Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		5.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Neptune's Daughter Blu-ray Movie Review

Cheeky fun in the sun.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III April 19, 2023

A lightweight but solid vehicle for star Esther Williams after her earlier success in films like Bathing Beauty, Easy to Wed, and On an Island with You, Edward Buzzell's Neptune's Daughter doesn't exactly push the limits of popular big-studio musical territory but still has fun doing it. Williams re-teams with co-stars from those earlier films -- which were helpfully collected on TCM's Esther Williams: Volume 1 DVD set back in 2007 -- including Ricardo Montalban, Keenan Wynn, and Red Skelton, with everyone playing "on brand" to predictable but harmless results. Throw in a few decent song-and-dance numbers (including the first performance of "Baby It's Cold Outside", which would make for a great trivia question) and you've got a good-not-great musical that's nonetheless worth revisiting on Blu-ray.

The story follows different couples with frequent intersections. We're first introduced to Eve Barrett (Esther Williams) and her business manager Joe Backett (Keenan Wynn), who run the very successful "Neptune" swimwear company; Eve's also kept busy watching over her boy-chasing sister Betty (Betty Garrett), whose latest target is handsome polo player José O’Rourke (Ricardo Montalban) in town for a championship. Clearly in need of prescription glasses, Betty somehow mistakes José's masseur Jack Spratt (Red Skelton, sporting a bad accent) for the athlete and is immediately (inexplicably?) head over heels. Once Eve figures out this case of mistaken identity, she attempts to clear things up but José is already smitten with her. Trouble compounds when the polo player is kidnapped to influence the championship game's outcome, with Jack unwittingly stepping into José's cleats to maintain the air-tight illusion.

So yeah, the story doesn't make much sense. Nor does the inclusion of "Baby It's Cold Outside" (they're in Southern California, after all), which is somewhat amusingly performed by each of the two couples... the second being sung from a female-dominant perspective, which more or less completely deflates any recent arguments about it being written at the expense of women. Within the particular boundaries of Neptune's Daughter it's all in good fun and is highlighted by several other decent musical breaks, solid production design, and of course a bit of va-va-voom appeal, all capped off by a short but memorable water ballet featuring Eve and José. Those just here to see Esther might be disappointed, however: the star discovered she was pregnant with her first child early during production, so she's frequently shot in mid-range and carefully-staged compositions with a definite lack of emphasis on fancy swimming.

Cartoon buffs will also be interested to know that vocal legend Mel Blanc also makes a very rare live-action appearance in several short but memorable scenes, sounding very much like a human version of Speedy Gonzalez. (Between that, Red Skelton's put-on accent, and "Baby it's Cold Outside", this bad boy's pretty much a hot bed of controversy if you're no fun at parties.) Neptune's Daughter also features gorgeous Technicolor cinematography, which is as much an asset to this production's enjoyability as anything else. It's all rendered exquisitely on Warner Archive's new Blu-ray, which is highlighted by yet another top-tier restoration and a handful of enjoyable DVD-era bonus features.

Neptune's Daughter Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Sourced from a brand-new 4K scan of the original three-strip Technicolor negatives, Neptune's Daughter absolutely shines on Blu-ray thanks to Warner Archive's reliably great restoration efforts. This 1080p transfer almost approaches true 4K levels of depth, detail, and clarity, showing off the film's period-specific production design, stunning close-ups, and colorful swimsuits, creating what's easily one of their best home video presentations to date. Softness creeps in occasionally but that's likely tied to the source material, as the wide majority of Neptune's Daughter looks incredible no matter if it's a playful poolside romp or just two people talking in a living room. Fine grain is ever-present and, as usual, the picture is clean as a whistle with no obvious signs of compression artifacts or encoding issues, running at a suitably high bit rate from start to finish. In short, it's just another five-star effort for Warner Archive, who's earned a countless number of such ratings from myself and others since their very first Blu-ray release.

Neptune's Daughter Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

While the DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio mix (which preserves the film's original mono spread across both front channels) doesn't quite reach the same heights due to source limitations, it's still a proportionately strong effort that gets the job done. Dialogue is clean and intelligible, background effects are mixed well, and there's enough room left over for Frank Loesser's original songs and score. The latter falls victim to light distortion as times, and sporadic exchanges likewise suffer from a touch of hiss and gauziness, but it's nothing major and absolutely not out of bounds for a film of this type. Still, I'd gladly take an "imperfect" original track over a modified or boosted one any day of the week.

Optional English (SDH) subtitles are offered during the film only. Unfortunately, there's a very glaring and persistent sync issue that begins around the 15-minute mark and never improves -- it's bad enough during the dialogue, but possibly even more so during the songs. Normally I'd also complain about subtitles not being included with the extras (as they were on the much older DVD they were ported from), but in this case they're not really missed.

Neptune's Daughter Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a keepcase with poster-themed cover art and no inserts. The extras are all ported over from TCM's Esther Williams: Volume 1 collection (released on DVD back in 2007) with a few A/V upgrades.

• Callaway Went Thataway (2:03) - Don't get your hopes up: this isn't the entire 1951 film starring Fred MacMurray and Dorothy McGuire, just a two-minute scene with Esther Williams' cameo appearance.

• Water Trix (8:37) - Another Pete Smith Specialty short, this 1941 piece highlights the daring work of cinematographer Charles Trigo shooting water skiiers from the comfort of a helicopter.

• Theatrical Trailer (3:22) - This vintage promotional piece can also be seen here.

• I Want My Money Back (4:26) - A short and unrestored deleted scene featuring Betty Garrett.

• Hatch Up Your Troubles (7:42) - This Oscar-nominated Tom and Jerry short, which features a cute li'l baby woodpecker that Jerry reluctantly takes under his wing (and was later remade in CinemaScope under the title of The Egg and Jerry), has been fully restored and makes its HD debut here. Originally planned for inclusion on the cancelled Golden Collection, Volume 2, this may help fuel the possibility of a long-awaited Blu-ray follow-up to the first volume by either Warner Archive or their parent company. One can only hope...

• Radio Interview (4:48) - This scripted vintage promotional audio clip features host Dick Simmons speaking candidly with star Esther Williams about Neptune's Daughter, swimsuits, and her personal life.

• Song Selection - Instant access to the film's nine main music and song cues. Sadly, this only highlights the glaring subtitle sync issue mentioned above -- good luck singing along if you don't know the words.

• Main Title
• "Siboney"
• "I Love These Men"
• "My Heart Beats Faster"
• "Baby It's Cold Outside" (1)
• "Baby It's Cold Outside" (2)
• "Jungle Rhumba / "Jungle Fantasy"
• "My Heart Beats Faster" (Reprise)
• End Title

Neptune's Daughter Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Edward Buzzell's Neptune's Daughter is a lightweight and fairly dated musical that's nonetheless still pretty fun, with enjoyable performances and well-placed song breaks throughout its breezy run time. I'd still only recommend it sight-unseen for fans of the cast or die-hard genre buffs, but Warner Archive evens the odds with yet another top-tier Blu-ray restoration that's led by one of their strongest transfers to date and several short but appropriate DVD-era extras. The glaring subtitle issue (detailed above in the audio section) is a rare strike against the otherwise reliable boutique label, but this is otherwise about as definitive a home video release as Neptune's Daughter will ever get.