Directed by:
Mervyn LeRoyScreenplay:
Everett FreemanCinematography:
George J. FolseyComposer:
Adolph DeutschCast:
Esther Williams, Victor Mature, Walter Pidgeon, David Brian, Howard Freeman, James Flavin, Willis Bouchey, Dabbs Greer, Mitchell Lewis, Jesse White (more)Plots(1)
From the 1940s to the 1950s, swimming, singing, dancing star Esther Williams was MGMs top grosser, and MILLION DOLLAR MERMAID, directed by Mervyn LeRoy (GOLD DIGGERS OF 1933, SWEET ADELINE), is widely considered Williams's best work. In it, Williams stars in the real-life story of Annette Kellerman, Williams's predecessor as a professional swimmer who turned into a movie star. Kellerman is an Australian who battles her childhood physical handicap by swimming in the local pond. Kellerman soon becomes Australia's swimming champion and moves to Europe to compete in the big leagues. Arriving in England, she meets publicist James Sullivan (Victor Mature), who arranges for her to swim 17 miles across the Thames. For the next stunt, Sullivan has Kellerman appear in a one-piece suit in Revere, the beach closest to Boston. She is arrested for indecent exposure, but the scandal achieves the publicity necessary to start Kellerman's film career. With underwater sequences choreographed by Busby Berkeley, MILLION DOLLAR MERMAID is not to be missed. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Cast
Esther Williams
USA
Best movies:
Take Me Out to the Ball Game (1949)
A Guy Named Joe (1943)
Ziegfeld Follies (1945)
Victor Mature
USA
Best movies:
Samson and Delilah (1949)
My Darling Clementine (1946)
I Wake Up Screaming (1941)
Walter Pidgeon
Canada
Best movies:
The Bad and the Beautiful (1952)
Madame Curie (1943)
Mrs. Miniver (1942)
David Brian
USA
Best movies:
The Name of the Game (1968) (series)
'G' Men (1935)
Springfield Rifle (1952)
Howard Freeman
USA
Best movies:
Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948)
Madame Curie (1943)
The Killers (1946)
James Flavin
USA
Best movies:
The Roaring Twenties (1939)
In Cold Blood (1967)
Mildred Pierce (1945)
Willis Bouchey
USA
Best movies:
From Here to Eternity (1953)
Support Your Local Sheriff! (1968)
The Big Heat (1953)
Dabbs Greer
USA
Best movies:
The Green Mile (1999)
Storm Warning (1951)
The Spirit of St. Louis (1957)
Mitchell Lewis
USA
Best movies:
The Thin Man Goes Home (1945)
The Stratton Story (1949)
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925)
Jesse White
USA
Best movies:
Harvey (1950)
Gentleman's Agreement (1947)
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963)
Frank Ferguson
USA
Best movies:
The Barkleys of Broadway (1949)
You'll Never Get Rich (1941)
Reap the Wild Wind (1942)
Pat Flaherty
USA
Best movies:
The Great Dictator (1940)
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
Bert Stevens
USA
Best movies:
Some Like It Hot (1959)
Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
Frank Mills
USA
Best movies:
Miracle of Fatima (1952)
Limelight (1952)
Fury (1936)
Paul Frees
USA
Best movies:
Some Like It Hot (1959)
In Cold Blood (1967)
Grand Prix (1966)
Nancy Valentine
USA
Best movies:
Father of the Bride (1950)
Father's Little Dividend (1951)
The Black Castle (1952)
Colin Kenny
Ireland
Best movies:
Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
My Fair Lady (1964)
Arthur Tovey
USA
Best movies:
The Sting (1973)
Back to the Future (1985)
Some Like It Hot (1959)
George Wallace
USA
Best movies:
The Towering Inferno (1974)
Minority Report (2002)
The Night of the Hunter (1955)
Gail Bonney
USA
Best movies:
Singin' in the Rain (1952)
The Name of the Game (1968) (series)
Inherit the Wind (1960)