Easy to Love (1953)

(On Cable TV, March 2022) With a title like Easy to Love for such a middling musical, it’s irresistible to reply that it’s more like Easy to Like, right, right? A mid-career Esther Williams vehicle (notoriously filmed as she was pregnant, with choreographer Busby Berkeley reportedly not caring much about her safety), it’s very similar to her other aqua musicals—not necessarily a compliment given their generic nature. The standout moment of the film comes in its climactic sequence: a grandiose Berkeley number with waterski jumpers photographed in colour against a Floridian backdrop. Alas, the rest of the film isn’t as… easy to like. There are the usual romantic hijinks, set against the former Cypress Garden theme park and involving no less a romantic lead like Van Johnson (among three others). In Williams fashion, it’s watchable enough, but not particularly interesting until the final aquatic number. That number, on the other hand, is good for anthology reels (literally—it’s featured in That’s Entertainment II) so that’s reason enough to see Easy to Love right there.