MGM had the Midas touch when it came to making film stars in the 30s and 40s - in addition to the usual suspects (i.e. really good looking people, musical comedy stars), they made stars who had failed at other studios (Spencer Tracy), who were really old (Marie Dressler), who were really young (Judy Garland).
This film stars two of their biggest "they were stars?" stars - Esther Williams, who was very pretty and could swim well and that was about it, and Van Johnson, who was pleasantly looking in a boy next door way and who could act well enough and that was about it. But the studio understood it was wartime and people wanted relateable escapism - she was the girl next door, he was the boy next door. The team together marvelously (they'd make several more movies together), and there's bright colour and opulent sets plus a variety of music acts.
It's a wonky old musical really - apparently a lot of Broadway musicals were like this, before Oklahoma! revolutionised the genre - where the book mainly serves as an excuse to go from song to song and the musical numbers kind of shoved in any old how. There are musical numbers by Tommy Dorsey and his orchestra, some fat opera singer called Lauritz Melchior, a little black kid who sings a number. Melchior sings a lot - I'd never heard of him but he gets heaps of screen time, a lot more that Esther swimming numbers (of which there's hardly any).
It is a slightly racier book that you'd expect... Esther plays a swimming instructor who is wooed by millionaire (someone called Carleton Young). He sweeps her off her feet, they get married, go on honeymoon, he leaves on business reasons... and she proceeds to fall in love with soldier Van Johnson. That's pretty full on, Esther falling for two guys in the one movie, in very quick succession (I think it's meant to be implied that she doesn't have sex with her husband).
A lot of people would have related to this in war time though. There's production value to spare (it mostly takes place at a resort), everyone is forever having breakfast/lunch/dinner somewhere swank, lots of cheek to cheek dancing; there's even some location footage when Esther and Van go walking through the forest.
Esther and Van are genuinely good together. He doesn't sing and she hardly swim but they suit the roles.
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