Main Cast: Esther Williams, Red Skelton, Howard Keel, Ann Miller, Paula Raymond
Release Year: 1951
Country: US
Run Time: 77 minutes
Plot
MGM's new musical screen team of Esther Williams and Howard Keel were given plenty to do in the pleasant if unambitious songfest Texas Carnival. Williams plays Debbie Telford, one-half of a carnival performing team. The other half is Corny Quinnell (Red Skelton), who breaks up the act when he is mistaken for Texas millionaire Dan Sabinas (Keenan Wynn). Living high on the hog in Sabinas' absence, Corny manages to smooth the romantic path for Debbie and ranch foreman Slim Shelby (Keel), while he dallies with the luscious Sunshine Jackson (Ann Miller). Red Skelton is given more opportunity to shine than usual, especially during a riotous poker game (this scene was a particular favorite of screenwriter Dorothy Kingsley, who felt it could have been even funnier had director Charles Walters "punched it up" cinematically). Esther Williams' particular highlight is a swimming sequence in a waterless hotel room, a bit of special-effects wizardry that only the MGM tech staff could have dreamed up. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
As Texas Carnival amply demonstrates, you don't watch an Esther Williams movie for its screenplay (let alone its plot); you watch it to see what Williams does in the water. Texas Carnival skimps somewhat on the aquatic star's time in the water, but the one big ballet it provides is a doozy. Choreographer Hermes Pan and MGM's special-effects technicians do an excellent job of superimposing the star's routine over and around co-star Howard Keel's hotel room, creating an impressive two or three minutes. The rest of the film is amazingly routine, with almost no spark or imagination from director Charles Walters and a screenplay that is built-to-order for its stars but clunky and mechanical. Harry Warren and Dorothy Fields' score is somewhat better -- pleasant but unremarkable -- which means that it's up to the cast to make Texas Carnival work. Fortunately, they're up the task. Williams is no great actress, but she's fine, as is Keel; but it's the secondary Red Skelton and Ann Miller who make Texas come alive, even with less than stellar material. The stars -- and that one ballet -- make Texas Carnival worth the occasional look. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Keenan Wynn - Dan Sabinas; Tom Tully - Sheriff Jackson; Glenn Strange - Tex Hodgkins; Donald MacBride - Concessionaire; Marjorie Wood - Mrs. Gaytes; Hans Conried - Hotel clerk; Thurston Hall - Mr. Gaytes; Duke Johnson - Juggler; Wilson Wood - Bell Boy; Red Norvo - Themselves; Douglas Carter - Cab Driver; Jack Daley; Bess Flowers; Robert Fortier; Earl Hodgins - Doorman; Emmett Lynn - Cook; Rhea Mitchell - Dealer; Fred Santley - People in Lobby; Dick Wessel - Concessionair #1; Michael Dugan - Card player; Alex Romero; Foy Willing - Specialty; Gil Patric - Assistant Clerk; Joe Roach
