| Review:
|
Swimming with kitsch Esther Williams vehicles used
to be as much a part of the theater going experience popcorn.
She’s gone in and out of fashion in the decades since she
first appeared on screen but this former potential Olympic
swimmer (she never got to compete due to World War II when
the games were suspended temporarily)certainly gained a
lot of attention from moviegoers appearing in a series of
colorful popular musicals. ***
Warner Home Video has gone back to the vault for six
more of Williams popular musicals for “Esther Williams,
Volume 2”. Remarkably, Williams always looked terrific in
the water in spite of the fact that she was probably waterlogged
from long hours in the pool shooting her films. “Thrill
of A Romance”, “Fiesta”, “Pagan Love Song”, “This Time for
Keeps”, “Million Dollar Mermaid” and “Easy to Love” make
up the latest batch of Williams films. The films always
had top notch production values, stars including Victor
Mature, David Brian, Van Johnson, Howard Keel, Rita Moreno
and others to keep viewers interested even in some of the
middling films here. ---
Image & Sound:
Quality varies from exceptionally good, crisp and with
bold colors to soft image quality. Overall, the set looks
quite good even if there hasn’t been any attempt to restore
the films. *** Audio sounds quite good with a solid mono
presentation of the soundtracks. ---
|
