Thrill of a Romance ** (1945, Van Johnson, Esther Williams, Frances Gifford) – Classic Movie Review 10,532

Director Richard Thorpe’s 1945 MGM Technicolor musical Thrill of a Romance pairs Esther Williams with Van Johnson, made at their post-war career peak, with musical performances by Tommy Dorsey and his Orchestra and opera singer Lauritz Melchior. It is written by Richard Connell and Gladys Lehman.

When a US air corps war hero, Major Tommy Milvaine (Johnson), romances a pretty swimming instructress, Cynthia Glenn (Williams), at the hotel Monte Belva, a resort in the Sierra Nevada mountains, who else would MGM studios cast to wear the swimsuit?

Cynthia marries rich businessman Bob Delbar (Carleton G Young) after a month-long whirlwind romance, but Bob is called away to Washington on the first day of their honeymoon, leaving Cynthia alone at the resort. It doesn’t take her long to meet and fall in love with war hero Tommy. Then Bob returns to his honeymoon to see his wife with another man.

Unfortunately, MGM have come up with a stodgy, mediocre vehicle for the fabulous Williams. But at least it can boast pleasing music from Tommy Dorsey and Xavier Cugat, plus a single thrilling vintage number – Sammy Cahn’s wonderful ‘I Should Care’ – and one or two good songs, including Lauritz Melchior singing ‘Please Don’t Say No, Say Maybe’ by Sammy Fain and Ralph Freed. Also drummer Buddy Rich notably performs a short solo in one scene, as well as playing with the Dorsey Orchestra in several others, and 16-year-old Jerry Scott sings a beautiful rendition of ‘Because (You Come to Me with Naught Save Love)’.

It is the second of five films pairing Williams and Johnson, made over a period of eight years: A Guy Named Joe (1944), Thrill of a Romance, Easy to Wed (1946), Duchess of Idaho (1950) and Easy to Love (1953).

It was another hit for MGM and Williams as the seventh-highest-grossing film of 1945, earning $4,338,000 in North America and $2,682,000 in other countries, resulting in a profit of $3,259,000.

On 6 October 2009, Turner Entertainment released Thrill of a Romance on DVD as part of the 6 disc set Esther Williams Spotlight Collection, Volume 2.

Johnson was attacked by over-eager female fans when the film premiered at the Grauman’s Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood, with the proceeds going to the war wounded.

Williams recalled that MGM put her and Johnson together in public as much as possible, even though she was involved with actor Ben Gage. When asked why he and Williams didn’t date, Johnson replied: ‘Because I’m afraid she can’t get her webbed feet into a pair of evening sandals.’ Movie-wise Johnson was the embodiment of ‘boy-next-door wholesomeness’ and had a cheery screen image.

Johnson married former stage actress Eve Abbott (May 6, 1914 – October 10, 2004) on January 25, 1947. Eve claimed he was morose and moody. She published a posthumous statement that MGM had engineered their marriage to cover up Johnson’s homosexuality. ‘They needed their big star to be married to quell rumours about his sexual preferences and unfortunately, I was It – the only woman he would marry.’

Williams married Gage on November 25, 1945. They divorced April 8, 1958, and had three children.

Carleton G Young (right) returns to his honeymoon to see his wife Esther Williams with another man Van Johnson.

Also in the cast are Frances Gifford as Maude Bancroft, Henry Travers as Hobart ‘Hobie’ Glenn, Spring Byington as Nona Glenn, Lauritz Melchior as famous opera singer Nils Knudsen, Jane Isbell as Giggling Girl, Ethel Griffies as Mrs Sarah Fenway, Donald Curtis as K O Karny, Jerry Scott as Lyonel, Fernando Alvarado as Julio, Helene Stanley as Susan Dorsey, Vince Barnett as Oscar the waiter, Billy House as Dr Tove, Joan Fay Macaboy as Betty, Tommy Dorsey as Himself, Jeff Chandler as Singer, and The King Sisters as Specialty Act.

It is the centenary of Williams’s birth on 8 August 2021. She died on 6 June 2013, age 91.

Johnson died on 12 December 2008, aged 92.

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 10,532

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com