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Lisa’s Home Bijou: Blue Hawaii Elvis as beach boy

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Film Festival: Elvis in Hawaii

Blue Hawaii (1961) is the first of the three Hawaii films starring Elvis Presley. The soundtrack album for this movie was a huge hit and three of his most famous songs are here: Blue Hawaii, I Can’t Help Falling in Love with You, and the Hawaiian Wedding Song.Elvis Presley and Angela Lansbury star in a musical romantic comedy in Hawaii, with lots of tropical sites and activities. Lisa's Home Bijou: Blue Hawaii (1961)

“Dreams come true / In blue Hawaii / And mine could all come true / This magic night / A night with you” –Elvis

Elvis plays Chad Gates, a young man who is returning to his home in Oahu from military service in Italy. His father is a pineapple company executive and his mother is a social/class-conscious Southerner. Sarah Lee (Angela Lansbury) is a Southern belle who is worried about associating “with the finer elements.” They live in a beautiful home in Manoa or Tantalus or Kahala (it depends if you believe the script, the views out the windows, or the road signs!). Chad is a Hawaiian beach boy at heart and wants to make a living on his own, incorporating his love of Hawaii.

Chad’s girlfriend is Maile (Joan Blackman), a descendant of a Hawaiian royal family and a tourist bureau employee. Chad’s friends are Hawaiian and make a living playing music.

Chad defies his parents and begins working as a tourist guide for Maile’s company. His first client is a schoolteacher, Miss Prentice, escorting 4 high school girls. This sets up the adventures, conflicts, and fantastic scenery in the film.

Soundtrack

The many songs keep the movie rolling along.

I Was Almost Always True to You: Maile finds Waihila (Hilo Hattie), selling leis at the airport. They run out to the tarmac to meet the plane and greet Chad arriving home from the Army. Chad sings to Maile as they drive to the beach, at Hanauma Bay. This is the old days, it’s nearly deserted! Chad has an old grass shack he built with his friends. He plans to live there and surf, dive, and play music.

Aloha ‘Oe: Chad and Maile are out swimming in the bay and meet up with an outrigger with 4 of Chad’s friends. The song begins with the Hawaiians singing the first verse of the famous song in Hawaiian. Chad and his friends sing while riding in the outrigger. They have two guitars and a conch shell.blue-hawaii-outrigger

No More: Chad and the boys sing on the beach. Chad is remembering his romantic escapades in Naples. Now the boys have guitars, bongos, steel drum, and pahu (coconut and sharkskin drum).blue-hawaii-no-more

I Can’t Help Falling in Love with You: Chad escapes his elegant home to go to a birthday party in Haleiwa. It’s Maile’s grandmother’s birthday. The boys are leading a Tahitian song when he arrives. Chad sings to Mrs. Maneka, Maile’s grandmother.blue-hawaii-cant-help-falling

Rock A Hula: Chad’s mother throws a big society welcome home party for Chad. The beach boys are the band for the party. Chad sings with his friends, swinging uli uli (gourd rattles) while he does classic Elvis gyrating.

“The way she moves her hips to her fingertips / I feel like having fun / And when she starts to sway I’ve got to say / She really pulls the grass around” –Chad

Let’s go on a moonlight swim: Maile’s boss (Howard McNear) decides to hire Chad as a tourist guide and sends him to the Hilton Hawaiian Village to meet a schoolteacher. Miss Prentice has 4 teenage girls with her. Chad sings to the girls while driving them through the pineapple fields.blue-hawaii-pineapple-fields

Ku’u Ipo: Chad sets up a hukilau at the beach for the guests. Chad sings a love song (Sweetheart) with his ukulele at the hukilau. Chad gets everyone down to the beach to help pull in the nets full of fish (hukilau). They cook the fish and eat on the beach.

Ito Eat: Chad is inspired to sing a calypso song about how much his friend Ito likes to eat.

“Ito is an eating boy / He never get enough of fish and poi / He eat everything he don’t care what / He even eat the shell from the coconut”–Chad, boys and girls

blue-hawaii-ito-eatsSlicin’ Sand: Everyone starts to rock, kicking sand in their dance.blue-hawaii-slicin-sand

Hawaiian Sunset: the Island Inn is having a luau party the next evening. Chad invites his father’s big boss to the party, Mr. Kelman. He and Miss Prentice share a mai tai with two straws. Chad is on stage with his ukulele, his band, and 2 hula dancers in cellophane skirts.blue-hawaii-hawaiian-sunset

Beach Boy Blues: A drunk tourist from Tulsa starts a fight with Chad. The police break it up and Chad is in jail with his buddies. They sing a blues song in jail. Fortunately, the boys got arrested with their instruments.

“I’m a poor Hawaiian beach boy / A long way from the beach / Cuz someone shoved his face against my hand / Now I’m a kissin’ cousin to a ripe pineapple / I’m in the can” – Chad

blue-hawaii-beach-boy-bluesKaua’i, Island of Love: Chad decides to start his own tourist bureau with Miss Prentice and the girls as his first clients. They fly to Kaua’i and the fabulous Coco Palms resort. Chad sings as he takes the girls horseback riding along the Coconut Coast.

Hawaiian wedding song (Ke Kali Nei Au): After a lot of drama, Chad makes up with Maile and they decide to marry. The ceremony is at the beautiful lagoons at Coco Palms.Elvis Presley and Angela Lansbury star in a musical romantic comedy in Hawaii, with lots of tropical sites and activities. Lisa's Home Bijou: Blue Hawaii (1961)

Chad tells his parents about his job. His mother continues to be upset that he is not taking his place at the pineapple company.blue-hawaii-chads-parents

“I like my job, Mom. It’s fun, it’s interesting, and you meet a lot of nice people. –Nonsense. Tourists aren’t people. They’re… they’re tourists!” –Chad and Sarah Lee

Hawaii featured sites

Featured along with Hanauma Bay, and the Hilton Hawaiian Village on Waikiki are the Punchbowl heights above Honolulu, the pineapple fields at Wahiawa, and the famed sunset torchlighting ceremony at Coco Palms in Kaua’i.blue-hawaii-torch-lighting

Hawaiian cast

A few Hawaiians appear in this film. Hilo Hattie (Clara Inter) was the famous comedic singer and dancer playing a lei greeter at the airport. Bella Richards was a revered kumu hula (hula teacher) from Kailua on Oahu. Lani Kai was a singer, songwriter, and actor. He appeared on Adventures in Paradise and the original Hawaii Five-O. Frank Atienza was a regular on Magnum, PI. Ralph Tiki Hanalei was an actor with appearances on Adventures in Paradise, Hawaii Five-O, and Hawaiian Eye.

Worth watching!

Elvis was in his 20s in Blue Hawaii and makes a good acting effort. Along with being a lover and a singer, he has conflict with his parents and has to deal with petulant tourists. He is very handsome swimming and in his Hawaiian shirts. You can see what he might have become as an actor.

For music, romance, and views of early statehood Hawaii, you can’t go wrong with Blue Hawaii!blue-hawaii-diamond-head

Resource links for Blue Hawaii (1961)

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Lisa’s Home Bijou: Song of the Islands musical film

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Film Festival: The Islands and Tropicana

Song of the Islands (1942) shows the influence of cowboys on the Hawaiian cattle ranches. Ranches in Hawai’i brought an interesting mix of people to the islands. The Hawaiian culture has a strong expression in music and dance, both showcased in this film, with Betty Grable adding extra glamour to the mix.Betty Grable is the daughter of a Hawaiian cattle rancher finding love with Victor Mature. Features Hilo Hattie and Harry Owens. Lisa's Home Bijou: Song of the Islands (1942)

George Vancouver introduced cattle to Hawaii in the late 1700s. In the 1830s, vaqueros from California and Mexico were hired and began the paniolo (Hawaiian cowboy) traditions.

Song of the Islands takes place on Ahmi-Oni Isle, a tiny island (near Lanai) in the middle of the Hawaiian islands. Ahmi-Oni has a split personality — one side of it is owned by Dennis O’Brien (Thomas Mitchell), the other by Harper (George Barbier.) O’Brien loves the native lifestyle. He has lived it himself, has raised his daughter amidst it, and wants to preserve his land for the island people. Harper is a no-nonsense absentee landowner. There are no women on his Circle H ranch and he wants his half of the island to be an efficient, profit-making cattle ranch.song-islands-cattle

“Bring me the fragrance of ginger / Strum your guitars while I dream away / Sing me a song of the islands / Aloha wau ia ‘oe”

Eileen O’Brien (Betty Grable) arrives back on the Isle in an outrigger canoe, singing “Sing Me a Song of the Islands.” She’s been at school on the mainland for three years. The O’Brien side of the Isle puts on a sumptuous homecoming party for Eileen, with guitars, singing, banana-leaf-covered pigs roasting in imu (cooking pit), hula dancers, and trays of fruits. They sing the Hawaiian War Chant (also known as the romantic song Kāua I Ka Huahua’i).

Eileen is very happy to be back home, but she learned to like one special convenience on the mainland and brought it back with her — a modern bathtub for their home.

The party cranks up when Eileen dresses in a grass skirt and flowers and performs a swing-hula with 20 local girls to “Down on Ami Ami Oni Oni Isle.” Her childhood nurse, Palola (Hilo Hattie), adds to the festivities by singing a comic version.

A sailboat suddenly beaches with two young men asleep in the cabin. They are cattle ranchers: Mr. Harper’s son and his Texas ranch manager, headed to the Circle H Ranch for a visit. Jeff Harper (Victor Mature) has been sent to make a deal with O’Brien to make his land part of the Circle H.

“Oh why did I ever leave Texas? –To show me how the little calves on dad’s ranches grow into nice big juicy steaks. –Say what do they feed them in a place like this? –Bananas and poi.” –Rusty and Jeff

Rusty Smith (Jack Oakie) is checking out the Hawaiian cattle operation. He finds the Hawaiian cowboy songs strange (Maika’i Ka Makani O Kohala), so he teaches them “Home on the Range.” The paniolo (cowhands) make it their own, changing it into a hapa haole song, half Hawaiian, half English.

Jeff and Eileen feel an attraction and start going out for moonlight sails and sunbathing on the black sand together.

“Say do you mind if I move the bouquet over so I can move in myself? –Ah ah, musn’t touch. –Why? –Well when a girl has a flower over her left ear it means…never mind. –What? Tell me! –It means she’s nobody’s sweetheart, she’s looking. –And over the right ear? –That means hands-off, she’s taken.” Jeff and Eileen (Actually, left ear means taken!)

Meanwhile, Palola has chosen Rusty for a husband-to-be, although he’s far more interested in her young cousin (Lillian Porter). Rusty meets Palola’s papa (Billy Gilbert), a very scary man reputed to be descended from cannibals (seriously?). Rusty survives a meal at Palola’s home that includes poi, coconut sauce, and octopus.

Jeff’s father flies in from Chicago on the Honolulu Clipper. He’s very upset that Jeff is not acquiring the O’Brien land and might actually marry the O’Brien daughter. Jeff wants his dad to calm down and relax. He brings him to a party at O’Brien’s where everyone sings Maluna Malolo Mawaena.

“Jeff, I’m not well, I’ve got a bad stomach. I want to retire. –You’re right, Dad, you’ve been working too hard. What you need is to get chummy with O’Brien. Learn how to enjoy life. –O’Brien! He’s been trying to pick my pocket for years. And that’s why his daughter is after you!” –Mr. Harper and Jeff

Harper and O’Brien discuss the use of O’Brien’s harbor for the Harper cattle operation. The talks break down when Harper won’t accept a friendly arrangement. Just when the Harper contingent is about to march off in a huff, a huge storm comes up and washes out the bridge between the two properties. Harper dad and son and Rusty have to spend the night with the O’Briens.

The two dads get friendly again while drinking a fermented papaya fruit concoction as a tonic. The senior Harper becomes convinced that he needs to spend more time on the Isle and get away from his hectic life in Chicago. Now the problem is to convince the angry Eileen to accept Jeff.

“You know, O’Brien, you’ve got a funny philosophy. Content to hibernate here on this island and even satisfied with the news you get from a 6-months-old newspaper! –What do you get from a fresh one? Nothing but news of troubles and taxes! Things you’d be happier knowing nothing about. They only keep you from enjoying the good things that were placed on this earth for all of us.” –Harper and O’Brien

Palola organizes a spectacular St. Patrick’s Day luau. Eileen wears a beautiful white evening-dress version of a hula outfit, covered with long white silk fringe. The local young men do a Samoan style dance, Palola sings the comic “Cockeyed Mayor of Kaunakakai,” Eileen leads the group in “O’Brien Has Gone Hawaiian” and an Irish-hula-jig. There’s so much going on, you’ll have to watch closely to see if Jeff “captures” Eileen and if Rusty ends up with the lovely cousin or with Palola.

Mack Gordon and Harry Owens provide the lively music for this tropical celebration. Other song and dance numbers in the film include “Blue Shadows and White Gardenias”, “What’s Buzzin’ Cousin,” and Na Lei O Hawai’i.

Harry Owens and his Royal Hawaiians were the principal entertainment at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel and provide a great soundtrack for the action. He wrote the hit song Sweet Leilani and wrote or transcribed many more Hawaiian songs. Clara Inter was the beloved Hawaiian entertainer Hilo Hattie. This was her first film.

Song of the Islands is a thoroughly entertaining journey to a Hollywood version of a Hawaiian island. Betty Grable looks wonderful in the tropical outfits and Victor Mature gets plenty of screen time to show off his physique. The Hawaiian foods, dances, and mode of dress are shown in rich Technicolor. Thomas Mitchell does his usual entertaining blustery Irish father role (check him out in “Gone with the Wind”). Fix yourself a tall coconut drink with a paper umbrella and sit back to be carried away for a rollicking good time.

Resource links for Song of the Islands (1942)

Let’s talk story

I’ve tried to document the actual Hawaiian songs in Song of the Islands and Honolulu. They are not listed on the soundtrack, nor are many of the performers listed in the credits. I don’t speak Hawaiian so it takes me awhile, but I think it’s important to get the songs added to the documentation on the Internet.

I love any movie with Betty Grable. I love Hawaii. But with modern eyes, it’s a little hard to watch this kind of Hollywood story. It makes me happy to see Hilo Hattie and Harry Owens, famous Hawaiian entertainers. I always wish that filmmakers would make more use of the beautiful heritage of true Hawaiian music and songs.

This is an update of a review that appeared originally in RETRO magazine, Nancy Eaton, editor.

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