The idea of putting swimming star Esther Williams in a biography of champion Australian swimmer Annette Kellerman must have seemed like a can't-miss concept for a splashy matinée item which would pay-off no matter what the outcome. Unfortunately, the concept itself is underused, as Williams performs in a handful of extravagant water routines but does very little dramatic acting. Producer Arthur Hornblow Jr. and the requisite MGM brass do not appear to have any inspiration that goes beyond the standard glitz and glamour (the script being somewhat expendable). That's too bad, for Kellerman's life story had aspects of both high drama and nostalgic value (being the first woman to wear a one-piece swimsuit on America's shores!). Mervyn LeRoy's direction is quite capable, and Williams is amiable, however Busby Berkeley's lavish, gaudy production numbers are what most people end up remembering. **1/2 from ****

Even though (at the beginning of the story) pretty Esther Williams had to compete with the endearing charm of a cute, boxing kangaroo named Sydney - Soon enough, Million Dollar Mermaid (MDM, for short) became Esther's, and only Esther's, picture. And that's the way it continued to stay, right through to its final, closing credits.Being a typical glamour production from a 1950's Hollywood, MDM was clearly only a partially accurate account of the life of early-20th Century swimming sensation, Annette Kellerman, who was a native Australian (born in 1886).Of the half-dozen, or so, Esther Williams' vehicles which I've now seen. MDM was certainly one of the rare ones that used just about any old excuse it could to get our glamorous star into a form-fitting bathing suit and splashing around in the water.But, whether she was wet or dry, Esther could always be counted on the have a dazzlingly fresh, Pepsodent smile to flash at all of her adoring fans.It was famed, veteran choreographer, Busby Berkeley (definitely long past his prime) who was responsible for staging the elaborate aqua-musical numbers in MDM.As the story goes - In the final fantasy sequence, Williams was required to dive off a 115 foot tower into the water below. Having no stand-in to take on such a dangerous stunt as this, Esther, of course, did it herself.And, as a result, Williams ended up sustaining a fairly serious spinal injury which made it necessary that she wear a body cast for 7 months.Oh, well - There's no business like show business - Right? Born in 1921, Esther Williams' career as MGM's prize Aqua-star petered out by the end of the 1950s. In real-life - Williams lived to a ripe, old age of 91.

One of the best of the film series featuring Esther Williams' swimming talents, that usually included some choreographed 'water ballets'. It has one of the better screen plays for her films, being a tribute to the first international swimming star: Australian-bred Annette Kellerman. No doubt, much of the screen play is quite fictionalized. This is probably especially true of the details of Annette's relationship with her promoter and future husband , American James Sullivan, played by familiar leading man Victor Mature.Although most identified with his several roles in biblical-oriented films or ancient Egyptians, Mature had been paired with some of Hollywood's most glamorous ladies in musicals or romantic dramas for more than a decade, yet was still quite handsome, cocky, and personable, at age 40. Sullivan's participation in a race across the US in a very primitive plane is probably as fictional as his supposed promotion of the German shepherd Rin Tin Tin as a potential Hollywood star....David Brian serves as Sullivan's faithful partner(Alfred) in his various oddball enterprises and world travelings. Walter Pigeon plays Annette's father, who decides to move to the UK, where Annette gains further notoriety in her swimming feats. The real Annette made 3 unsuccessful attempts to become the first woman to swim the difficult English Channel. Donna Corcoran plays Annette as a girl, whose legs are weak from polio and thus she has been encouraged to swim much to strengthen her legs, which eventually fully recover. After consulting several sources, it's still unclear to me if polio was the actual cause of her problem. The polio scare was at its height around the time this film was made, shortly before an effective vaccine became widely available. When Annette was a girl, polio was a much less common cause of muscular paralysis in children, infants being much more commonly affected, and often dying.The film dramatizes Annette's trial for indecent exposure in wearing her customized one piece form-fitting bathing suit on a beach near Boston. She thereafter became noteworthy in serving as a model for the evolution of modern women's beach/swimming attire. Later, she starred in a series of Hollywood silent films, one of which featured her quite nude at times: a first in Hollywood films, but not mentioned in this film. The film ends with Annette in a hospital, trying to recuperate from an incident in which she was propelled through a glass viewing section of a swimming tank, after the glass gave way, seriously injuring her spine. This is based on a true incident. However, it happened in Bermuda, not while making a Hollywood film. Also, the problem wasn't a spinal injury, but severe lacerations from the jagged glass. Interestingly, while making his film, Esther suffered a very severe injury in a broken neck from a high dive, necessitating a long delay in finishing the film. Thus, the nature of the reported injury and its circumstances much more resembled Esther's injury than Annette's. There are, of course, several spectacular 'water ballet' segments, appropriately choreographed by Busby Berkley, in one of his last such roles, having been most active in this regard in the '30s. Included are some signature overhead kaleidoscopic shots... Esther looks quite stunning in all of her outfits, in or out of the water.Present for one performance is Maria Tallchief,as Pavlova: world famous traditional ballet dancer. Maria was, in fact, acknowledged to be such: unexpected for the daughter of an Osage Native American!Various familiar period or classical music pieces are played as background music. "Let Me Call You Sweetheart" is periodically heard or sung, serving as the theme song. There is a formulistic rocky period in the Annette-Sullivan relationship, when she has a well-established high class suitor, in contrast to Sullivan's romantic wandering seat-of-the-pants persona.

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.