This is a review for the The 100 Years of Esther Williams Blogathon taking place this week and being hosted by Michaela of Love Letters to Old Hollywood
Tnx for letting me partake Michaela!
“Leonard, when will you learn? Everybody does bad things. Everybody has something hidden. Everybody.” – Mr. Bennett
Number of Times Seen – 1 (6 Aug 2021)
Brief Synopsis – A teacher is harassed by one of her students, yet decides to defend him when he becomes a murder suspect.
My Take on it – Before joining this blogathon, I knew almost nothing about the career of Esther Williams and randomly chose three films to watch that seemed to have interesting premises.
This was such a fascinating film that deals with a premise which has unfortunately become timeless.
The fact that even during the days of the “Code” they could make a movie like this is quite impressive.
The way that they depict the issues at hand is done in a very clever way yet they still keep things completely understandable the whole way through.
The film does a nice job developing the main character played by Esther Williams and allows the story to remain slightly ambiguous in order to raise the suspense level throughout.
The supporting caדא is not as good as Williams, but they still stay quite competent throughout.
George Nader stands out as a detective trying to help her even though she refuses to reveal information about the student harassing her.
The way that things play out allows the viewer to get a better understanding why the teacher is so reluctant to accuse her student and it doesn’t seem too far fetched that she would act that way given her perspective on things.
Recommended!
MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – The screenplay was based on an original story that Rosalind Russell had written for herself in the 40s. Her schedule was busy and by the time it was developed by Universal into a film in 1956, she was too old for the role. In addition, she had played a sexually frustrated, matronly teacher the previous year in “Picnic.” (From IMDB)
Rating – Globe Worthy (?/10)
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MovieRob 
I haven’t seen this film, but now I must – my curiosity is piqued. Thanks for bringing it to my attention!
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pleasure!
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I’m so glad you liked this one! I was pretty impressed when I finally watched it last year. As you pointed out, the story is unfortunately still relevant and the way Esther has to defend herself against the misogyny of her community is so interesting to see in a 1956 film.
Thanks for bringing your reviews of three very different films to my event!
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