On An Island With You (1948) Review- By Michael J. Carlisle

Title: On an Island With You
Year: 1948
Director: Richard Thorpe
Country: US
Language: English

Every Esther Williams' film I've seen, albeit I haven't seen many of them, appear to follow this particular formula; beautiful girl goes to a place, sees musicians play music, and swims in the finale. I'm not entirely sure why one would want to be so specifically typecast, but hey if you can make a lot of money doing it, why not? Director Richard Thorpe made four film with Esther; Thrill of a Romance (1945), This Time for Keeps, Fiesta (1947) and this picture.

While shooting on location in the South Pacific, a movie star (Esther Williams) is pursued by a handsome Naval officer (Peter Lawford) who is convinced she is the girl for him.

On an Island With You is pure Golden Hollywood film-making for better or for worse. It's bright, colorful, and attractive. The island locations, which seem to be recycled from other film sets, are vibrant and have a remarkably lively feel. The glitz and glamour of it all will utterly enthrall most viewers. The passion between our two main characters is incredibly compelling. Granted, the stalking naval officer would be a real weirdo in real life.

The characters are well defined, but the dialogue is quite poor. Modern feminists would have a field day with the misogynistic plot, as the officer feels she owes him her love. Strangely this can be forgiven as it's quite a charming 40's film. The bad writing further enhances the daytime soap opera atmosphere. On an Island With You is great despite its flaws because it aspires to be pure fantasy and achieves its goal.

A brainless musical, but fun, Director Richard Thrope has made a quirky melodrama that ought to be seen by newer generations. Acting as pure wish fulfillment, I had a great time watching this sweeping classic. It's odd to claim this is a "must see", but this IS a "must-see"