This Time for Keeps became the second film in which Williams's name was first billed above the title, after Fiesta.[2]
Plot
Richard Herald is a famous opera singer and father to Richard Herald II, who has recently returned from fighting in the war and now prefers to be known as Dick Johnson. Dick has been engaged to socialite Frances Allenbury since before he left for the war, but has been expressing some apprehension about marrying her.
Mr. Herald wants his son to join him at the opera company, but Dick wants to enjoy his life now that he's out of the army. Backstage at the theater, he sees a magazine featuring Leonora "Nora" Cambaretti, an aquacade star. Earlier, as it turns out, after Dick received an injury during the war, he stayed at a hospital where Leonora performed for the patients.
Dick had yet to have his bandages removed from his eyes and head, so he couldn't see Nora. Other servicemen described her beauty to him, as her family's friend, Ferdi Farr, played on the piano. Thinking he was blind, Nora allowed Dick to touch her face and then kissed him, only to then find out that he was able to see.
Nora is now performing as the star of the Aqua Capers show. Dick surprises her there, and he reminds her of their previous meeting by giving her a quick kiss, getting his nose twisted as punishment. Nora knows Dick is there to flirt, but she offers him a job with the show, but Ferdi convinces his friend Xavier Cugat to give Dick a position as a baritone at his nightclub.
After an Aqua Capers performance, Dick and Nora go to dinner. Ferdi reminds her that she barely knows anything about Dick. At rehearsal the next day, Nora says before she can fall in love, Dick must pass inspection from her family back on Mackinac Island. Dick leaves with Nora while Frances's mother, Harriet, meets with Richard and agrees to announce their children's engagement, unbeknownst to Dick.
On the island, Dick meets Nora's grandmother and niece Deborah, who warm up to him after he sings Grandmother's favorite song, "(I’ll be with You) In Apple Blossom Time". Nora's grandmother grants her approval of Dick for Nora. A bit later, Dick leaves to tell his father about his relationship with Nora and break off the engagement to Frances, which Dick has not told Nora about.
Gordon finds an engagement announcement in the newspaper regarding Dick and Frances and shows it to Ferdi. Ferdi tells Nora about it and she is heartbroken. Gordon arranges for her to stay somewhere Dick can't find her. Six weeks later, Mr. Herald arrives at an Aqua Capers rehearsal in an attempt to find Nora, but Ferdi will not tell him where she is. Ferdi goes to Xavier Cugat's club to see Dick, who accuses Ferdi of being in love with Nora as well.
The Grand Hotel, where the film was shot
Meanwhile, summer arrives on Mackinac Island and tourists are flocking there. Cugat's band has a contract to perform at the Grand Hotel, and Dick goes with them. Deborah, knowing that Nora (traveling with Gordon and Ferdi) has arrived by boat, hurries to the hotel and notifies Dick, who loads Deborah onto her bicycle and together they ride to the Cambaretti house to speak with Nora.
This trip, Nora has brought Gordon for her grandmothers' approval. Suddenly, Dick and little Deborah walk in. Dick tries in vain to explain all that has happened. Nora remains confused and upset. She rejects him, so he leaves. Nora and Deborah both start to cry and flee upstairs, where Ferdi overhears them. He invites Mr. Herald to the island, where he apologizes to Grandmother Cambaretti for placing the announcement in the newspaper. He also recognizes her from her old days as a performer in the circus. The two decide that their children should be married and come up with a way to push the two together.
While Nora is at the swimming pool of the hotel, teaching Deborah to dive and swim, Dick begins singing "Easy to Love" with Cugat's female vocalist, which makes Deborah jealous. That night, Nora decides she is going to go after Gordon, but Ferdi convinces her otherwise.
Mr. Herald takes Grandmother to listen to Dick's performance at the hotel, where he convinces Cugat to fire his son and then begins to sing for the audience. He stops singing "La donna è mobile" and begins "Easy to Love", during which Dick gets up and sits next to Nora, where they hold hands and snuggle.
The film's soundtrack contains a mixture of genres, including pop, classical, and Latin music. Melchior performs three operatic arias. Near the end of the film, Cugat's band singer Lina Romay and Cugat perform the "Chiquita Banana" song before they are interrupted by Dick (Johnny Johnston) to sing "You'd Be So Easy to Love" with Romay, who joins in with him, to the bandleader's perplexity. Johnston and Romay later sing a 'blended' "Un poquito de amor" / "I'll give you all my heart" together in the ending nightclub scene.
This was the third of four films Williams made with director Richard Thorpe. Williams disliked Thorpe from the start, and the feeling was mutual.[2] "Dick didn't like people who were too cheerful, which meant that he took an instant dislike to me", wrote Williams in her autobiography.[7]
Shooting
Filming took place in July 1946 and included location shooting on Mackinac Island.[8]
Esther Williams was pregnant during the filming of This Time for Keeps, but later suffered a miscarriage.[7]
To convey the sense of outdoorsy, country small-town life in the film, Irene decided to use a lot of plaid in the costumes. She designed a swimsuit for Williams made out of lumberjack plaid flannel.[2] "It absorbed water like crazy. I dove into the pool and tried to swim, but the suit just dragged me to the bottom. It was like trying to swim while wrapped in an old army blanket. I actually had trouble keeping my head above water" wrote Williams in The Million Dollar Mermaid. "Finally, I reached around me, tugged at the zipper, and watched as the suit quickly sank to the bottom of the deep end of the pool." Williams's assistant had to cut holes in a towel to place around her as she exited the pool, as the set was surrounded by tourists.[7]
Stanley Donen choreographed the dance and water ballet scenes.[9]
Johnston was having a long-term affair with Kathryn Grayson (whom he would later marry) and in her autobiography, Williams wrote that he would read Grayson's intimate letters aloud to the girls in his fan club, including the "all-too-graphic details concerning what she liked about his love-making."[7]
Reception
The film was a hit earning $2,694,000 in the US and Canada and $1,712,000 elsewhere resulting in a profit of $104,000.[1][10]
Critical response
A 1947 New York Times review of the film called it a "very dull show, consciously cute and embarrassingly cloying for most of its over-extended length.[11]
Home media
On October 6, 2009, Turner Entertainment released This Time for Keeps on DVD as part of the Esther Williams Spotlight Collection, Volume 2. The 6 disc set was a follow-up to the company's Esther Williams Spotlight Collection, Volume 1, and contains digitally remastered versions of several of Williams's films including Thrill of a Romance (1945), Fiesta (1947), Pagan Love Song (1950), Million Dollar Mermaid (1952) and Easy to Love (1953).[12]
Related Research Articles
María Rosario Pilar Martínez Molina Baeza, professionally known by her stage name Charo, is a Spanish-born actress, singer, comedian, and flamenco guitarist who rose to international prominence in the 1960s on American television, as well as starring in several films.
Xavier Cugat was a Spanish musician and bandleader who spent his formative years in Havana, Cuba. A trained violinist and arranger, he was a leading figure in the spread of Latin music. In New York City, he was the leader of the resident orchestra at the Waldorf–Astoria before and after World War II. He was also a cartoonist and a restaurateur. The personal papers of Xavier Cugat are preserved in the Biblioteca de Catalunya.
Esther Jane Williams was an American competitive swimmer and actress. She set regional and national records in her late teens on the Los Angeles Athletic Club swim team. Unable to compete in the 1940 Summer Olympics because of the outbreak of World War II, she joined Billy Rose's Aquacade, where she took on the role vacated by Eleanor Holm after the show's move from New York City to San Francisco. While in the city, she spent five months swimming alongside Olympic gold-medal winner and Tarzan star Johnny Weissmuller. Williams caught the attention of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer scouts at the Aquacade. After appearing in several small roles, and alongside Mickey Rooney in an Andy Hardy film and future five-time co-star Van Johnson in A Guy Named Joe, Williams made a series of films in the 1940s and early 1950s known as "aquamusicals", which featured elaborate performances with synchronised swimming and diving.
Wise Children (1991) was the last novel written by Angela Carter. The novel follows the fortunes of twin chorus girls, Dora and Nora Chance, and their bizarre theatrical family. It explores the subversive nature of fatherhood, the denying of which leads Nora and Dora to frivolous "illegitimate" lechery. The novel plays on Carter's admiration of Shakespeare and her love of fairy tales and the surreal, incorporating a large amount of magical realism and elements of the carnivalesque that probes and twists our expectations of reality and society.
You Were Never Lovelier is a 1942 American musical romantic comedy film directed by William A. Seiter and starring Fred Astaire and Rita Hayworth. The supporting cast also features Adolphe Menjou, Xavier Cugat and Adele Mara. The music was composed by Jerome Kern and the lyrics by Johnny Mercer. The picture was released by Columbia Pictures and includes the elaborate "Shorty George" and romantic "I'm Old Fashioned" song and dance sequences.
"Perfidia" is a 1939 Spanish-language song written by Mexican composer and arranger Alberto Domínguez (1906–1975). The song is sung from the perspective of a man whose lover has left him. The song has also been recorded in English and as an instrumental.
Million Dollar Mermaid is a 1952 American biographical drama film about the life of Australian swimming star Annette Kellerman. It was directed by Mervyn LeRoy and produced by Arthur Hornblow Jr. from a screenplay by Everett Freeman. The music score was by Adolph Deutsch, the cinematography by George Folsey and the choreography by Busby Berkeley.
Bathing Beauty is a 1944 American musical romantic comedy film directed by George Sidney, and starring Red Skelton and Esther Williams.
A Date with Judy is a 1948 American musical romantic comedy Technicolor film directed by Richard Thorpe and starring Wallace Beery, Jane Powell and Elizabeth Taylor. The film is based on the radio series of the same name.
Neptune's Daughter is a 1949 American Technicolor musical romantic comedy film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer starring Esther Williams, Red Skelton, Ricardo Montalbán, Betty Garrett, Keenan Wynn, Xavier Cugat and Mel Blanc. It was directed by Edward Buzzell, and features the debut of the Academy Award–winning song "Baby, It's Cold Outside" by Frank Loesser.
Two Girls and a Sailor is a 1944 American musical film directed by Richard Thorpe and starring Van Johnson, June Allyson and Gloria DeHaven. Set on the American homefront during World War II, it's about two singing sisters who create a lavish canteen to entertain members of the military, thanks to financial contributions from a mysterious donor. The picture features a host of celebrity performances, including Jimmy Durante doing his hallmark "Inka Dinka Doo", Gracie Allen, and Lena Horne. Richard Connell and Gladys Lehman were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.
Luxury Liner is a 1948 romantic musical comedy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in Technicolor. It was directed by Richard Whorf, and written by Richard Connell, Gladys Lehman and Karl Kamb (uncredited). It was originally titled Maiden Voyage.
Thrill of a Romance is an American Technicolor romance film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1945, starring Van Johnson, Esther Williams and Carleton G. Young, with musical performances by Tommy Dorsey & his Orchestra and opera singer Lauritz Melchior. The film was directed by Richard Thorpe and written by Richard Connell and Gladys Lehman.
Fiesta is a 1947 American Technicolor musical drama film directed by Richard Thorpe and starring Esther Williams, Ricardo Montalbán, Mary Astor and Cyd Charisse. It was released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The screenplay was written by George Bruce and Lester Cole.
Two Sisters from Boston is a 1946 American musical-comedy film directed by Henry Koster and starring Kathryn Grayson, June Allyson, Lauritz Melchior, Jimmy Durante and Peter Lawford. The film features songs by Sammy Fain and Ralph Freed.
On an Island with You is a 1948 American musical Technicolor romantic comedy film directed by Richard Thorpe. It stars Esther Williams, Peter Lawford, Ricardo Montalbán, Cyd Charisse, Kathryn Beaumont and Jimmy Durante.
Maria Elena "Lina" Romay was an American actress and singer.
Holiday in Mexico is a 1946 America Technicolor musical comedy film directed by George Sidney and starring Walter Pidgeon, Jane Powell, and Ilona Massey. It was produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and marked Powell's first film for the Hollywood studio who had placed her under contract.
The Eddie Cantor Story is a 1953 American musical drama film directed by Alfred E. Green and starring Keefe Brasselle, Marilyn Erskine and Aline MacMahon. It is a biopic based on the life of Eddie Cantor featuring Brasselle as Cantor. It was produced and distributed by Warner Brothers. Cantor himself appeared briefly in the film in a cameo role.
Chica, Chica, Boom, Chic is a song composed by Harry Warren and Mack Gordon and recorded by Carmen Miranda for her 1941 film That Night in Rio.
References
1 2 3 The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
