Tag Archives: Million Dollar Mermaid

Musical Monday: Million Dollar Mermaid (1952)

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It’s no secret that the Hollywood Comet loves musicals.
In 2010, I revealed I had seen 400 movie musicals over the course of eight years. Now that number is over 600. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
Million Dollar Mermaid (1952) – Musical #799

Studio:
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Director:
Mervyn LeRoy

Starring:
Esther Williams, Victor Mature, Walter Pidgeon, David Brian, Donna Corcoran, Jesse White, Howard Freeman, Maria Tallchief, Charles Watts, Wilton Graff, Frank Ferguson, James Bell, James Flavin, Willis Bouchey, Paul Frees (uncredited), Dabbs Greer (uncredited), Creighton Hall (uncredited), Betty Lynn (uncredited)

Plot:
Biographical film about Australian swimmer Annette Kellerman (Corcoran as child, Williams as adult). As a child, Annette had polio and strengthened her legs with swimming. The daughter of a musician, Frederick Kellerman (Pidgeon), Annette had ambitions of becoming a ballerina and the Kellermans travel to England to find work in the arts. When Mr. Kellerman’s job falls through, Annette links up with promoter, James Sullivan (Mature). James builds Annette up through a series of publicity stunts, and she eventually finds fame performing at the Hippodrome Theater in New York City.

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Classic Films in Music Videos: Aeroplane by Red Hot Chili Peppers

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This is November’s edition of Comet Over Hollywood’s film references in music videos.

Director/choreographer Busby Berkeley was known for his elaborate nature and kaleidoscope-like musical numbers.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers used scenes from Esther Williams films such as "Million Dollar Mermaid" for inspiration in their music video "Aereoplane"

The Red Hot Chili Peppers used scenes from Esther Williams films such as “Million Dollar Mermaid” for inspiration in their music video “Aereoplane”

His work has been mimicked in movies such as “The Great Muppet Caper” to music videos such the the 1995 Red Hot Chili Peppers song “Aeroplane.”

The music video begins with girls in gold sequined body suits.

Esther Williams in her gold sequined costume for "Million Dollar Mermaid" (1952)

Esther Williams in her gold sequined costume for “Million Dollar Mermaid” (1952)

Berkeley directed swimming star Esther Williams in two films, “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” (1949) and the biographical film on Annette Kellerman, “Million Dollar Mermaid ” (1952.)

In “Million Dollar Mermaid,” Williams wears an aluminum crown and a gold swimsuit, made of 50,000 sequins. Williams said in her autobiography, “The Million Dollar Mermaid: An Autobiography” that it weighed her down like chain-mail.

When Williams dove into the water, the crown hit the water, she broke three vertebrae and was in a full body cast for six months, she wrote.

Also, in the Red Hot Chilli Peppers video, girls swing on trapezes- like in “Easy to Love” (1953) or “Million Dollar Mermaid” (1952). At another part in the video girls dive sideways into the pool, reminiscent of a scene from “Bathing Beauty” (1944).

Another example of a Busby Berkeley kaleidoscope-like shot can be scene at 2:51, which is similar to scene from “42nd Street” (1933). 

Thank you our friends over at Hollywood Revue for telling us the references in this video a few months ago!

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