Neptune's Daughter is one of the better items, and the others are certainly not entirely without merit.
The film flip-flops back and forth between the Skelton-Garrett episodes, which are quite slapsticky, and the Williams-Montalban sections, which are more romantic in a rocky sort of way. In between the gags and the romance, Xavier Cugat and his orchestra play some lively numbers, and various characters sing some Frank Loesser songs. As usual in these kinds of musicals, people break out into song and sometimes dance at the drop of a note. The musical highlight of the show is the song "Baby, It's Cold Outside."
Oh, and Mel Blanc (WB's voice for most of its animated characters back then) gives us his patented, Speedy Gonzales imitation as Julio, a South American character mysteriously identified as "Pancho" in the closing credits.
"Neptune's Daughter" puts plenty of other girls on display in bathing suits besides Williams, but it's Williams whom the film usually features. The odd thing is that Williams and her co-star Skelton (co-billed equally) have so very little screen time together. It's almost as though they were in two different pictures.
The movie ends with a big, splashy water show, and what else would you expect? 6/10
Video:
All five movies in the set are in a standard, 1.33:1 ratio and Technicolor, and they are all up to MGM's usual high standard for lightweight entertainment. Warner Bros. engineers transferred them to disc at a high bit rate, so you will not be disappointed by what you see. "Neptune's Daughter" is a good example. The color is quite realistic, if a tad dull, and the delineation and detailing are among the best we find in standard definition. Facial hues are particularly good, with none of the darkish, orangish, or purplish colorations we sometimes see in older films. Most important, the screen is clear and clear; there is hardly a trace of grain, certainly none that wasn't inherent to the original print, and not a single age mark in sight. In fact, it looks pretty much like a brand-new film.
Audio:
The Dolby Digital 1.0 monaural soundtrack displays the limitations of the day, but, otherwise, is splendid. Backgrounds are dead quiet, and the midrange is well balanced and highly listenable. As we might expect, the dynamics and frequency extremes are somewhat limited, and rear-channel activity is absent, but I didn't miss it.
Extras:
All of the films in the collection fit in a single, foldout, Digipak-type container, further enclosed in a cardboard slipcover. Five separate discs hold the films, and each includes its own extras, among which are TCM's "Private Screenings" hosted by Robert Osborne, various short subjects and classic cartoons, the occasional assemblage of outtakes, an audio-only bonus, scene selections, and theatrical trailers. English is the only spoken language available, with English subtitles.
For "Neptune's Daughter," the disc contains an outtake musical number, "I Want My Money Back," sung by Betty Garrett; a two-minute Esther Williams sequence from 1951's "Callaway Went Thataway"; the eight-minute, Oscar-nominated Pete Smith specialty short "Water Trix"; the Oscar-nominated Tom and Jerry cartoon "Hatch Up Your Troubles"; a promotional radio interview with Ms. Williams; and theatrical trailers for this movie and "Take Me Out to the Ballgame."
Parting Thoughts:
Taken as a whole, "Esther Williams, Volume 1" contains some of her better work, but that may not be saying much. Warner Bros. obviously intended this collection for the dedicated Esther Williams fan, and it might disappoint the casual viewer with some of the nonsense that passes for entertainment. However, as I've said, "Neptune's Daughter" is one of the better items, and the others are certainly not entirely without merit. They are all lightweight and colorful, with charming co-stars, and maybe those qualities are enough to attract a wider audience than fans alone.
Oh, and Mel Blanc (WB's voice for most of its animated characters back then) gives us his patented, Speedy Gonzales imitation as Julio, a South American character mysteriously identified as "Pancho" in the closing credits.
"Neptune's Daughter" puts plenty of other girls on display in bathing suits besides Williams, but it's Williams whom the film usually features. The odd thing is that Williams and her co-star Skelton (co-billed equally) have so very little screen time together. It's almost as though they were in two different pictures.
The movie ends with a big, splashy water show, and what else would you expect? 6/10
Video:
All five movies in the set are in a standard, 1.33:1 ratio and Technicolor, and they are all up to MGM's usual high standard for lightweight entertainment. Warner Bros. engineers transferred them to disc at a high bit rate, so you will not be disappointed by what you see. "Neptune's Daughter" is a good example. The color is quite realistic, if a tad dull, and the delineation and detailing are among the best we find in standard definition. Facial hues are particularly good, with none of the darkish, orangish, or purplish colorations we sometimes see in older films. Most important, the screen is clear and clear; there is hardly a trace of grain, certainly none that wasn't inherent to the original print, and not a single age mark in sight. In fact, it looks pretty much like a brand-new film.
Audio:
The Dolby Digital 1.0 monaural soundtrack displays the limitations of the day, but, otherwise, is splendid. Backgrounds are dead quiet, and the midrange is well balanced and highly listenable. As we might expect, the dynamics and frequency extremes are somewhat limited, and rear-channel activity is absent, but I didn't miss it.
Extras:
All of the films in the collection fit in a single, foldout, Digipak-type container, further enclosed in a cardboard slipcover. Five separate discs hold the films, and each includes its own extras, among which are TCM's "Private Screenings" hosted by Robert Osborne, various short subjects and classic cartoons, the occasional assemblage of outtakes, an audio-only bonus, scene selections, and theatrical trailers. English is the only spoken language available, with English subtitles.
For "Neptune's Daughter," the disc contains an outtake musical number, "I Want My Money Back," sung by Betty Garrett; a two-minute Esther Williams sequence from 1951's "Callaway Went Thataway"; the eight-minute, Oscar-nominated Pete Smith specialty short "Water Trix"; the Oscar-nominated Tom and Jerry cartoon "Hatch Up Your Troubles"; a promotional radio interview with Ms. Williams; and theatrical trailers for this movie and "Take Me Out to the Ballgame."
Parting Thoughts:
Taken as a whole, "Esther Williams, Volume 1" contains some of her better work, but that may not be saying much. Warner Bros. obviously intended this collection for the dedicated Esther Williams fan, and it might disappoint the casual viewer with some of the nonsense that passes for entertainment. However, as I've said, "Neptune's Daughter" is one of the better items, and the others are certainly not entirely without merit. They are all lightweight and colorful, with charming co-stars, and maybe those qualities are enough to attract a wider audience than fans alone.
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[release]21631[/release]