Although conventional everyday pantyhose would not be invented until 1959, sheer stage tights, such as Eleanor Powell wears in her dance number, had been in use for decades by those in the entertainment industry.
When Red Skelton is called up on stage to award the "Duchess of Idaho" trophy, he tells Esther Williams that she looks familiar. This is an inside joke since Red made several movies with her.
Duchess of Idaho (1950) was Esther Williams' fourth romantic pairing with Van Johnson (her last would be 1953's Easy to Love), and much to the actress's chagrin, a return to the formula of the mismatched lovers plot. "As happy as I was to be working once more with Van," she recalled, "the recycled plots were getting to me. At one point I turned to Van and said, 'Didn't we do this scene before in an elevator?" He laughed. "Esther, this is our fourth picture together: We've done this scene in an elevator; at the side of the pool, and we've even done it swimming in the pool together; with you holding me up so I could say my lines and not go blub-blub-underwater." He was not exaggerating...We could laugh about it, but the truth was that there was a definite predictability to the plots of my films. Audiences had come to expect a certain kind of film from me, and these movies were immensely popular."
In chronological order, their romantic duo films were: A Guy Named Joe (1943), Thrill of a Romance (1945), Easy to Wed (1946), Duchess of Idaho (1950) and Easy to Love (1953). A sixth pairing is incidental in Till the Clouds Roll By (1946) when Williams appears in an uncredited cameo, signing autographs.
In chronological order, their romantic duo films were: A Guy Named Joe (1943), Thrill of a Romance (1945), Easy to Wed (1946), Duchess of Idaho (1950) and Easy to Love (1953). A sixth pairing is incidental in Till the Clouds Roll By (1946) when Williams appears in an uncredited cameo, signing autographs.
"You Won't Forget Me" (music by Fred Spielman, lyrics by Kermit Goell), sung by Lena Horne, was cut from the movie. For years, Lena's prerecording was missing until rediscovered and then issued on the 1996 Rhino DC box set, "That's Entertainment!" Joan Crawford (dubbed by India Adams) later performed the number in Torch Song (1953).