Dangerous When Wet
| Dangerous When Wet | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Charles Walters |
| Produced by | George Wells |
| Written by | Dorothy Kingsley |
| Starring |
Esther Williams Fernando Lamas Jack Carson |
| Music by | Albert Sendrey George Stoll |
| Cinematography | Harold Rosson |
| Edited by | John McSweeney Jr. |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by | Loew's Inc. |
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Release date
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July 3, 1953 |
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Running time
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95 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1,465,000 |
| Box office | $3,255,000 |
Dangerous When Wet (1953) is a Technicolor Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musical film starring Esther Williams, Fernando Lamas, and Jack Carson, directed by Charles Walters, and featuring an animated swimming sequence starring Williams with the cat-and-mouse duo, Tom and Jerry.
Katie Higgins (Williams) is the wholesome daughter of a dairy farmer. The entire family (Pa, Ma, Suzie, Katie, and Junior) start the day with a brisk song and morning swim. One day, Katie meets travelling salesman Windy Weebe (Carson) who is instantly smitten. Weebe sells an elixir that purports to turn the user into a peppy, fit-as-a-fiddle specimen, and upon noticing the entire family's strength in the water, suggests that they all attempt to swim the English Channel. The family and Weebe head off to England whereupon they learn that the distance to be conquered is 20 miles "as the seagull flies" but with the currents, can be up to 42 miles. Katie is the only one in the family strong enough to attempt this feat, so she begins training with Weebe as her coach.
On a foggy day, Katie, in the water, is separated from Weebe, in a rowboat, and is rescued by a handsome Frenchman, Andre Lanet (Lamas). Lanet falls for the spunky American and begins trying to woo her. Katie tries to stay focused on her swim, but is being pulled in different directions by the two men. In a dream sequence, Katie does an underwater ballet with cartoon characters Tom and Jerry, as well as animated depictions of the different people in her life. The film ends happily with Katie's attempt to cross the Channel and the resolution of her gentlemen issues.
In the underwater sequences in which Williams speaks to Tom and Jerry, Joseph Barbera had pink bubbles drawn coming out of her mouth for a cost of $50,000.
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Wikipedia