The Million Dollar Mermaid–Behind the Scenes!

This movie has some very interesting tidbits of information regarding Esther Williams.  Let’s see what they are because I’m pretty sure you’ll be shocked by some of them!

Behind the Scenes and Esther Williams History:

• MGM built a $250,000 pool for Esther that was 90 feet wide,  90 feet long, and 25 feet deep.
• They used an underwater bucket to film the special effects and hold equipment.
• They created fountains, geysers, fireworks, and a hydraulic pedestal to raise her as far as 50 feet out of water.
• During one of her high dives she cracked 3 vertebrae and spent 6 months in a body cast.
• She ruptured her eardrum after performing a 50 foot dive that she practiced 7 times.
• In one of her underwater performances the glass broke when she dove into the tank and she ended up with a spinal injury.

Now for some history unrelated to her water extravaganzas:

• Her family took in a 16 year old boy who repeatedly raped her for 2 years.  When she told her parents they blamed her somewhat.
• She found refuge in swimming.
• She also found refuge in 4 marriages.
• She won the national title for the 100 meter freestyle race in 1939.
• She was slated to compete at the Olympics in 1940 but she wasn’t able to because World War II broke out.  This is what sent her to Hollywood to pursue other water sports.
• Esther and Cary Grant once took LSD (acid) in order to “get her mental state in balance”~~okay??!!  Apparently, it worked some of the time (she did have several injuries so maybe not…).
• She died in 2013 in her sleep at the age of 91.
• RIP Esther–you brought so much beauty and joy to the world with your swimming/dancing skills.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjlcMjAlbu8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFQVj-5U1YM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akQiZTlXn0M

 

 

The Million Dollar $$$$ Mermaid

Yes, you’re viewing this correctly.  The next mermaid movie is one I had taped years ago on a VHS video tape!

I knew I had this movie somewhere so I dug into the back of my movies and I found it–a color version of The Million $$ Dollar Mermaid starring Esther Williams in 1952.  The water diving/dancing/synchronized swimming sections of this movie are fantastic!! Amazing! Worth viewing just because of those scenes.

This movie was based on a true story about Annette Kellerman from the 1900’s in Australia..  She was a crippled 6 year old that wore braces on her legs.  She kept wandering off and one day her father found her walking into the lake and swimming.  She started competing in swim races and won them all, breaking records everywhere.  Annette actually invented synchronized swimming (water ballet) by practicing in a pool.  (I, as a child, grew up with a pool and I was a little mermaid–I loved swimming.  My mother had been a dancer and she taught my sister and I, along with neighborhood friends, how to do synchronized swimming.  I loved it!).

The movie begins with the above and quickly shifts with her attempting to swim the Thames River in London in the fog!!  Her promoter, Jimmy, was in a small boat traveling with her down the river, even when she came against the tide.  She was told to give up but she would not!  From there, she was to swim to a lighthouse (20 miles) on Revere Beach  but was arrested!  She was wearing a one piece bathing suit which was considered scandalous at the time.  She went to trial for indecent exposure and agreed to wear a men’s racing suit and the case was dropped.

Take a look:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Un0w7WyRgsc

Later Jimmy created a water carnival where she demonstrated dives and swimming strokes to the audience and was billed as the Aquatic Marvel.  After some time, she was offered a job at the New York Hippodrome as the Australian Mermaid.  She wore a suit sewn with 50,000 gold sequins and a crown, and swam her way through colored water fountains that would rival The Bellagio in Vegas today!  She would:

• rise out of the water on a platform with sparklers
• flow down slides at a very fast speed, standing
• appear through red and yellow smoke
• appear on a flying trapeze
• swim into a huge underwater clamshell

As the show grew and changed she was billed as:

• The Goddess of the Sea
• The Wonder Woman of the Water

These water extravaganzas included 100 background swimmers, 12 swings with which they would jump into the water, and she also performed with Johnny Weissmuller (the original Tarzan) in a production called Aquacade.

Here’s a peek:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kX9jNPO22yo

This movie rates ***** 5 stars from me.  The water show sequences were amazing, especially for 1952, and I would highly recommend watching this movie if for no other reason that to experience the fabulous water shows!

Next time I will reveal some interesting behind the scenes facts!  They have something to do with LSD, cracked vertebrae, bucket cameras, geysers, Cary Grant, a $250,000 pool, and the Olympics!  There’s a lot to share.  Until next time…