Maidgethma Wonderfully offbeat film!

RipDelight This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

Yash Wade Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

Stephanie There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

JohnHowardReid Copyright 1955 by Loew's Inc. An M-G-M picture. New York opening at the Radio City Music Hall: 17 February 1955. U.S. release: 18 February 1955. U.K. release: July 1955. Australian release: 18 April 1955. 8,645 feet. 96 minutes.SYNOPSIS: 217 B.C.: Hannibal crosses the Alps. Destination — Rome.NOTES: "The Road to Rome" opened on Broadway at the Playhouse on 31 January 1927 and ran a highly satisfactory 392 performances. It then went on the road for another year. Philip Merivale starred as Hannibal, Jane Cowl was Amytis. Other players included Barry Jones, Joyce Carey and Jessie Ralph.Such a box-office disaster — one of the worst in M-G-M's history — prompted the studio to punish everyone concerned. Sidney, Williams, Keel and the Champions were summarily fired; Wells was demoted from producer back to screenwriter; and Kingsley who had an iron-clad contract was forced to do nothing until a loan-out to Columbia for "Pal Joey" in 1957 redeemed her reputation.VIEWER'S GUIDE: Despite smirks from every censorship body in the world, I stand by my oft-stated credo: Satires are unsuitable for children. I didn't like it either when I saw it on first release. I like it much better now, but it's still a problem picture. The main reason is undoubtedly the exceptionally weak script. It's supposed to be funny, but is played — particularly by George Sanders and Norma Varden, and to a lesser extent by Richard Haydn — in a broad and hammy style that only points up the dialogue's lack of real wit and bite. In fact the theatricality of the speeches and the ridiculous plot are at odds with the often realistic CinemaScope spectacle.For maximum enjoyment, the best way to approach the movie is to take each scene as it comes. Enjoy the action, the spectacle, the dancing, the mildly entrancing songs, the costumes, sets and props — and forget about the silly story. The choreography is a delight, unusually inventive for Hermes Pan. And those trained elephants are a background marvel.Yes, Jupi's Darling is great viewing for its songs, production numbers and spectacle — though action fans will feel cheated that the long-promised climactic fight doesn't eventuate. Marge and Gower perform their own dizzying acrobatics too. And Keel is in great voice. And I loved the reprise of the three best songs at the end, plus colored elephants!Three or four attempts at sick humor (the heroine goes around casually killing people) add to the minuses so far as your typical M-G-M musical audience is concerned. Still, it does retain one traditional M-G-M virtue in that it is very pleasingly photographed throughout. I couldn't tell the difference between Vogel and Rosher, though one undoubtedly worked with the main unit under Sidney, the other on the musical numbers with Hermes Pan. Speaking of Sidney, the direction is at its best in the musical and action spots (which Sidney probably had little to do with), at its worst in the romantic episodes which are very flat-footed in their handling indeed.William Demarest makes some game tries at extracting humor from his material — and even succeeds in part — but his role is small. The rest of the players — with the possible half-exception of Richard Haydn — are (at least in the histrionic department) a complete wash- out. Keel is unbelievably stiff (he doesn't come on for 30 minutes either). Williams is decorative and swims most energetically, but like the Champions, she is a non-actor. Still, these players handle their other chores so spiritedly, why should we ask or expect them to act too?OTHER VIEWS: Of the many movies encountered in movie-going, it is rare that one comes as tediously pretentious as "Jupiter's Darling". It is difficult to decide just what aim there was behind the production which was taken from Robert Sherwood's play, "The Road to Rome." Here was surely the opportunity for a fine satire on ancient Rome and one or two moments of fun suggests that the aim has been to present a brightly modern musical comedy. It is astonishing that so much money and talent should be assembled to such dreary effect. - Inigo.

weezeralfalfa Featuring two then top stars in yet another 'battle of the sexes' musical, which Keel had done, in quite different settings, with Betty Hutton, Doris Day, Jane Powell, and a couple times with Kathryn Grayson(the ones I'm familiar with). I'm quite surprised how obscure this film has become. I wasn't aware of its existence until seeing it on TCM today. Here, an attempt is made to amalgamate Keel's recent style of musicals with Esther's swimming forte, and the then popular Hollywood format of lavish productions sited in the ancient classical world. On the whole, I think it was rather successful , despite the lack of any memorable songs. At least, it was more entertaining than most of the 'straight' ancient spectaculars, although actual battle scenes were minimal Amazing to realize this was the third film pairing of Keel and Esther, although the first in 4 years. None of them have garnered an IMDb mean rating above 6.0, and all are mired in obscurity today. The styles and settings of these 3 films couldn't be more different. I rated "Pagan Love Song" well above average, featuring Keel much more than Esther. The lower -rated "Texas Carnival" actually more belongs to the supporting actors: Red Skelton and Anne Miller. With full beard to enhance his supermasculine image, the tall robust Keel seems like he had just stepped out from a take of "Kiss Me Kate", in which he plays an often bombastic tamer of a notorious shrewish medieval maiden(Grayson's character). As in this former film, Keel's interactions with Esther's character, Amytis, vacillate from threats or attempts to kill her to a desire to make love to her. This makes for quite a stormy and unpredictable twosome, once these 2 meet, which doesn't happen until well into the film. Esther even sometimes sports reddish hair, in mimicry of Grayson's dyed reddish hair during her role as a shrew. Meanwhile, we have hordes of soldiers and war elephants ,marching around, threatening to destroy Rome, after several victorious battles. Keel sings his alliterative 'Victory March', at the head of his marching troops. At times, the elephants enhance a circus-like atmosphere. For example, in the segment where Gower and Marge Champion, as a subsidiary romantic couple, tease each other, and sing and dance a bit in the presence of several elephants. Also, near the end, we have a string of elephants, each painted a different color. Amytis(Esther) sees it as her role to try to seduce Hannibal and convince him that he really doesn't want to destroy Rome. You see, she's betrothed to General Fabius Maximus(George Sanders), Hannibal's main opponent. Fabius is characterized as more cultured than the barbaric Hannibal, but also decidedly a less sexy catch to Amytis. Thus, the final deal is to exchange Amytis for Hannibal's guarantee not to destroy Rome(no historical basis). Yes, a very unlikely agreement, given the historic Hannibal's extreme hatred for Rome and vice versa.Esther's big 'solo' scene has her cavorting with a bevy of marble male statues around a pool, which represent the physical form of her ideal lover, while singing(dubbed) "I Had a Dream". This is followed by an extended playtime in the pool, which also contains a variety of underwater male and cherub statues, which eventual 'come alive' to cavort with her. Quite a sophisticated production, which can currently be seen at YouTube. I still find it amazing that such water ballets could be done looking like they never had to surface.It may interest you that, once again, Esther's left eardrum ruptured during filming: a recurring problem in her films. From then on, she had to wear a plastic prosthesis covering her nose and ears during her water scenes. Also, she refused to be on the horse when it galloped off a high cliff, into the Tiber River(supposedly). She had broken her neck just 2 years before from a high dive while making "The Million Dollar Mermaid", and didn't want to chance a possibly lethal repeat. As it turned out, her stuntman broke has back from this fall!

Neil Doyle Even a good cast can't quite put this one over the top--elephants and all. The choreography is about as original as the score which includes not a single really memorable tune.Wasted in this nonsensical romp are Esther Williams and Howard Keel in the leads, both given only a few moments to shine. Esther does some interesting underwater swimming with statues that come to life and dives off a cliff with acrobatic skill. Keel struts around as Hannibal with energy and humor and even lifts his voice in song a few times, although the tunes are hardly worthy of his manly baritone.George Sanders, Richard Haydn, Norma Varden, William Demarest and Marge and Gower Champion are largely wasted and cannot overcome a script that is unintentionally funny even in serious moments. Uninspired direction from George Sidney is no help.Summing up: Attempt at originality utterly fails in this unusual Esther Williams film. The Champions have a truly wretched dance number with some elephants that takes up far too much time.

crispy_comments Only for fans of the stars or MGM Musicals completists, like me. I've gotta collect them all! Of course this one was made during the decline, as Dore Schary took over the studio and he was *not* a fan of musicals. So, the songs are weak and there's more emphasis on spectacle & action - mixed in with comedy & romance. But the mixture doesn't blend very well. Each genre/character is underdeveloped and unsatisfying. For instance, if you enjoy action/war movies, you may be disappointed with a few chases, brief hand to hand combat...no epic battle, unless you count a little flame-throwing and battering at Rome's gates. Sorry, no bloodshed! (And I know you were expecting it from a movie with "Darling" in the title.)Marge & Gower Champion are kind of wasted. They have one major number where they parade around with trained elephants. It's lame. I mean, they mostly hop around on one foot (yes, the elephants too) and the Champions are definitely limited by their dancing partners. Not their best choreography. Corny bits like mimicking an elephant's trunk, etc.Esther Williams has one memorable underwater ballet with some statues that come to life, but other than that, her swimming abilities are used in more plot-driven ways than usual. Most unsettling is an extended chase sequence where soldiers chase her off a cliff and swim after her, trying to kill her...with bows and arrows...underwater! Is that even possible? It's *definitely* impossible to hold your breath for that long. (Something we don't normally question when Esther's underwater sequences are more lighthearted.) Why combine an air of "realistic" menace with such a fantastical premise? Let our fantasy be...fun! It was actually disturbing to see Esther menaced this way, in her "natural" habitat. She should always be grinning that big toothy grin at the camera and frolicking in the water happily. Don't mess with the natural laws of Esther Williams movie physics!Howard Keel plays his usual charming brute, but maybe a bit too brutal this time, since he's a conquering warrior. Uncomfortable watching him manhandle Esther Williams, hold a knife to her throat, etc. Aaah, love! Marge & Gower also have this slave/master subplot that's pretty offensive. I suppose it's some consolation that she refuses to "be" an elephant...like all the "other" elephants he has trained to *obey* him. Uhh, love? Not much fun to see George Sanders play an ineffectual mama's boy who can't get the girl. He can be suave and charismatic, but not here. I mean, he does what he's meant to...I just don't enjoy seeing him play a buffoonish sort. Would've been better if he was presented as a charmer with wit and intellect to rival Howard Keel's more robust, earthy qualities. A different, but equally attractive choice, to make Esther's decision less obvious. (But I'm not spoiling anything here by revealing Esther & Howard end up together - c'mon, they're the leads, and we know how these movies work!) Sure, Sanders' speech-making ability is acknowledged, but also ridiculed - and Esther doesn't bother to show up for the speech, so we get the message that Sanders is boring... dangit, some women *like* smart, articulate men! They could've created another supporting character who falls for Sanders, proving him a valid love interest who's just not right for *Esther*, since she and Howard are more physical/less intellectual types. Oh well.Wow, I don't remember how any of the songs go. They really *are* forgettable. So, it's easy to see why this movie failed to please the Box-office Gods and led to the fall of the Great MGM Empire! I'd buy it on DVD anyway, especially if that outtake musical number from the Laserdisc (mentioned by a previous reviewer) is included. Curious to see Marge & Gower's deleted dance...it's got to be better than the Elephant Walk Of Shame.