It's official. With the passing of Esther Williams, the 'Old Hollywood' of legend is all but a memory. It's hard to imagine today, with the infinite possibilities of today's computer-generated imagery (CGI), but from the mid-1940's into the mid-1950's, the sheer novelty of Esther Williams' underwater escapades in glossy musicals at MGM Studios made her one of the worlds most popular film stars. As Latin music figured so prominently in several of her films, Mambo-phoniC takes a look at the rhythmic impact of this underwater rumbera.
Before we even see Esther Williams, the opening sequence of her first staring film, "Bathing Beauty" (1944) features Xavier Cugat and his Orchestra, performing poolside at a glamorous resort on a sun-drenched day. Performed here by Lina Romay, the song "Bim Bam Bum" by pianist Noro Morales became one of the most popular rumbas of the 1940's.
An appearance in an Esther Williams MGM musical was the equivalent of 'going viral' on the internet today. And most musicologists acknowledge that Hollywood's fascination with Latin music 'flavoring' in films of the 1940's (a direct result of the WWII 'Good Neighbor Policy'), helped 'prepare' U.S. mass audiences for the more 'robust' sounds of Mambo and Cha Cha Cha of the 1950's.
Later in this same film, Esther is serenaded by Carlos Ramirez, performing Maria Grever's exquisite "Te Quiero Dijiste" ("Magic is the Moonlight"). A beautiful song originally published twelve years earlier, the presence of "Magic is the Moonlight" in this film turned it into a massive crossover hit, that remains an American 'standard' to this day. In an age when interracial casting was nearly unheard of on 'dry-land', Esther Williams underwater fantasy world was considered enough of a 'buffer' that she was paired with numerous Latino leading men such as Cesar Romero, Ricardo Montalban and Fernando Lamas (with whom she fell in love and married in real life).
Yes, there are many great stars of the 1950's and the 1960's still with us: James Garner, Kim Novak, Sidney Poitier and Leslie Caron among them. But these were considered 'newcomers' compared to the stars created during the heyday of the Hollywood 'Studio System' of the 1920's, 30's and 40's - all-controlling, entities like Paramount, Universal, RKO, Columbia, and Warner Brothers, which literally found and cultivated not only personalities, but helped shape the tastes of the nation from fashion to music. And of course, MGM was the queen of the studios.
How powerful was MGM? Well, they turned a champion swimmer into a household name (Williams was slated to compete in the 1940 Olympic Games, had they not been cancelled due to the outbreak of WWII). A smart and savvy businesswoman, Williams went on to make more millions marketing swimwear and pools for decades after her film career faded in the late-1950's. Perhaps more importantly, in an era when women feared that serious exercise would make them look 'unfeminine', Esther also was among the first female stars to incorporate serious athleticism and health into the conversation of glamour and beauty, decades before the 'health craze'. While there were arguably more 'beautiful' stars in the 1940's and '50's, Williams exuded a radiance that came from being truly healthy (as her mostly active 91 years attest), not the elaborate maquillage painted upon the faces of most other stars of her generation.
Today, when personalities fade into oblivion after a good four of five year run as a 'superstar,' the power of personality created in 1944 out of spandex, sequens and some plaster seahorses makes one realize the massive power of the 'Studio System.' Below are a couple of my favorite Esther Williams production numbers, including including the cheerily-sinister fire & water sequence in "Million Dollar Mermaid" (1952), and the 1953 water skiing extravaganza filmed on-location at Florida's Cypress Gardens for "Easy To Love" (btw... Esther was PREGNANT at the time, and still did her own stunts). Both staged by famed Choreographer Busby Berkley, if you've never seen one of Esther's movies, treat yourself to viewing these clips! Hail and farewell, Esther. You gave us decades of joy. And as for 'Hollywoodland'... R.I.P.
