In the 1950s and into the 60s, films set in ancient Rome were all the rage and were very profitable. Films such as "Quo Vadis", "Ben Hur" and "The Robe" were quite successful and hold up well today. However, occasionally, there was a dud and "Jupiter's Darling" was such a dud...losing a lot of money and driving Esther Williams to leave the studio. Why? Well, much of it might be the style of this film. Unlike the other films, which were serious religious epics, this one was a musical comedy...with lots of swimming! Obviously NOT something you'd associate with ancient Rome!
The film starts off very, very badly. This is because the first musical number is entitled "If This Be Slav'ry (Then Give Me Slavery)"...a song where a VERY happy slave is bought for Amytis' slave girlfriend and then he sings about how wonderful it was to be a slave!! This clearly did NOT age well!!!
A rich Roman woman, Amytis (Esther Williams) has been told by the Roman dictator (George Sanders) that she is going to marry him. However, when Amytis and her slave are spying on Hannibal and his Carthaginian army, she's captured and spends time being wooed by Hannibal. You can tell they are wooing because he sings a lot and she swims....standard wooing behavior if I've ever seen it. What's next? Well, see the film...or not.
So is this any good? Good grief, no! The story is pretty silly, the dialog weird and unrealistic and the film is one that will likely make history professors swoon because it is that ridiculous! The only thing I liked was seeing the cute ASIAN elephants...something Hannibal and his army never would have used since they were North Africans.
By the way, in one scene, Hannibal and Amytis are on the outskirts of Rome and you can see the Colosseum. Well, the story is set at about 220BC and the Colosseum wasn't built until about 80AD. A minor detail, I know.
The film starts off very, very badly. This is because the first musical number is entitled "If This Be Slav'ry (Then Give Me Slavery)"...a song where a VERY happy slave is bought for Amytis' slave girlfriend and then he sings about how wonderful it was to be a slave!! This clearly did NOT age well!!!
A rich Roman woman, Amytis (Esther Williams) has been told by the Roman dictator (George Sanders) that she is going to marry him. However, when Amytis and her slave are spying on Hannibal and his Carthaginian army, she's captured and spends time being wooed by Hannibal. You can tell they are wooing because he sings a lot and she swims....standard wooing behavior if I've ever seen it. What's next? Well, see the film...or not.
So is this any good? Good grief, no! The story is pretty silly, the dialog weird and unrealistic and the film is one that will likely make history professors swoon because it is that ridiculous! The only thing I liked was seeing the cute ASIAN elephants...something Hannibal and his army never would have used since they were North Africans.
By the way, in one scene, Hannibal and Amytis are on the outskirts of Rome and you can see the Colosseum. Well, the story is set at about 220BC and the Colosseum wasn't built until about 80AD. A minor detail, I know.