I love this movie so much

Powerful

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Unlike many reviewers, I haven't seen the '36 "Libeled Lady", except for a preview, to which the present film is commonly unfavorably compared. Movie studios of the late '40s and '50s chose to redo some popular films of the late '20s and '30s, usually in color, contrasting with the B&W of the original, sometimes converting a pure comedy or drama into a musical, or completely redoing the music, and often making substantial alterations of the screenplay. In the present case, apparently, relatively few alterations of the screenplay were made. However, duck shooting, rather than fishing, is scripted as the hobby of the debutante's father, and thus the skill that Bill Chandler(Van Johnson) feels he must pretend he knows about and quickly learn the basics about, in order to facilitate getting his foot in the door of presenting himself as a desirable romantic partner for his debutante daughter(Esther Williams). I won't bother reviewing the screenplay in much detail, as this has been done enough. I will note that, with the exception of the Lucy-Jean Harlow comparison, the main character actors in this film are all approximately 5 years younger than their counterparts in the '36 film, and thus they seem like a younger bunch, more appropriately single. Even Lucy seems younger than Jean, although she was considerably older.Van and Esther were very popular, separately or together, with film audiences during the mid-'40s to mid-'50s period. Van had the vaudevillian skills of light comedy, song and dance, as well as being suitable for serious roles, such as in "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo". Esther came across as an ideal 'all-American' girl, most famous for her water ballets, but also with decent talent as an actress, sometimes singing a song or two. Too often, she was portrayed by others as being a poor actress, only of interest to audiences in swimming pools. Here, her performance is commonly very unfavorably compared to that of her costar: Lucille Ball, and predecessor, Myna Loy. Well, Lucy, long time costar of mostly 'B' films , for various studies, was rightly cast as a dizzy showgirl, who is swept up into the complicated romantic plot of a temporary shotgun marriage-of-convenience to a man she initially labels as a baboon or ape(hardly an apt description of handsome, mild-mannered, blond, Van!). She gets to lead a chorus in the stage song and dance number "The Continental Polka", which serves as Van's chance to initially evaluate her, as a prospective temporary 'wife', in order to create a scandal when he hopefully attracts the amorous attention of socialite Connie(Esther), in order to induce her father to drop a libel charge against the newspaper his friend Warren(Keenan Wynn) works for. Lucy is given a rare opportunity during her Hollywood period to display repeated scenes of zaniness, rather like those characteristic of Betty Hutton or Martha Raye, for example, and she well succeeds in them. In contrast, Esther's character is supposed to be snobbish man bait, who routinely turns down proposals. Initially, she sees Van as just another wannabe gold digger. But, she's eventually impressed with his persistence, imagination, and winning boyish personality, and lowers her guard. Her humor is more subtle than Lucy's, but appropriate for her character. Van displays his gift for parlor dialogue, comedy(especially relating to duck shooting),and a couple of musical numbers with Esther, as part of a stage production in one case.Columbian singing sensation, Carlos Ramirez, contracted to MGM during the mid-40s, solos one song, as part of a Mexican floor show, later privately reprised by Esther and Van. Near the end, is an impressive dance production, again with Latin American costumes and music, and including Esther and Van, in a portion. Ethel Smith is also on hand to entertain with her famous jazzy organ music, during the two Latin-themed productions. Both she and Carlos had been included, more prominently, in Esther's first water-themed film: "Bathing Beauty".I don't understand why Van's character has the parson sign the marriage certificate, instead of the agreed upon detail that he doesn't sign it, thus rendering Van's marriage -of-convenience to Lucy's character not legally binding. Thus, in the ending, when Van's and Esther's characters want to get married, they have to dig up the detail that Lucy's supposed divorce from her previous husband wasn't legal, thus also was her unconsummated marriage to Van's character. But Lucy spoils the apparently happy ending by revealing that she subsequently obtained a legal divorce, not included in the records Van checked, thus apparently invalidating the just legalized marriage of Van's and Esther's characters. Lucy gives quite an impressive speech about her feelings about the matrimonial mess. The film ends with this marriage-go-round still unresolved, unclear whether Lucy's character can be induced to cooperate, even with possible monetary reward, in dissolving her sham marriage to Van's character, and perhaps agreeing to a marriage with Keenan Wynn's character, as the others wish, and was her original intention.Van had costarred with Esther the previous year in the very popular "Thrill of a Romance", and would later costar with her in "Duchess of Idaho", and "Easy to Love", by which time noted baritone Howard Keel was also a frequent costar. Most of her films we would classify as minor musicals, in which very few of the songs were intended to become standards. Although many of Esther's films included a water ballet or two, in place of dance productions, some, including this one didn't(It had a dance production, instead). However, she does manage an impressive underwater clinch and kiss with Van!

"Libeled Lady" is one of the best comedies of the 1930s. Much of was the writing and much was due to the incredibly strong cast. Think about it---Spencer Tracy, Myrna Loy, Jean Harlow and William Powell--ALL in one film! In 1946, MGM brought out a remake. While the basic story is similar, it's not as good. Plus, Esther Williams, Van Johnson, Keenan Wynn and Lucille Ball just weren't as good--though they tried.Like "Libeled Lady", the film is about a rich lady who is suing an irresponsible newspaper for its stories about her. However, oddly, in the original she was suing for $5,000,000 and here, a decade later, it's only $2,000,000--significant deflation, don't you think? To help try to get rid of the suit, the scheming newspaper man, Haggerty (Wynn), hires Bill Chandler (Van Johnson) to seduce the heiress, Connie Allenbury (Williams). Why? Because, in the interim, they'd get Bill a quickie marriage. Then, they'd have the 'jealous wife' storm in on them and threaten a suit of her own--along with photographers from the paper to make her case! But, since Bill isn't married, Haggerty has Chandler marry HIS fiancée (Lucille Ball)! Talk about romantic--getting Chandler to marry Haggerty's girl! There's only one problem with the plan...Bill falls for Connie and just can't get himself to do it. So, he schemes for a way to somehow please Haggerty AND Connie...if it's possible.The film is decent and offers a few laughs. However it suffers from a few plot problems (Connie's falling in love with Bill seems incredibly fast considering how nasty she'd been towards him up until then), now includes song which got in the way of the plot and the characters aren't particularly likable (Connie is amazingly nasty--and for no reason--when she first meets Bill). Plus, it lacks the originality and fun of the first film. If you like remakes, by all means see this one. But, don't forget to first see "Libeled Lady"--it's just better.By the way, the plot of "Easy to Wed" is very, very odd considering only about six months later, Keenan Wynn and his real-life wife divorced....so she could marry Van Johnson! To make it even weirder, it now appears that this, like the marriage in the movie, was a sham marriage, as in his later years Johnson admitted to being gay--and I sincerely doubt that this was a sudden late-life 'phase'!

"Easy to Wed" is a remake of "Libeled Lady," with Spencer Tracy, Jean Harlow, William Powell, and Myrna Loy. You don't have to know that. But, it helps to know that, when one is wondering why this Esther Williams movie doesn't make Esther center stage. As a matter of fact, despite the lead actor of Van Johnson, this breezy comedy, which is pleasant enough, but rather long, relies on Keenan Wynn and Lucille Ball to keep the ball rolling. They are the ones throwing their weight around. Esther Williams looks great as usual, but Lucy's not-so-soft-spoken character and constant wardrobe changes into flowing and colorful outfits outdoes her, as Esther quietly looks on. And, as much as I like Van Johnson, he's not given much to do and for that matter he seems a bit disinterested. The plot revolves around getting a libel suit against a newspaper dropped. Actually, the best part comes after Esther finally warms up to Van and even Lucy is spellbound by his charms. This is not Esther at her wettest, and this is no classic, like the original. So enjoy and don't expect too much; just sit back and take it easy.

This film has its plusses -- Esthers swimming, her swimming, and her swimming. It's also in technicolor, which is always a treat to the eye. It really surprised me that a socco screenplay that made 1936's Libled Lady such a rip-roaring funny film could go so flat 10 years later. Of course Myrna Loy, Jean Harlow, William Powell, and Spencer Tracy were more highly skilled performers than this cast. Williams has some to the stoic, amused calm that Loy had and she does okay as Connie, but Lucille Ball is almost unfunny in this, which really surprised me. She lacks Harlows warmth and vulnerability and timing. Harlow really carried Libled Lady and one always looks forward to her scenes. Ball is too arch and steely here. It puts a damper on the films success.