I was on vacation, staying with some old college friends, and we'd been pounding beers and whooping it up pretty good into the wee hours. And after everyone else dropped out and crashed, I, as usual, still wide awake, cracked open another cold one and went channel surfing. Since it was 3 in the am, only a few destinations were offering things other than infomercials, making parking the TV on TCM a no-brainer. What I stumbled into that particular night was a period piece musical. It was quite rousing and colorful and highly entertaining. I was also slightly confused by all the strange, extended underwater interludes the heroine kept finding herself in that seemed to pop-up at an alarming frequency.
At the time, I was aware of Esther Williams but had never seen her in action. She was great, and the screen just crackled as she and Howard Keel butted heads and rode pink elephants. And that's NOT the booze talking. The film, Jupiter's Darling, is quite the trip. Anyways, I was immediately smitten with the actress and became enchanted with every follow up encounter encountered. And though most were in the same aquatic vein, Williams quickly proved she was more than the gimmick. Much, much more.
Esther Williams
(1921-2013)
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