utgard14 It's difficult sometimes to view an older film without using a modern lens and being oversensitive or judgmental. Case in point: On an Island with You, where Peter Lawford plays a Navy officer who kidnaps his romantic obsession, a movie star played by Esther Williams. What is acceptable behavior from men towards women has obviously changed a lot in the last sixty plus years since this was made. It's hard for me to believe that there was ever a time when the disturbing and outright criminal behavior of Lawford's character could pass for romantic. But sadly, that is the case and the movie fails because of it.It doesn't help matters that Lawford, always a stiff actor, plays the character as though he is an unbalanced creep. Lawford has no chemistry with Williams, either. This is made more apparent when Esther shares scenes with Ricardo Montalban, whom she did have wonderful chemistry with. Lawford pales by comparison. On the plus side, it's a Technicolor movie with Esther Williams so you know the gorgeous quota will be met and then some. The musical and aquatic numbers are all good, though none are classics. Jimmy Durante does his best to keep things light. Cyd Charisse shows off her dancing skills, which is always nice. As it stands, it's a watchable movie (more so if you're a big Esther fan) but probably the weakest of all of Esther's starring vehicles.

evening1 A pretty swimmer does not a thespian make! This Esther Williams vehicle is seriously dragged down by weak acting and annoying characters. Peter Lawford was a wonderful talent. Guess he really needed a paycheck back in 1948. And maybe the country needed something like this to raise its spirits after the war...I'd never suffered through a movie with Jimmy Durante before. Aged 55 here but looking and behaving far more crochety, his tedious antics get old really fast.Even Cyd Charisse isn't used to advantage here. A skilled dancer, her amazing legs are hidden under sarongs in this misguided production!This film has a few good lines about love. Its happy ending may give unrequited lovers a little hope. But is it worth a couple hours of anyone's life? Probably not.

crispy_comments Peter Lawford sheds his usual light leading man persona to play a creepy stalker obsessed with a movie star (Esther Williams) engaged to someone else. When she rejects his advances, he kidnaps her and flys her to a remote island. Lawford's performance is chilling. He combines disturbing single-minded intensity with a sort of blank expression (some may mistake this for wooden acting), which perfectly conveys the emotionless lack of conscience typical of a true psychopath. I'm surprised Peter didn't receive an Oscar nod! Esther Williams also shows surprising depth in her role as a self-absorbed movie star who (in a truly twisted plot twist) becomes attracted to her abductor! An interesting commentary on the deep-seated insecurities and desperate need for attention which motivates many actors and celebrities. Soon Williams is pathetically dependent on her obsessed stalker. You'll have to watch to find out what happens when Lawford becomes distant and spurns *her* advances! Oh, it's a sick relationship. Sick, I tell you!But what I don't understand is... why is this movie categorized as a romantic comedy/musical? Hmmm. Very strange. How sad that some people can't distinguish between love and unhealthy obsession. Why, I do believe the filmmakers might've been making an ironic statement about that very thing! That's why "On An Island With You" contains so many songs and dances, appearing on the surface to be fluffy feel-good escapist entertainment. Only viewers of superior intellect will detect the unadulterated EVIL hidden behind the happy, wholesome veneer!"Citizen Kane", "Sunset Boulevard" and the like - your reign at the top of the film critics' lists must come to an end. Make way for "On An Island With You"! P.S. Believe it or not, I *am* a fan of musicals, and like Peter Lawford well enough. But this movie...well, it's not on my list of desert island picks, let's put it that way. Great dancing by Cyd Charisse though.

robertmarburger As an Esther Williams fan -- read fanatic -- since I was a pre-adolescent, I have to admit that On an Island with You is one of a few of her films that misfires as entertainment.Admittedly applying contemporary values to a light 56-year-old film, I can't get around the fact that there's something disturbing about the Peter Lawford character's obsession with, stalking of, and eventual kidnapping of the Williams character. This is romantic? Lawford's wooden acting is part of the problem -- more warmth might have mitigated the creepiness of the character's behavior.I have read that Lawford disliked Williams and felt, despite his success in Good News, that he'd been forced into an uninteresting, secondary part in a movie that was clearly hers. That would explain the total absence of chemistry between them.Redeeming elements: the Charisse-Montalban dance numbers and Cugat's music.