Easy to Love

Julie Hallerton (Esther Williams) is the under-paid aquatic star of Cypress Gardens. Her boss Ray Lloyd (Van Johnson) is secretly one love with her, but he had competition from handsome singer Barry Gordon (Tony Martin) and park employee Hank (John Bromfield).

In 1952-53, Esther Williams was on a role. She had her two best films, Million Dollar Mermaid and Dangerous When Wet, released, and Easy to Love is also one of her best films.

The main plot is pretty thin, but Esther's charms keep it going. The romance between her and Johnson is unbelievable, mainly due to the fact that his character is a jerk to her throughout the film! Tony Martin is good, and gets a couple good songs to sing, while Edna Skinner is fun as Esther's roommate. The songs are all good, but Cole Porter titular song is surprisingly the worst.

The main pleasure of the film is Busby Berkeley's three spectacular aquatic numbers: the one with Esther as a clown has to be seen to be believed, and the big water-ski finale is fantastic. Overall, good fun.