This Time for Keeps (1947)

The greatest movie ever made..!

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

A film with great talent like Esther Williams, Lauritz Melchior, Jimmy Durante, Xavier Cugat and May Witty promises a lot, they're great enough individually but seeing them together in the same film is every bit as big a treat. None of the five stars disappoint, but 'This Time For Keeps' as a film could have been much more.Getting the flaws out of the way, the script really lacks lustre in places, lacks wit and sophistication and anybody looking for sense will be short-changed. The story is flimsy nonsense and often painfully predictable with some draggy pacing in a few scenes that aren't musical numbers.Despite singing decently, Johnnie Johnston is a charisma-free presence and fails to generate much chemistry with the rest of the cast. Richard Thorpe's direction is competent but undistinguished.Conversely, 'This Time For Keeps' is lavishly mounted and shot in glorious Technicolor. The songs are pleasant, while the operatic/classical music segments provided by Melchior (which include the likes of "La Donna E Mobile", "M' Apari" and even a bit of Otello) are even better. They benefit from being energetically staged.Most of the cast work very well. Williams radiates with charm and her swimming talent is second to none. Durante is very funny and seems to be having a ball. Melchior sings with his usual thrilling ring, sounding absolutely wonderful, and is cuddly and amusing. Cugat sends up a storm and Witty is just delightful.Overall, a pleasant diversion but unexceptional, with the cast being the biggest merit. 6/10 Bethany Cox

Besides her water ballets, Esther always has at least one time in each film where she does one of her dives. She was in the Olympics once, they just cancelled the 1940 Olympics before she had her chance to compete. Then she just went into Hollywood and things took off for her from there. Her fanatic for her in this film is Dick Johnston. He is first seen by the pool pretending to wear a bandage on his face. What he's actually doing is trying to make Esther feel sorry for him. She and her good friend Jimmy Durante (back again from "On an island with you") find out about Johnston doing that and take an instant disliking to him. But Esther soon will start falling for him and using her wonderful girlish charm of hers with him. Lauritz Melchior is back from " Thrill of a Romance" as Johnston's father, stealing every scene he's in again with his strong, talented opera voice. Esther, of course like in all her films, is the main one that makes things shine. I love old films from the 30s, 40s, and early 50s. Especially Judy Garland and Esther Williams. Hollywood's golden age would not have been the same without them. Lauritz wants to arrange a marriage for his son, but his son only has eyes for Esther. She does another beautiful swimming number, with some nice underwater images, and Durante going under the water on a sinking platform and Esther pulling him up while wearing Durante's top hat. She looked so cute in that top hat. There's a sort of amusing scene by the pool where one of the swimming girl's three year old son is sitting on Durante's piano bench. Then Durante chases him up the diving board and the toddler dives into the pool. I've never seen such a small baby dive so well before. As Esther and Johnston become more romantically involved, Durante wants to see if Johnston will pass the "grandma" test. So Esther and Johnston take a trip up to wintertime Mackinac island where they need to travel by an icebreaker ship to get there. Grandma and Esther's little 7 year old niece take an instant liking to him. Then there's a very nice scene then with Johnston, Esther, and the niece all singing "Sno wonder we fell in love" on a sleigh. That scene was beautiful. Also beautiful is when we see Mackinac island in the springtime, the blossoms and the sweet 40s music and images of old fashioned Mackinac. Watching this really made it look like I was seeing into another age, a sweeter, more simple and innocent time that is now long gone. I seriously doubt modern day Mackinac has all horses and carriages and very few cars. I'm sure it looks much, much different now, just like almost anywhere else in modern 21st century America with Walmart and McDonalds, etc. I wish I was around back then, especially in the late 40s and early 50s when WW2 and the depression were over but the world was still so nice, simple, and innocent. I also liked a song Durante sang "The lost chord". I just love these films and the music and singing in them. I won't spoil the rest of the film in case there is someone reading this review who hasn't seen this film yet but wants to. Note: I found out I was wrong when I said that Mackinac island looks very different today and looks just like most of the rest of 21st century America with traffic and Walmarts and etc. I guess I was just seeing how the other 99% of America today is like that. I did some reading up on modern Mackinac and was sorta surprised to find that the island still bans most cars, is still filled with horses, carriages, and bicycles. And that it still looks so beautiful and unspoiled, and still looks very much today like it did in the film. I never actually been there. Also, I read how the pool at the Grand hotel is named after Esther after she starred in the film there.

I recently have watched about a dozen Esther Williams movies. Some were quite good and most were pretty watchable despite the silly plots. However, I must say that of all the ones I've seen, this one is by far the worst. I think that unless you are the sort of person who wants to see all of her movies, this one is imminently skippable.The film stars Williams as, what else, Nora, an underwater performer. She falls in love (though we know no reason why) with a very dull man named Dick Johnson (I am NOT making that up)--played by Johnny Johnston. However, in a subplot stolen right from "The Jazz Singer", Dick's father is very controlling and expects the young man to not only be an opera singer like himself but also marry the woman HE has picked out for the son! Not surprisingly, the father's actions created serious misunderstandings and nearly break up Nora and Dick. But the problem is Nora really, really loves Dick. Can her love of Dick triumph in the end? The weakest link in the film is Johnston. While his voice is magnificent, he had as much charisma as a piece of moldy cheese...no,...perhaps less. Looking so plain and possessing very little personality, you have no idea why Nora loves this guy so much. As for me, after a while I really didn't care. Overall, a very simple plot that is too much like "The Jazz Singer" and with a leading man who makes paste seem exciting.By the way, the underwater ballet scene near the beginning is among Esther's most famous. Yet, as you watch it you'll probably rightfully wonder how the audience who was supposedly watching it could possibly even see these tricks! Think about it--from the stage in the movie, all they could see (barely) is the top of the water!!

Lauritz Melchior's rich tenor voice, especially at the beginning and end of this 1947 is worth the price of the entire film.The plot is quite simple. An over zealous man and woman announce the engagement of his son to her daughter, respectively. Problem is that the guy, Johnnie Johnston, has found love with Esther Williams, who entertained him at a convalescent home for war-injured soldiers.We have an all-star cast here. Jimmy Durante is Esther Williams's piano player who immediately distrusts Johnston. As a family friend, he favors the producer of the show she works at. The original cast includes Dame May Witty, quite inquisitive as the grandmother of Williams, but with her austere look in color, she has that facade as she did in Mrs. Miniver, but in a comical way.