Jupiter's Darling

For the album by Heart, see Jupiters Darling.

Jupiter's Darling
Film poster
Directed by	George Sidney
Screenplay by	Dorothy Kingsley
Based on	The Road to Rome 1928 play by Robert E. Sherwood
Produced by	George Wells
Starring	Esther Williams Howard Keel Marge Champion Gower Champion George Sanders Richard Haydn
Cinematography	Charles Rosher Paul Vogel
Edited by	Ralph E. Winters
Music by	David Rose
Production company	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Distributed by	Loew's, Inc.
Release date	February 18, 1955 (1955-02-18)
Running time	95 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$3,337,000
Box office	$2,520,000

Jupiter's Darling is a 1955 American Technicolor musical romance film released by MGM and directed by George Sidney filmed in CinemaScope. It starred Esther Williams as the Roman woman Amytis, Howard Keel as Hannibal, the Carthaginian military commander and George Sanders as Fabius Maximus, Amytis's fiancé. In the film, Amytis helps Hannibal swim the Tiber River to take a closer look at Rome's fortifications.

The film features many historical characters, including Roman generals Fabius Maximus and Scipio Africanus who appears briefly, in addition to Hannibal. Carthaginians Mago Barca and Maharbal also appear.

Jupiter's Darling was based on Robert E. Sherwood's anti-war comedy play The Road to Rome (1927).

The film was the last of three films Williams and Keel made together, the other two being Pagan Love Song (1950) and Texas Carnival (1951).

Cast

• Esther Williams as Amytis
• Howard Keel as Hannibal
• Marge Champion as Meta
• Gower Champion as Varius
• George Sanders as Fabius Maximus
• Richard Haydn as Horatio
• William Demarest as Mago
• Norma Varden as Fabia
• Douglass Dumbrille as Scipio
• Henry Corden as Carthalo
• Michael Ansara as Maharbal
• Martha Wentworth as Widow Titus
• John Olszewski as Principal Swimming Statue

Production

File:Jupiter's Darling - Esther Williams underwater.JPG

Esther Williams as Amytis in one of the film's underwater sequences

Williams had been on maternity leave for three months while pregnant with daughter Susan, and had assumed that she would get straight to work on the film Athena. She, along with writers Leo Pogostin and Chuck Walters created the premise for Athena while making Easy to Love, and Walters finished the script while Williams was on maternity leave. However, Athena had already begun shooting when Williams arrived back from leave, and the studio had changed the swimming sequences to dancing sequences and replaced Williams with Jane Powell. Williams was then assigned Jupiter's Darling. Jo Ann Greer, who sang for Williams, also dubbed June Allyson in MGM's The Opposite Sex and Rita Hayworth in three films, including Pal Joey.

The film was announced in January 1954, with Williams and Howard Keel to star. MGM said because of this casting, Jane Powell was to go into Athena which had been intended for Williams, Ava Gardner would replaced Powell in Love Me or Leave Me, and Lana Turner would replace Gardner in My Most Intimate Friend.

The following month, George Sanders was announced as co-star; it was said he agreed to do it because he had the chance to sing. Madge and Gower Champion joined the cast; Howard Keel signed a new long term contract with MGM in April.

During shooting, Williams broke her left eardrum, which had already been broken in five other films. She was fitted with a prosthesis from latex that covered her nose and ears that prevented water from rushing in. As a result, she could barely hear, taste or smell while wearing it, and her diving had to be limited. Stunt woman Ginger Stanley was Williams' body double in some of the underwater scenes.

In one of the film's scenes, Amytis, while fleeing from Hannibal and his soldiers, rides a horse over the edges of a cliff on the Tiber River. Williams refused to do the scene, and when the studio refused to cut it, the director called in a platform diver that Williams knew, Al Lewin. The stunt took place one time; the studio got its shot, and Lewin broke his back.

Release

The film's world premiere was held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The cast, including a 350-pound baby elephant named Jupiter's Darling, embarked on a tour of nine U.S. cities.

Critical reception

A 1955 New York Times review of the film claimed that "Esther Williams must be getting bored with water. She goes swimming only three times in M-G-M's "Jupiter's Darling," which came yesterday to the Music Hall, and two of these times are forced upon her. She dunks only once for fun. And that, we might note, is the most attractive and buoyant thing in the film. It comes when Miss Williams, cast rashly as the fiancée of Emperor Fabius Maximus of Rome, peels off her stola and tunic after a long hot day in town and goes swimming in the pool of her villa, which is fancier than any pool in Hollywood." It also stated that "Miss Williams had better get back in that water and start blowing bubbles again."

Box office

Box office reception was poor - according to MGM records it made $1,493,000 in the US and Canada and $1,027,000 elsewhere resulting in a loss of $2,232,000.

Williams was meant to follow the movie with Say It in French but the film was never made.

See also

• List of American films of 1955
• List of films set in ancient Rome

References

• Williams, Esther (1999). The Million Dollar Mermaid: An Autobiography (1st ed.). ISBN 978-0-15-601135-8. ISBN 0-15-601135-2. Retrieved 2009-12-11.

Further reading

• Monder, Eric (1994). George Sidney:a Bio-Bibliography. Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0-313-28457-1.

External links

• Jupiter's Darling at IMDb
• Jupiter's Darling at AllMovie
• Jupiter's Darling at the TCM Movie Database
• Jupiter's Darling at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films