Andre Lanet (Fernando Lamas) during practice swims.  Lanet, who’s all arms and hands, uses every method to distract Katie from her goals, such as champagne sailing, picnic lunches, and late night swims, but to no avail.  Katie is determined to win, knowing the prize money will bail out the family farm and enable them to purchase a prize-winning bull.

In a highly creative dream sequence, Katie falls into a deep sleep and suddenly appears under the sea.  Panicky and confused, but eager to  cross the channel, Katie secures the help of Tom and Jerry to keep her on course.  A French octopus attempts to woo Katie away but Tom and Jerry come to her rescue – thanks to the talents of William Hanna and Joseph Barbera.

Not only is the animated sequence fun and entertaining to watch, it is appropriately placed within Katie’s dream, making it an acceptable form for Esther Williams’ fans as well as Tom and Jerry fans alike – successfully reaching both audiences. 

Another feature that sets this aqua musical apart from Esther’s others are the catchy tunes “Ain’t Nature Grand” and “I Got Out of Bed on the Right Side,” written by famed lyricist Johnny Mercer.

Mixing live-action with animation is a style of film making that was mastered by Walt Disney, who used this technique in a number of films, such as the five time oscar-winning Mary Poppins (1964).

Williams, who sort of fell into acting after (and due to) her competitive swimming career, always delivered a competent performance.  Her greatest role undoubtedly, was as Annette Kellerman in Million Dollar Mermaid (1952), a biopic of the world-class Aussie swimmer.

It would be flagrant not to mention the wonderful character actor Jack Carson (Windy Weebe), who always appeared as the wise-cracking but harmless oaf in a slew of well-known films, such as Mildred Pierce (1945) and The Strawberry Blonde (1941).

An all around great family film.