Let’s Talk Sports

 

I’m late writing this so I will try and make it brief. I wrote about music revolving around sports and I thought, why not do something regarding sports. I thought, rather than sports movies, I’ll talk about sports people who ended up in movies and here we go…

1. TARZAN AND HIS MATE-1934

I miss watching the Tarzan movies which used to always be on TV when I was young. This is the 2nd film in the series made before the Hays Office really clamped down on their idiotic censorship. You have the upper crust Englishmen wanting to grab elephant tusks at their grave yard plus try to convince Jane to come back home. Before Jane and Tarzan wore respectable garments, their clothing was much more revealing and they even skinny dipped. Johnny Weissmuller is still the perfect Tarzan, to me. He was an Olympic gold champion in swimming and you can see him swim in this film and all the others. These early films are the best and should be seen.

2. SUN VALLEY SERENADE-1941

Sonja Henie…who? She was a gold medalist, I think, 3 times, in figure skating and her influence is still felt to this day like wearing white skates. She was a huge influence in the world of figure skating but she did, rightfully, get some major flack, when she gave the Nazi salute during the Berlin Olympics meeting Hitler. All that aside, Hollywood beckoned and she was quite the novelty playing Norwegian nymphs who figure skate her way into mens’ hearts. In this film, she is supported by John Payne who plays her love interest. I love that the Nicholas Brothers are in this film who are brilliant dancers that defy reality to dance. Her films can go from one to the other but they are a thrill to see. 

3. MILLION DOLLAR MERMAID-1952

This film stars Esther Williams as Annette Kellerman, a famous Olympic swimmer who ended up in early silent films. Esther Williams, an expert swimmer, who would have been in the Olympics if WW2 didn’t mess up those plans. Esther was quite beautiful so she often played some sort of vixen who could do so much in the water. In fact, she is one reason why we have that weird synchronized swimming. I know it takes a lot of strength and control but it’s just a bit weird. She did most of her stunts breaking her neck once and she almost drowned once. She was under water doing these mermaid like swims when lunch was called and people left but forgot she was underwater. The pool was entirely covered by boards with a trap door but everything was painted black so Esther could not find her escape. A film crew member happened to see her and called others over to get her out of the tank! There was only one Esther Williams.

What movies can you think of? Any sports people that ended up in cinema? Please, no OJ….