Dangerous When Wet

Released Jun 18, 1953

1h 35m

Musical

Comedy

List

Tomatometer

3 Reviews

57%

Popcornmeter

100+ Ratings

Athletic farmer's daughter Katie Higgins (Esther Williams) and her tightly knit family all love swimming. When traveling salesman Windy Weebe (Jack Carson) comes to the farm, he spots Katie's talent and encourages her to swim the English Channel. While training she meets a charming Frenchman, Andrea Lanet (Fernando Lamas), and has a dreamy dip with cartoons Tom and Jerry. In the end, her focus is torn between the swim and deciding between her two suitors, Lanet and Weebe.

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Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

There’s some irony in the fact that this lightweight musical comedy is at its strongest during the home stretch, when it turns dramatic.

Rated: 2.5/4

Jul 5, 2023

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Clyde Gilmour

Maclean's Magazine

Esther Williams as a Channel swimmer, Fernando Lamas as a French champagne salesman who adores her, in a frothy water-musical which adds up to quite a bit of fun.

Dec 3, 2019

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Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

This splashy musical stars Esther Williams and her future husband Fernando Lamas.

Rated: C+

Apr 28, 2009

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CodyZamboni

Amusing, bright colorful Esther Williams musical, Fun animated Tom and Jerry and Esther underwater sequence. Esther is so lovely and appealing, wonderfully photographed in Technicolor. To the movie's credit, they really emphasize how gruelling, difficult and painfully long it takes to swim the English Channel.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

07/27/23

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Audience Member

Esther Williams, one of her future husbands Fernando Lamas and the cartoon duo of Tom & Jerry star in this romantic and funny tale about attempting to swim across the English Channel. A lighthearted funny comedy worth viewing.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/03/23

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s r

Fun, romance and melodrama. A nice clip with Tom and jerry swimming underwater with the heroine.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Audience Member

One of Esther Williams' happiest musicals with a cheery score by Arthur Schwartz and Johnny Mercer; Esther swims with Tom & Jerry and co-stars with future husband Fernando Lamas.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Esther Williams vehicle has great title and not much else. Story never really gels and songs are not very memorable. Greenwood and Demarest add a lot of fun, with Greenwood's dance number being a creepy highlight (old lady doing splits, yikes!). The Tom & Jerry dream sequence feels tacked on and was done better in Anchors Aweigh. Esther does look especially fetching in the black swimsuit given to her by Lamas in the swimming pool scene.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Another of Esther Williams's better films; the swimming is worked into the plot well with the contest across the English Channel, and Williams and Fernando Lamas have great chemistry. Most of the songs are pretty forgettable and not very well-integrated into the story, but it's a classic for the sequence where Williams swims with Tom and Jerry in her dream.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/13/23

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Charles Walters

Director

Esther Williams

Katie Higgins

Fernando Lamas

André Lanet

Jack Carson

Windy Weebe

Charlotte Greenwood

Ma Higgins

Denise Darcel

Gigi Mignon

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Synopsis

Athletic farmer's daughter Katie Higgins (Esther Williams) and her tightly knit family all love swimming. When traveling salesman Windy Weebe (Jack Carson) comes to the farm, he spots Katie's talent and encourages her to swim the English Channel. While training she meets a charming Frenchman, Andrea Lanet (Fernando Lamas), and has a dreamy dip with cartoons Tom and Jerry. In the end, her focus is torn between the swim and deciding between her two suitors, Lanet and Weebe.

Director: Charles Walters
Producer: George Wells
Screenwriter: Dorothy Kingsley
Production Co: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Loew's
Genre: Musical, Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 18, 1953, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 1, 2009
Runtime: 1h 35m

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