While Jerry’s sequence in Anchors Aweigh is more famous, Tom & Jerry’s sequence in Dangerous When Wet is more important to the story. In Anchors Aweigh, Gene Kelly tells a group of school children a story about how he got his medal. This story becomes a fantasy sequence in which Gene Kelly teaches King Jerry Mouse to sing and dance. Audiences may have known that the sequence was coming; it’s briefly seen in the trailer. However, it wasn’t as heavily promoted as the sequence in Dangerous When Wet. Tom and Jerry are mentioned on the poster for the feature film and appear in the trailer. A series of publicity shots was also produced to promote the film.
Many of you probably are unaware of what Dangerous When Wet is actually about, and are only aware of the Tom & Jerry sequence. To truly understand the significance of the animated sequence, though, it is important to understand the film as well. In the film, Katie Higgens (Esther Williams) is the eldest daughter of a very athletic dairy-farming family. Guided by the coaching of a slick vitamin salesman (Jack Carson), Katie enters a contest to swim the English Channel. Meanwhile, while training in England, she meets the wealthy romantic André Lanet (Fernando Lamas).
Most cartoon releases of the film’s sequence actually leave out a lot of important details from the actual Tom and Jerry sequence, so I have uploaded my own cut of the sequence, complete with why the sequence occurred in the first place, along with all of the animated bits. It can be seen at the bottom of this article.
Dangerous When Wet was based on a story by Dorothy Kingsley, originally titled Everybody Swims, and was intended as a vehicle for both Esther Williams and Debbie Reynolds. Esther Williams was born on August 8, 1921. The reason her biggest film featured her in the water was that she was, in fact, a champion swimmer. She set regional and national records on the Los Angeles Athletic Club swim team and was scheduled to compete in the 1940 Summer Olympics, but was unable to due to the outbreak of World War II.
Her debut film was Andy Hardy’s Double Life in 1942. Dangerous When Wet wasn’t the only film in which Williams played a Higgins. In Take Me Out to the Ball Game (1949), she played K.C. Higgins with Anchors Aweigh stars Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly. In 1952, Williams appeared in her favorite film and one of her most successful, Million Dollar Mermaid. The film was an incredible financial success, and afterward, MGM was eager to produce another film like it for Williams to star in. This led to Dangerous When Wet.
The Tom and Jerry portion of the film was a dream Katie Higgins had. Therefore, aside from Tom and Jerry, all the other aquatic creatures represented the people in her life as she prepared for her swim across the English Channel. The octopus who woos her is the aquatic persona of the romantic Andre (who would, years later, become Williams’s real-life husband). As Williams described it in her autobiography, “It was a comic dream sequence intended to parallel the conflict my character was experiencing between her commitment to swim the English Channel and her attraction to Andre.” The back cover of the comic book in the animated sequence is actually the back cover of a Dell Comic from the period. If one looks closely, a promotion for a Dell pin-up can be spotted. It is clear that Bill & Joe had more to do with the film’s production and story than they did in Anchors Aweigh. Also, unlike in Anchors Aweigh, Bill and Joe are credited alongside Fred Quimby in the film’s opening titles.
Esther Williams discussed the making of the animated sequence in depth in her now out-of-print autobiography (Note: she accidentally calls Bill Hanna, Phil in the text, but I am leaving it in):
“Once we reviewed the sequence on storyboards, a French bistro table was built at the bottom of the pool, with a little chair and Lucite cleats for my feet to keep me seated at the table so I wouldn’t float to the surface. Helen Rose designed a one-piece swimsuit in white, which played beautifully against the Technicolor blue of the water. Helen experimented with weights in my swimsuit to keep me from floating to the surface; clearly a dangerous idea. Besides, the weights showed on camera and in order to keep me down, she would have needed enough weights to virtually sink me. The Lucite cleats were a far better idea.
“I dove in, sat down at the underwater table, put one in the cleats, and wrapped the other around the leg of the chair to anchor myself at the bottom. I played the scene with the imaginary octopus that would later be drawn in by Hanna and Barbera (while Fernando sang off camera, “In my wildest dreams, I never thought we’d meet,” a gurgling, underwater sound added to his voice). This was all done in pantomime, as I was alone underwater. I also swam with Tom and Jerry, was chased by a cartoon shark, and was followed by a family of singing seahorses. It looked as if I swam effortlessly. Hardly. It was quite a challenge to swim the crawl and backstroke underwater. For swimmers out there, try to lift your elbows while swimming underwater. You’ll find your body is propelled to the top. In order to keep yourself under the surface, your toes must be pointed downward (an unnatural and ungainly position), and your arms stroke laterally, a technique that demands a powerful upper body. Oh yes, don’t forget that while you’re doing this, you’ve got dialogue. And don’t forget to smile!
“Acting underwater is something quite different from swimming. In previous films, I swam, smiled, and danced ducking behind banana leaves so I could shoot up to the top of the tank for air. For the first time, I had lines, gestures, movements that would have had in any scene, dry or wet—only I had no air. After a while, it seemed so normal that the crew forgot that I was underwater. Whenever I came to the end of my breath, and shot back up to the surface, the assistant director would shout, “What’s the matter Esther, we haven’t even finished the scene yet.”
By the time Dangerous When Wet was filming, underwater photography had improved immeasurably. The sequence with Tom and Jerry is crystal clear, unlike my murky underwater scenes of my first film, Bathing Beauty.
“When the movie came back from previews, the response cards indicated that the audience didn’t believe I was underwater during the Tom and Jerry sequence. Joe Barbera was concerned. He couldn’t figure out the problem. As we were discussing the promotion for the movie Joe blurted out, “I’ve got it! There are no bubbles, Esther. People expect bubbles underwater.”
“So for the following preview, Joe and Phil had drawn $50,000 worth of pink underwater bubbles floating from my mouth whenever I spoke.
“Joe, you didn’t need to spend all that money,” I said, “I could’ve blown the bubbles for free. All you had to do was ask.”
“Yeah.” sighed Joe, “but they wouldn’t look real.”
“They returned from the next preview and called me at home, “Esther,” they said, laughing, “It works! They loved the Tom and Jerry part. The audience held their breath for the entire length of the number. You wouldn’t believe it. When it ended, you could hear a collective gasp in the theater. They just sat there breathing!”
(The above passage transcribed was directly from pages 229-230 of Esther Williams’s autobiography, The Million Dollar Mermaid)
Dangerous When Wet Full Sequence:
Kamden Spies is an animation fan, collector, and aficionado. He received his undergraduate degree in an IDM in film history and creative writing from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Master’s in Library Sciences at Indiana University Bloomington. He currently works in the archives at the University of Georgia.
I believe the Blu-ray of this film adds “cat and Mermouse“ as the additional cartoon. How perfect is that.
I’m not surprised that Esther Williams got Bill Hanna’s first name wrong in her autobiography, as it was Joe Barbera who normally dealt with the actors. According to an interview I heard with voice actor Leo De Lyon, the only contact he ever had with Hanna was an occasional glimpse through the glass of the recording booth. Williams’s experience was probably similar.
The animated sequence contains a noticeable error, when the background shifts abruptly behind Williams as she is swimming away from the amorous octopus. Though I suppose if you’re paying attention to the background while Esther Williams is swimming in the foreground, you’re missing the whole point.
As popular as they were in their day, the musicals of Esther Williams were held in low regard when I was growing up in the 1970s. MAD magazine’s parody of “That’s Entertainment!” had a sequence of highlights from Esther Williams musicals, consisting of four exactly identical panels. Carol Burnett did a none-too-affectionate spoof of the genre on her eponymous variety show; I remember it had my dad doubled up with laughter. I hope Williams was a good sport about it.
By coincidence, an unrelated stage musical titled “Dangerous When Wet” is scheduled to premiere in Sydney later this year. This one tells the story of Australia’s first female Olympians, Fanny Durack and Mina Wylie, who won gold and silver, respectively, in the women’s 100-metre freestyle event at the 1912 Stockholm games. The narrator of the musical is Australian swimming champion Annette Kellerman, whom Esther Williams played in her most successful film, “Million Dollar Mermaid”.
Esther Williams numbers were also parodied in The Great Muppet Caper, History of the World Part I and Hail, Caesar!
It just occurred to me that Esther Williams might have dictated her autobiography rather than writing it out. So it’s possible that she did remember Bill Hanna’s first name correctly, but it was then mistranscribed by her amanuensis.
In most of Esther Williams’ movies, the swimming is shoehorned into the plot, which is usually a non-swimming romantic comedy that only shows her in the water for specific sequences. In “Dangerous When Wet,” her swimming IS the plot. With her objective of swimming the English Channel, the entire film relies upon her swimming ability. In a similar vein, the songs add to the plot or offer character development instead of being haphazardly thrown in. Also, unlike several of her other films, Esther is front and center the majority of the running time. The climactic channel swim shows the grueling toll that the event takes on her as she gasps for air and struggles to keep going.
A strong contrast to this film is “Bathing Beauty” in which most of the run time is devoted to the antics of Red Skelton and Esther’s character is largely unsympathetic until the very last swimming sequence at the end. It’s still a delightful and entertaining film, but it’s evident that the part had to be tailored to Esther’s talents.
Which is why “Dangerous” is such a satisfying film on so many levels. It’s unabashedly a story about a girl swimmer who has to make good, and she almost spends more time in the water than out. The Tom & Jerry sequence is necessary to reinforce the themes and to show how conflicted she is by that point in the story between work and pleasure. The animation shows Tom and Jerry at their finest, in addition to caricaturing nearly every character from the dry land scenes. I’m sure the kids in the audience appreciated the welcome relief from the adult comedy and romance. The point in the picture where it occurs provides a nice break just before the big event.
Esther’s book “Million Dollar Mermaid” gives a very candid look at the underside of Hollywood glamour. She doesn’t sugarcoat but she also doesn’t disparage. It seems to be an honest appraisal of how she saw her career, with all of its ups and downs. She is also very open about her personal life. It’s a great read for anyone who wants an idea of what the golden age of Hollywood was really like.
a wonnnnderful post. TY!!
It’s worth noting that the film’s theme song, “I Got Out of Bed on the Right Side,” would later be heard in two MGM cartoons – BABY BUTCH and MUSCLE BEACH TOM.
Kamden,
Did they use the sodium vapor process? It was invented way before “Mary Poppins”.
I’ve been watching your podcasts with Mark Arnold this past week, and that’s how I found this post. I’d love for you and Strumm, or you and Mark, to do a weekly podcast! That would be terrific. Anyway, I’m thinking this was the sodium vapor process.
Oh, ah, and I’m sure George won’t mind you ripped his Warner Archive disc. Ha! I love your Dell comic book tie-in information, too! Nice touch.
Was this the sodium vapor process? I’ve always wondered about it.
Best,
Brian
P.S. More podcasts wuth Strumm please!
This would have been done using the blue-screen traveling matte process which had long been the industry’s standard for composite photography.
@Paul There’s nary a matte line. I’m surprised. It’s extremely convincing.
I would love to know who did the wonderful art for the Tom, Jerry, and Esther promo pics. I know the timelines don’t match up, but it almost looks like the middle ground between the classic HB designs and the Jones designs.
A lot of it was Dick Bickenbach. I have an original rough drawing from promo art used in the film that was definitely by him.