1944...I dream of being Esther Williams
75 years later and I still think that Esther Williams is the epitome of
what the “all American“ girl should be. No shoulder pads needed
here ! She was strong, healthy and beautiful ... not a bit like the
scrawny females that seem to be the norm today.
I
was 11 years old and I absolutely loved
going to the movies. I would have lived there if my parents had
allowed it. In
1944 our theater would usually play a newsreel and then the
featured movie. There might be a cartoon and a preview of next week’s
film; but very little in the way of advertising as there is today.
Also, the same movie would be shown over and over. If you missed the
beginning it was no big deal...you just sat on and watched it again.
This
was my favorite way to spend a Saturday. I would get my ticket in the
morning, when it cost just 10 cents, and then stay on for the rest of
the day. This was especially satisfying when an Esther Williams film
was featured. Her beautiful underwater sequences were breathtaking
and I could watch them forever. I
would imagine myself as Esther, leading the rest of the girls in
those choreographed water ballet moves. The camera would follow us under
water and then switch to an overhead shot. The viewer would be
enchanted to see a flower appear on the surface of the pool and would
then realize that it was eight gorgeous bathing beauties perfectly
spaced and moving in sync…their legs and arms intertwined to
simulate colorful petals and leaves.
Then
Esther would suddenly appear, rising up and out of the water in the
center of the group like a bud unfolding. The music would rise to a
crescendo and I would be riveted to my seat. She seemed to be
suspended in air and I would hold my breath until she took her final
graceful dive.
Most
of the films had weak plots but the water ballet sequences, usually
choreographed by Busby Berkeley, have never been surpassed. My dream
of being the next Esther Williams wasn't the least diminished by the
fact that I could barely dog paddle across a shallow wading pool !
posted by Goldendaze-Ginnie at 3:00 PM
6 Comments:
I saw those movies when I was growing up too. Such a wonderful actress.
Good morning. You enjoyed wonderful times and a fantasy. Everything was cowboys for me. :)
I do remember those 10 cent movies. I also remember at the lake where I lived that we were taught synchronized swimming along with life saving courses. We never made it look like she did but we tried.
How I agree, Ginnie, that Esther Williams was wonderful to watch in those water sequences. While I never went to the movies very much in my childhood, I would watch many of the older films when they were on TV and now online. Movies and today's performers are simply not in the same league in so many ways.
I remember well those movies in the mid and late forties especially the one for kids on Saturdays.... I' finally catching up afterBarb funeral and my subsequent total knee replacement. Thank you so very much on your kind comment on my loss...ray
I loved the movies as well. My brother and I went every Saturday morning. We each had fifty cnts that would get us into the movie, popcorn, and drink. There was a serial before the movie and if you attended all 15 episodes and kept the ticket stubs, you could turn them in for a free pass.
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