14. Easy to Love
Not quite half-way through the 31 Movies in 31 Days challenge, but I've got a nice backlog to write up by Tuesday night.
And despite going on a bit of a holiday this weekend, I managed to watch Easy to Love this morning. The film is Esther Williams and Van Johnson's last outing together and a not-so-great film either. I have seen a few of their films together (Duchess of Idaho and Easy to Wed), and all of them were better than this outing.
I didn't watch it real carefully, but I don't think I missed much. The basic story: Ray (Johnson) owns the Cypress Gardens which showcases Julie (Williams) as the star of the watershows. She swims, skis, and types for a mere seventy-five dollars a week! Ray ends up taking Julie to New York where she poses for a variety of ads and winds up being courted by Barry Gordon (Tony Martin), a nightclub singer. Julie likes the attention, but she's really in love with her boss, and despite being offered a great job in an Aquacade in New York (did they seriously do water shows in NYC back then?), she goes back to Florida. After Barry sings a lot and Julie swims and skis, there are a variety of romantic complications, but eventually Julie and Ray declare their love and all ends happily.
It's too bad that Van and Esther had to go out with such a crappy film. There is little romantic tension between the two of them, and the film focuses more on Julie dating Barry than why she would love Ray. I guess back in the early '50s it was okay to think that the boss is irresistable, and that every woman wants to marry their boss. If you want to see a movie where Esther and Van are at the top of their game, go rent Easy to Wed. It's definitely not as good as the film it's based on (Libeled Lady), but Esther and Van have more chemistry, as well as a great supporting cast (Keenan Wynn and Lucille Ball).
FILE UNDER: Classic Film ; 31 Films in 31 Days Challenge ; Van Johnson
And despite going on a bit of a holiday this weekend, I managed to watch Easy to Love this morning. The film is Esther Williams and Van Johnson's last outing together and a not-so-great film either. I have seen a few of their films together (Duchess of Idaho and Easy to Wed), and all of them were better than this outing.
I didn't watch it real carefully, but I don't think I missed much. The basic story: Ray (Johnson) owns the Cypress Gardens which showcases Julie (Williams) as the star of the watershows. She swims, skis, and types for a mere seventy-five dollars a week! Ray ends up taking Julie to New York where she poses for a variety of ads and winds up being courted by Barry Gordon (Tony Martin), a nightclub singer. Julie likes the attention, but she's really in love with her boss, and despite being offered a great job in an Aquacade in New York (did they seriously do water shows in NYC back then?), she goes back to Florida. After Barry sings a lot and Julie swims and skis, there are a variety of romantic complications, but eventually Julie and Ray declare their love and all ends happily.
It's too bad that Van and Esther had to go out with such a crappy film. There is little romantic tension between the two of them, and the film focuses more on Julie dating Barry than why she would love Ray. I guess back in the early '50s it was okay to think that the boss is irresistable, and that every woman wants to marry their boss. If you want to see a movie where Esther and Van are at the top of their game, go rent Easy to Wed. It's definitely not as good as the film it's based on (Libeled Lady), but Esther and Van have more chemistry, as well as a great supporting cast (Keenan Wynn and Lucille Ball).
FILE UNDER: Classic Film ; 31 Films in 31 Days Challenge ; Van Johnson
posted by Rebecca at 4:06 PM
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