Esther Williams Trailers
Esther Williams: Hollywood's Mermaid TrailerThe Fabulous Allan Carr TrailerHollywood Legenden Trailer
Esther Jane Williams (August 8, 1921 – June 6, 2013) was an American competitive swimmer and actress. She set regional and national records in her late teens on the Los Angeles Athletic Club swim team. Unable to compete in the 1940 Summer Olympics because of the outbreak of World War II, she joined Billy Rose's Aquacade, where she took on the role vacated by Eleanor Holm after the show's move from New York City to San Francisco. While in the city, she spent five months swimming alongside Olympic gold-medal winner and Tarzan star Johnny Weissmuller. Williams caught the attention of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer scouts at the Aquacade. After appearing in several small roles, and alongside Mickey Rooney in an Andy Hardy film and future five-time co-star Van Johnson in A Guy Named Joe, Williams made a series of films in the 1940s and early 1950s known as "aquamusicals", which featured elaborate performances with synchronised swimming and diving.
Every year from 1945 to 1949, Williams had at least one film among the 20 highest-grossing films of the year. In 1952, Williams appeared in her only biographical role, as Australian swimming star Annette Kellerman in Million Dollar Mermaid, which went on to become her nickname while she was at MGM. Williams left MGM in 1956 and appeared in a handful of unsuccessful feature films, followed by several extremely popular water-themed network television specials, including one from Cypress Gardens, Florida.
Williams was also a successful businesswoman. Before retiring from acting, she invested in a "service station, a metal products plant, a manufacturer of bathing suits, various properties and a successful restaurant chain known as Trails." She lent her name to a line of swimming pools, retro swimwear, and instructional swimming videos for children, and served as a commentator for synchronized swimming at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
Most Popular Esther Williams Trailers
Total trailers found: 51
01 January 1942
In this "Romance of Celluloid", MGM showcases performers whose careers are just starting. Excerpts from their recently released films are included.
01 January 2004
Documentary about Hollywood.
01 January 1942
The Devil works with Adolf Hitler to cause inflation in the United States.
18 May 1987
A TV special on the 100th anniversary of the birth of film.
26 December 1950
Island girl Mimi plans to leave Tahiti, but maybe she'll have a reason to stay when Mr. Endicott arrives.
27 June 1944
After breaking up with her fiancé, a gym teacher returns to work at a women's college, but a legal loophole allows him to enroll as one of her students.
07 December 1998
The history of color photography in motion pictures, in particular the Technicolor company's work.
04 April 1946
A former reporter comes back home after serving in the army during World War I and finds that it's much more difficult to find work than he expected.
26 November 1953
Two men vie for the heart of a Cypress Gardens swimming star.
10 January 1972
A documentary about the glorious history of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios and its decline leading to the sale of its back lot and props.
15 November 1951
Two smart marketing people resurrect some old films starring cowboy Smoky Callaway and put them on television.
11 August 2024
The story of Esther Williams is that of an improbable encounter. That of the glamorous Hollywood of the 1940s with a swimming champion.
10 March 1985
This special is the second "Night of 100 Stars" to benefit The Actors Fund of America. Edited from a seven-hour live entertainment marathon that was taped February 17, 1985, at New York's Radio City Music Hall, this sequel to the 1982 "Night of 100 Stars" special features 288 celebrities.
01 January 1944
This short celebrates the 20th anniversary of MGM. Segments are shown from several early hits, then from a number of 1944 releases.
12 June 1947
When a matador leaves town to focus on his music, his twin sister takes on his identity in the bullfighting ring.
05 December 1946
Light bio-pic of American Broadway pioneer Jerome Kern, featuring renditions of the famous songs from his musical plays by contemporary stage artists, including a condensed production of his most famous: 'Showboat'.
26 August 1945
The late, great impresario Florenz Ziegfeld looks down from heaven and ordains a new revue in his grand old style.
22 December 1958
Andy Hardy, now a grown man with a wife and children, returns to his hometown on a business trip and finds himself getting mixed up in local politics.
01 July 1994
Some of MGM'S musical stars review the studios history of musicals. From The Hollywood Revue of 1929 to Brigadoon, from the first musical talkies to Gene Kelly in Singin' in the Rain.
13 July 1950
This short focuses on the job of the costume designer in the production of motion pictures. The costume designer must design clothing that is correct for the film historically and geographically, and must be appropriate for the mood of the individual scene.
10 June 1949
Scatterbrained Betty Barrett mistakes masseur Jack Spratt for Jose O'Rourke, the captain of the South American polo team.
23 May 1945
A soldier falls in love with a newly-married woman after her husband abandons her for a business meeting on their honeymoon.
01 September 2000
Highlights from the great musicals of the 1940s. Stars featured include Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Bing Crosby, Doris Day, Danny Kaye, Jimmy Durante and Frank Sinatra.
18 February 1955
Rome is on the verge of being conquered by Hannibal. While Rome's ruler, Fabius Maximus, plots a defense against Hannibal's armies, Fabius' fiancée, Amytis, is curious about the fearless conqueror.
19 September 1958
Passengers struggle to survive after their plane crashes on a remote island. Director Richard Wilson's 1958 drama stars Esther Williams, Jeff Chandler and Rosanna Podesta.
09 March 1949
The Wolves baseball team gets steamed when they find they've been inherited by one K.C. Higgins, a suspected "fathead" who intends to take an active interest in running the team.
21 June 1974
Various MGM stars from yesterday present their favorite musical moments from the studio's 50 year history.
19 May 2017
Armed with a limitless Rolodex and a Benedict Canyon enclave with its own disco, Allan Carr threw the Hollywood parties that defined the 1970s.
18 June 1953
The health conscious, dairy-farming Higgins family begin each day with an invigorating swim. One day, traveling health-tonic salesman, Windy Weebe, comes to town and suggests they could swim the English Channel.
16 May 1976
Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire present more golden moments from the MGM film library, this time including comedy and drama as well as classic musical numbers.
20 February 2002
Story of Annette Kellerman, the international swimming vaudeville and silent screen star whose life story inspired the MGM classic Million Dollar Mermaid starring Esther Williams, which featured lavish Busby Berkeley scenes.
10 May 1961
A European circus family is torn apart by greed and jealousy.
25 February 1944
A cocky U.S. Army Air Force pilot stationed in England during World War II falls for a daring female flier.
25 July 1946
When a newspaper accuses a wealthy socialite of being a homewrecker, she files a multi-million-dollar libel lawsuit.
18 January 1985
A documentary film about dancing on the screen, from its origins after the invention of the movie camera, over the movie musical from the late 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s, up to the break dance and music videos from the 80s.
01 January 1990
American dancer and choreographer Hermes Pan recalls his life and work as he relives the glorious history of the Hollywood musical.
04 December 1952
After overcoming polio, Annette Kellerman achieves fame and creates a scandal when her one-piece bathing suit is considered indecent.
22 July 1945
Johnny Weismuller, Esther Williams and other aquatic champions present an exhibition of swimming and diving.
05 October 1951
A Texas carnival showmen team is mistaken for a cattle baron and his sister.
03 May 1948
A young navy lieutenant is brought in as technical adviser on a song-dance-and-swim film being made by screen star Rosalind Reynolds.
01 December 1942
Andy is about to head off to college but he's got a few things to take care of before leaving. For starters, he must try and sell his junk car for $20 to pay for a bill and he must convince his father not to go with him to college.
27 December 1956
A high-school music teacher is the victim of a student who writes indecent notes and assaults women.
04 February 1963
A financier decides to take a vacation somewhere where nothing can disturb him. He travels to the south of Spain, to a small village where he lives a primitive life.
28 May 1952
Three young ladies sign up for some kind of training at a naval base. However, their greatest trouble isn't long marches or several weeks in a small boat, but their love life.
24 September 2002
American Masters Series. Documentary on Gene Kelly that gives insight into his dancing, how he formed a style (first "blue collar dancer") and developed different cinematique techniques, such as brilliantly shot dancing sequences.
17 October 1947
An ex-GI falls for a bathing beauty.
14 July 1950
Ellen Hallit is in love with her playboy boss, Douglas Morrison, but is too timid to do anything about it.
30 November 1990
Celebrate the fiftieth birthday of the animated cat-and-mouse team, Tom & Jerry, including clips from their animated shorts!
13 May 1950
This short film takes a look at the off-screen personas of screen actors. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2012.
28 March 2003
Documentary profile of legendary dance choreographer Busby Berkeley.
01 November 1991
American Movie Classics produced this original salute to those celebrities who worked to improve the morale of the soldiers in World War II.
