En una isla contigo

As an Esther Williams fan -- read fanatic -- since I was a pre-adolescent, I have to admit that On an Island with You is one of a few of her films that misfires as entertainment.

Admittedly applying contemporary values to a light 56-year-old film, I can't get around the fact that there's something disturbing about the Peter Lawford character's obsession with, stalking of, and eventual kidnapping of the Williams character. This is romantic? Lawford's wooden acting is part of the problem -- more warmth might have mitigated the creepiness of the character's behavior.

I have read that Lawford disliked Williams and felt, despite his success in Good News, that he'd been forced into an uninteresting, secondary part in a movie that was clearly hers. That would explain the total absence of chemistry between them.

Redeeming elements: the Charisse-Montalban dance numbers and Cugat's music.

One doesn't come to this type of picture with high expectations, but many such films rely on familiar story elements, star turns, colorful settings and lively music to deliver pleasant, unchallenging entertainment that will satisfy an audience. No studio did this better than MGM.

But something went wrong this time around. Maybe it was having four screenwriters contributing to a dull, contrived story. Maybe it was making a musical in which the leading lady is neither a singer nor a dancer, in which one of the male leads also neither sings nor dances, in which the other leading man dances but does not sing, and in which none of the foregoing trio has the slightest flair for comedy. What to do? Give Jimmy Durante a couple of night club scenes in which he can do some familiar turns (which he has done far better elsewhere), fill some time with Cugat's orchestra, have some "native" dancers cavort at a festival. You get the idea. Even Esther's wet scenes don't compare favorably with those in most of her other films. And Peter Lawford, a firmly-established would-be leading man without a shred of discernible talent? His character here, supposedly infatuated and preoccupied, becomes thoroughly distasteful, so much so that his romantic reconciliation with Esther becomes impossible to accept.

Any redeeming qualities in this picture? You bet. Cyd Charisse (whose role, like Durante's, has nothing to do with the plot) is featured in two dance routines with Ricardo Montalban. He is surprisingly good, and she is unsurprisingly great. Perhaps one of those four screenwriters suggested that since they were making a musical without any leading players who could sing, they had better use at least somebody who could claim to be a dancer. Good thinking, MGM. You made the right choice. As for the rest...the sooner forgotten, the better.

"On an Island with You" offers, as Neil Doyle has already remarked on this forum, escapist entertainment to warm any fan of this genre with the magnificent colors and the music in the film. MGM was the studio that excelled in this type of movies and this Esther Williams vehicle offers a lot of fun. Although predictable, it offers the viewer a nice time at the movies.

Directed by Richard Thorpe, the movie takes us to a movie location where a film is being shot. The gorgeous Rosalind Reynolds is the star that combines acting with water ballet and incidental singing and dancing. Rosalind is attracted to a Navy Lieutenant that is serving as technical adviser to the movie. Larry Kingsley, in turn, seems to have fallen head over heels with the beautiful Rosalind.

Esther Williams looks ravishingly beautiful in her water scenes as well as in her scenes with Peter Lawford, who plays Larry. Ricardo Montalban and Cyd Charisse play roles in the film and they become involved with one another with the blessing of her mother in a funny scene at the end of the picture.

The great Jimmy Durante almost steals the film from its stars. As Jimmy Doyle, the assistant to the director, he plays a key part in the movie and makes it his own. Xavier Cugat and his orchestra are also seen in the picture.

"On an Island with You" will not disappoint.

Musical-comedy vehicle for swimming star Esther Williams set in Hawaii. Peter Lawford has a rather hopeless role as a moony-eyed Lieutenant who becomes obsessed with Esther, playing a movie actress; she's already involved with her co-star (Ricardo Montalban) and is also busy sparring with her unloved movie-rival (Cyd Charisse, in a demeaning part as a girl nobody seems to want). In its day, probably a very acceptable piece of fluff, but in this age of celebrity stalkers, Lawford's intrusive, seemingly off-balanced fan is unintentionally creepy (at one point he even kidnaps Williams, but she stops him from being arrested). Only for die-hard MGM musical buffs, although Esther's swimming sequences are not on their usual grand scale here. *1/2 from ****

It's difficult sometimes to view an older film without using a modern lens and being oversensitive or judgmental. Case in point: On an Island with You, where Peter Lawford plays a Navy officer who kidnaps his romantic obsession, a movie star played by Esther Williams. What is acceptable behavior from men towards women has obviously changed a lot in the last sixty plus years since this was made. It's hard for me to believe that there was ever a time when the disturbing and outright criminal behavior of Lawford's character could pass for romantic. But sadly, that is the case and the movie fails because of it.

It doesn't help matters that Lawford, always a stiff actor, plays the character as though he is an unbalanced creep. Lawford has no chemistry with Williams, either. This is made more apparent when Esther shares scenes with Ricardo Montalban, whom she did have wonderful chemistry with. Lawford pales by comparison. On the plus side, it's a Technicolor movie with Esther Williams so you know the gorgeous quota will be met and then some. The musical and aquatic numbers are all good, though none are classics. Jimmy Durante does his best to keep things light. Cyd Charisse shows off her dancing skills, which is always nice. As it stands, it's a watchable movie (more so if you're a big Esther fan) but probably the weakest of all of Esther's starring vehicles.