Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

Instant Favorite.

Good start, but then it gets ruined

A lot of fun.

The cast list of this movie reads like a George Carlin joke, but a careful viewer will discover why actors like Jimmy Durante and Esther Williams were hired over and over again.The movie is a musical, not because the characters sing to advance the plot, but because the music is really what this film is about. The plot, such as it is, is easily spotted five minutes into the film and serves mainly to provide a framework for Esther Williams to do what she was best at. The same is true for Lauritz Melchior and Jimmy Durante. What they were good at is seen in the 21st Century as quaint, but again a careful viewer will find rewards.As a Michigan resident, I watched the movie for its scenes of the boats that used to ply the waters of the Straits of Makinac. It doesn't matter that when the movie shows the "Chief Wawatam" docking at Mackinac Island, it's actually docking at Mackinaw City. I like seeing the boats that are now all just memories as they once were, an essential part of Michigan life.So what if the "nightclubs" are so large they can only be Hollywood sound stages? So what if we are essentially seeing a remake of "The Jazz Singer?. Enjoy the music, the water ballet, Jimmy Durante's jokes and Xavier Cugat's teacup chihuahua.

Lauritz Melchior's rich tenor voice, especially at the beginning and end of this 1947 is worth the price of the entire film.The plot is quite simple. An over zealous man and woman announce the engagement of his son to her daughter, respectively. Problem is that the guy, Johnnie Johnston, has found love with Esther Williams, who entertained him at a convalescent home for war-injured soldiers.We have an all-star cast here. Jimmy Durante is Esther Williams's piano player who immediately distrusts Johnston. As a family friend, he favors the producer of the show she works at. The original cast includes Dame May Witty, quite inquisitive as the grandmother of Williams, but with her austere look in color, she has that facade as she did in Mrs. Miniver, but in a comical way.

This movie is a waste of talent and time - yours if you watch it. The script often makes no sense - nor does the title, as one reviewer pointed out - and it sinks the whole enterprise. Esther Williams' swim numbers aren't at all interesting, nothing like those in movies like Jupiter's Daughter. Melchior gets to sing a lot, but he doesn't sing very well - it's often just loud, as in M'appari. He is much better in Thrill of Romance. The best performance in the movie is, to my mind, Durante's - though it's not one of his better movie appearances. The best number is his The Lost Chord, and that's not a great number.All of these performers have given much better performances elsewhere. Go watch those, and leave this unfortunate mistake to rest in peace.

I saw this film many years ago and had forgotten the title until I was looking up "Johnny Johnston" on the website. I remember Johnston from the years he was a panelist on "Password," then hosted by Allen Ludden. When Johnston was introduced on "Password," it was mentioned he once was married to Kathryn Grayson of "Showboat" fame. I remember Johnston as a very attractive blond man with a terrific smile and sparkling personality when he served as a panelist. Yet, I did not realize Johnston had portrayed the love interest of Esther Williams in "This Time For Keeps." At any rate, I will track down DVDs of this movie and others in which Johnston appeared and the CD remakes of his vocal recordings (hit singles and movie soundtracks)during the 1930s and 1940s. It is unfortunate his talent was not more appreciated during his lifetime, as he passed away January 6, 1996.