A Slightly Shorter Swimsuit Sunday: This Time For Keeps

Happy Swimsuit Sunday! June is almost over, and I’ve had a wonderful time watching her movies during this Esther Williams Memorial Month.

Things have been very busy here, but I managed to squeeze in one movie: This Time For Keeps (1947). I’m out of town at the moment, so instead of a formal post, here are some takeaways/thoughts I had!

While I wasn’t the biggest fan of the leading man, Johnnie Johnston, this sweet little film had a lot of gems to make up for it:

—Sharon McManus plays Esther’s little sister. I love her dance with Gene Kelly in Anchors Aweigh, so it made me happy to see her on screen more often!

—Xavier Cugat and Lauritz Melchior are always a delight in any movie. I love that in the movies I’ve seen with Lauritz in them, they give him multiple chances to shine. Let’s be real, Lauritz in the star in all of these.

—My favorites (besides Esther, of course) were Jimmy Durante and Richard Simmons. The latter is in more than one Esther movie, and I always love seeing him. He’s a very comforting presence, so it was wonderful to see him have a bigger role. He was so precious and (spoiler alert) since Esther wouldn’t have him, I gladly will!

—Another highlight was Lauritz Melchior and Jimmy Durante riding a bicycle together while the “bicycle built for two” instrumental played in the background.

—Part of This Time for Keeps takes place on Mackinac Island at the Grand Hotel, which is also known for Somewhere in Time! They even named their pool "The Esther Williams Swimming Pool."

I know this is a bit of a shorter post, but I really enjoyed This Time For Keeps. It might be the coziest of the Esther movies I watched this month!

Next week, I’ll wrap it all up and share my ranking of Esther’s movies, with some final thoughts! In the meantime, thanks for following along with me during this special June. I hope you’ve all been doing well!

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m flying to Mackinac Island right now to look for my Richard Simmons (or Christopher Reeve).

Keep living vintage,

Becca