Million Dollar Mermaid (Mervyn Le Roy, 1952), which gave splashy star Esther Williams the title of her autobiography, is a standard Hollywood biopic lit by several stupefying water ballet set-pieces. Williams is Annette Kellerman, the Australian swim star who became an international celebrity after first tackling the Thames and then outraging American society with her one-piece swimsuit. Victor Mature is the rough diamond of a promoter who takes her close to the top, then bails – wanting to prove it's he, not she, who's the architect of that success. Walter Pidgeon plays Kellerman's supportive father, a music teacher who's dreaming of his own conservatory once more, while Jesse White is particularly strong in his sympathetic supporting part. Williams does quite well in a role that demands more than her usual pouting and foot-stomping, though to quote the script: "Wet, she's sensational; dry, she's just a nice girl who should settle down and get married." The main draw, as ever with Williams' work, are the swimming showpieces. The ones here are particularly good, including a gilded number commencing Kellerman's residency at the New York Hippodrome, and Busby Berkeley's 'Fountain and Smoke', which is just spectacular. Berkeley, who pretty much invented the kaleidoscopic musical number in films like 42nd Street and Gold Diggers of 1933 - each routine stuffed with surreal overhead shots of dancing girls moving in sync - is here employed as a sort of 'specialty director', contributing just one extraordinary number – perhaps because his eye-popping extravaganzas were so expensive to film.

In addition to the fictionalization of the previous commenter, it is also interesting that Annette's mother did not die when she was as young as the movie depicts. In fact, it was her mother who put her into swimming lessons to strengthen her legs. And it was her father who started her in her professional career, including the swim up the Thames river. She did marry her manager, James Sullivan, though.Of course, the romance plays much better on film as depicted here. Despite the Hollywood-izing of her life, this is still an enjoyable film and a great showcase for the talented Esther Williams. Nice, light entertainment.

This film is very interesting and expensively mounted. I recommend it with a few caveats. For instance, the water ballets could not have looked the way they looked in the film because they simply did not have the electrical devices necessary in the 1910s and 1920s to create these effects. They did in the 1950s, of course.Secondly, Annette's former flame, Mr. Sullivan, was not the guy who raised and trained Rin-Tin-Tin and got him started in Hollywood. For the life of me, I cannot understand why this was in the film. Lee Duncan, a former Army airman, was Rinty's owner and trainer, and as far as I know he had no connection to Annette. I don't know why 1950s biographical film had the tendency to do this sort of thing, but it is very common.

Annette Kellerman was an Australian swimming star who created a scandal in 1902 by introducing the one-piece bathing suit at a public beach. Her rise from obscurity is chronicled here, after a bout with a childhood illness that left her crippled for awhile. America's swimming sweetheart Esther Williams was the obvious choice to play the champion swimmer and she does a fine job. She gets solid support from Victor Mature as a cocky promoter with Walter Pidgeon and David Brian in good supporting roles.The main ingredients are the swimming numbers--and the highlight is the acquacade spectacular choreographed by none other than Busby Berkeley. With exceptional color photography, good script and more than competent performances, this one is a winner.Victor Mature has a colorful performance as the cocky promoter.As for Esther Williams, it's easy to see why she was a top box-office draw at MGM during the '40s and '50s.