THE DUCHESS OF IDAHO

US, 1950, 98 minutes, Colour.
Esther Williams, Van Johnson, John Lund, Paula Raymond, Clinton Sundberg. Guests: Red Skelton, Eleanor Powell, Lena Horne.
Directed by Robert Z. Leonard.

The Duchess of Idaho is an entertaining piece of 1950s fluff - very much of its time, but its ingredients are still entertaining.

Director Robert Z. Leonard (The Great Ziegfeld, Pride and Prejudice) seems to be having a holiday with his MGM star cast. In fact, the basic situation is a holiday. Paula Raymond (very good as the repressed secretary who saves her boss from embarrassing fiancees) is aided by her roommate, Esther Williams. The boss is John Lund, acting 'the other man' yet again. Lund is quite good and suave at this role (and here is assisted by Clinton Sundberg as his irritated valet and cook).

Esther has the opportunity to do some swimming as well as some comic routines. Van Johnson, a bandleader during the vacation at Sun Valley, provides the romantic interest. There is a lot of farcical misunderstanding and wrong interpretation of identities. Needless to say, all's well that ends well. Esther even has the opportunity of becoming the Duchess of Idaho by being able to dance with Van, each supporting a potato with their forehead! There are some guest spots by Lena Horne who sings, Eleanor Powell who tap-dances and Red Skelton who crowns the Duchess of Idaho - with a brief but very funny intervention.

M.G.M. made this kind of musical comedy with great flair during the '40s and '50s. Fashions and styles change, but this is still the amusing material used in situation comedies and telemovies.

Enjoyable of its kind.