''Blue Hawaii'' is a 1961 American
musical
Musical is the adjective of music.
Musical may also refer to:
* Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance
* Musical film
Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...
romantic comedy drama
Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...
film directed by
Norman Taurog
Norman Rae Taurog (February 23, 1899 – April 7, 1981) was an American film director and screenwriter. From 1920 to 1968, Taurog directed 180 films. At the age of 32, he received the Academy Award for Best Director for ''Skippy (film), Skippy' ...
and starring
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...
. The screenplay by
Hal Kanter was nominated by the
Writers Guild of America
The Writers Guild of America (WGA) is the name of two American labor unions representing writers in film, television, radio, and online media:
* The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) is headquartered in New York City and is affiliated wit ...
in 1962 in the category of Best Written American Musical. The film opened at number two in box-office receipts for that week and, despite mixed reviews from critics, finished as the 10th top-grossing film of 1961 and 14th for 1962 in the ''Variety'' national box office survey, earning $5 million. The film won a fourth place prize
Laurel Award in the category of Top Musical of 1961.
Plot
Having been released from the
Army
An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...
, Chadwick "Chad" Gates is eager to return to
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...
with his surfboard, his native Hawaiian beach friends, and his mixed-race girlfriend Maile Duval. His mother, Sarah Lee, wants him to follow in his father's footsteps and take over management at the Great Southern Hawaiian Fruit Company, the family business, but Chad is reluctant and goes to work as a tour guide at his girlfriend's agency. His slightly scatter-brained boss is Mr. Chapman.
The first clients Chad has are an attractive school teacher, Abigail Prentice, and four teenage female students. One of the students, 17-year-old Ellie Corbett, seems self-centered and doesn't get along with the other three, but she becomes smitten with Chad. Chad's girlfriend, Maile, becomes jealous of Abigail, who is quite fond of Chad. After Ellie's flirtatious ways with another tourist cause a wild fight to erupt in a restaurant, Mr. Chapman fires Chad. Maile quits her job in protest. Maile and Chad independently continue guiding Abigail and the four youths, taking them to
Kaua'i.
One night Ellie attempts to seduce Chad in his hotel room, but he refuses her advances; at the same moment, Maile pays a surprise visit to the hotel. Ellie despondently flees in a stolen jeep, intending to drown herself in the ocean. Before she can, Chad pulls her out, attempts to speak to her, but then decides to punish her with a spanking. In the next scene, the girls, including Ellie, are having breakfast. Ellie is now pleasant, friendly and well-mannered, and jokes about the spanking. Meanwhile, Abigail has found romance with Jack Kelman, a longtime business partner of Chad's father. With Jack's help, Chad and his father resolve their differences about Chad's future.
Chad and Maile form their own tourism business—Gates of Hawaii—and begin arrangements to provide tourist services for his father's large network of fruit salesmen in the U.S. and Canada. The film ends with Chad's and Maile's lavish outdoor wedding.
Cast
*
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...
as Chadwick "Chad" Gates
*
Joan Blackman as Maile Duval
*
Angela Lansbury as Sarah Lee Gates
*
Nancy Walters as Abigail Prentice
*
Roland Winters as Fred Gates
*
John Archer as Jack Kelman
*
Howard McNear as Mr. Chapman
*
Steve Brodie as Tucker Garvey
*
Darlene Tompkins as Patsy Simon
*
Iris Adrian
Iris Adrian Hostetter (May 29, 1912 – September 17, 1994) was an American stage and film actress.
Life and career
Adrian was an only child, born in Los Angeles, California, to Florence (née Van Every) and Adrian Earl Hostetter, who wed in 1 ...
as Enid Garvey
*
Hilo Hattie as Waihila
*
Jenny Maxwell as Ellie Corbett
*
Pamela Austin as Selena "Sandy" Emerson (as Pamela Kirk)
* Christian Kay as Beverly Martin
*
Lani Kai as Carl Tanami
*
Jose De Vega as Ernie Gordon
* Frank Atienza as Ito O'Hara
* Tiki Hanalei as Ping Pong
*
Flora Kaai Hayes as Maile's grandmother (uncredited)
Production
''Blue Hawaii'' was the first of three Elvis films shot in Hawaii, followed by ''
Girls! Girls! Girls!'' in 1962 and ''
Paradise, Hawaiian Style'' in 1965. Producer
Hal B. Wallis was keen to put Presley in a film that showed how the army affected a man.
[Victor, Adam. ''The Elvis Encyclopaedia'' (2008), p.44-45.] Actress
Juliet Prowse
Juliet Anne Prowse (25 September 1936 – 14 September 1996) was a British-American dancer and actress whose four-decade career included stage, television and film. She was born in Bombay (today's Mumbai) then of British India, raised in South ...
, who had starred with Presley in ''GI Blues'', was approached to be his love interest again. But after her demands were put forward, Paramount decided to drop her for the role, choosing Joan Blackman instead.
[ Presley was apparently so pale before shooting that Wallis personally recommended a brand of tanning lamp to darken his skin.][ The film was announced in the fall of 1960 as ''Hawaii Beach Boy''.][Worth, Fred L. ''Elvis: His Life from A to Z'', Random House, 1992, p.245/246.] At the time, film producer Walter Mirisch had a film titled ''Hawaii'' in production, and he was upset that Wallis had chosen such a similar name.[
Presley arrived in Hawaii on March 18, 1961, to prepare for a charity concert he was giving on March 25 to raise funds for the Arizona Memorial at ]Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Reci ...
.[Guralnick, Peter. ''Careless Love'', p.99.] He arrived at the recording studio on March 21 to start recording the film's soundtrack
A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...
.[ Three weeks later, location filming had finished, including scenes at Waikiki Beach, Diamond Head, Mount Tantalus, and Hanauma Bay, a volcanic crater that is open to the sea, near the bedroom community of Hawaii Kai, a few miles away from Waikiki.][ After location filming, the crew returned to the Paramount lot to finish other scenes for the film. Presley relaxed during filming by giving karate demonstrations with his friend and employee, ]Red West
Robert Gene "Red" West (March 8, 1936 – July 18, 2017) was an American actor, film stuntman and songwriter. He was known for being a close confidant and bodyguard for rock and roll singer Elvis Presley. Upon his firing, West co-wrote the cont ...
, which resulted in Presley's fingers becoming bruised and swollen. Wallis warned the female stars of the film to avoid parties Presley hosted because they were turning up for shooting looking tired.[
Wallis used the box-office returns from ''Blue Hawaii'' to finance an upcoming Wallis film, 1964's '' Becket'', starring ]Richard Burton
Richard Burton (; born Richard Walter Jenkins Jr.; 10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) was a Welsh actor.
Noted for his mellifluous baritone voice, Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s and gave a memor ...
and Peter O'Toole.
Presley was 26 at the time this film was released, and a not yet 36-year-old Angela Lansbury played his character's mother. Nancy Walters, who was cast as the older schoolteacher, was in reality only 18 months older than Presley.
Much of the film was shot on location at the Coco Palms Resort on the east coast of Kauai
Kauai (), anglicized as Kauai ( or ), is one of the main Hawaiian Islands.
It has an area of 562.3 square miles (1,456.4 km2), making it the fourth-largest of the islands and the 21st-largest island in the United States. Kauai lies 73 m ...
.
Although it is mentioned in the film that Chad's parents live in Kāhala, one of the most expensive and exclusive areas of Honolulu
Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...
in 1961, the view from their " lanai" (porch or terrace) shows Diamond Head as it appears from Waikiki and downtown Honolulu. In actuality, Kāhala is on the other side of Diamond Head from Waikiki.
Several scenes were filmed in and around Waikiki Beach, including the opening driving scenes and the office scene across the street from the "International Market". The scenes in which Chad's clients stay in a hotel and in which he picks up his tour group – as well as those on the beach where he spends time with Maile – were all filmed on the property now known as the Hilton Hawaiian Village on Waikiki Beach.
Reception
Howard Thompson of ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' called the film "blandly uneventful" with a "nonsensical and harmless" plot, though he wrote that Presley "delivers the songs and rhythmical spasms right on schedule. We counted fourteen tunes, about half of them replete with ukulele trimmings and exotic, weaving dancers. One of them, a number called 'Beach Boy Blues,' is nifty, and Presley delivers it accordingly. No kidding." '' Variety'' wrote, "Hal Kanter's breezy screenplay, from a story by Allan Weiss, is the slim, but convenient, foundation around which Wallis and staff have erected a handsome, picture-postcard production crammed with typical South Seas musical hulaballoo ... Under Norman Taurog's broad direction, Presley, in essence, is playing himself—a role sure to delight his ardent fans." '' Harrison's Reports'' graded the film "Fair", adding: "As is the custom in a Presley production, the crooner-gyrater dominates the running time of the film. That is why, it is more the pity, now that he has so many films under his acting belt that he still continues to deliver such an embarrassingly poor performance." John L. Scott of the ''Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'' wrote that the film "does a lot for the 'paradise of the Pacific,' showing its foamy waves, palm trees, luaus and a couple of plush hotels, but not very much for Elvis' fans (what age bracket does he appeal to now?) ... One of these days Elvis will play a straight role with substance, and we'll definitely find out whether he can act or not."
Accolades
The film is recognized by American Film Institute
The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the History of cinema in the United States, motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private fu ...
in these lists:
* 2004: AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs:
** " Blue Hawaii" – Nominated
Soundtrack
Presley's remake of the title song introduced it to an audience too young to remember Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, comedian, entertainer and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwi ...
's original hit version.
The soundtrack album was on the Billboard Pop Albums chart for 79 weeks, where it spent 20 weeks at #1. It has been certified by the RIAA for sales of three million copies in the U.S.
The soundtrack album was nominated for a Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...
in 1961 in the category of Best Sound Track Album or Recording of Original Cast from a Motion Picture or Television.
The soundtrack featured the hit song " Can't Help Falling in Love" sung by Elvis, which is certified Platinum
Platinum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a density, dense, malleable, ductility, ductile, highly unreactive, precious metal, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name origina ...
by the RIAA
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
, for U.S. sales in excess of one million copies. The song peaked at No. 2 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Billboard Hot 100
The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), ...
and hit No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary
Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...
chart for six weeks, as well as topping the British charts in 1962.
As of 4 March 2024, the song was the most streamed Elvis Presley song with total streams on Spotify totalled at 836,193,249 and was on course to be the first Elvis Presley song streamed on one billion occasions. Youtube streams on the Elvis Presley channel totalled in excess of 400 million on the same date.
See also
* List of American films of 1961
References
External links
*
*
*
Elvis in Hawaii Presley's movies in Hawaii
{{Authority control
1961 films
1961 musical comedy films
1961 romantic comedy films
American musical comedy films
American romantic comedy films
American romantic musical films
Tiki culture
Films directed by Norman Taurog
Films set in Hawaii
Films shot in Honolulu
Paramount Pictures films
Films set on beaches
Films produced by Hal B. Wallis
1960s English-language films
1960s American films
Films scored by Joseph J. Lilley
English-language romantic comedy films
English-language musical comedy films