ON AN ISLAND WITH YOU last meeting
On Feb. 22nd the Society met on O'ahu. At the meeting we first shown a great short, a "60 Minute" segment on James Michener with Diane Sawyer. The segment has Sawyer taking Michener back to the actual islands where Michener was inspired to write the book "Tales of the South Pacific" which lead to the famous play and movie. It was at times an emotional documentary especially when Michener shows Diane the now ruins of the old plantation featured in the movie or when they both met the real Bloody Mary who in her late nineties was still alive. Great documentary. This TV segment was found on one of the special issued box sets of Rodgers & Hammerstein works like "Oklahoma" and "South Pacific". These sets included a book, soundtrack CD, special DVD of featurettes on the films and of course the DVD of the film itself. This "60 Minute" segment can also be found on the "Collector's Edition" of "South Pacific" DVD which can be bought in the SHOP page of southseascinema.org. The book, "The South Pacific Companion" can also be bought sparately at the same SHOP page under South Seas Cinema Books section (go to page 8 of that section).
The main feature "On an Island with You" is a fun movie which is about a South Seas Movie filming a South Seas Movie. Although not filmed in Hawaii (some exteriors filmed in Florida) it was set in Hawaii where a movie company is filming what looks like a cheesy South Seas flick. Some of the main actors playing actors in the film Ester Williams, Cyd Charisse and Ricardo Montalban have a mixed up love mess when the Naval adviser of the film played by Peter Lawford, kidnaps the star and girlfriend of Ricardo (Ester) and later Peter and Ester fall in real love. Today that would be stocking and Lawford would need a Psychiatrist to get over his obsession of Ester. Also stars Xavier Cugat with his chihuahua dressed in a hula outfit and Jimmy Durante. What was funny about the movie was not the usual fake Hawaii on stage but the even worst art direction of the South Seas movie within the movie with sandy blonde, brown painted native wahines (Ester and Cyd) and a awful music number with mixed Polynesian and South American Mayan cultures. Like an old Universal South Seas film. "On an Island", being a MGM movie, I wonder if this was a putdown of one of their rival studios?
The main feature "On an Island with You" is a fun movie which is about a South Seas Movie filming a South Seas Movie. Although not filmed in Hawaii (some exteriors filmed in Florida) it was set in Hawaii where a movie company is filming what looks like a cheesy South Seas flick. Some of the main actors playing actors in the film Ester Williams, Cyd Charisse and Ricardo Montalban have a mixed up love mess when the Naval adviser of the film played by Peter Lawford, kidnaps the star and girlfriend of Ricardo (Ester) and later Peter and Ester fall in real love. Today that would be stocking and Lawford would need a Psychiatrist to get over his obsession of Ester. Also stars Xavier Cugat with his chihuahua dressed in a hula outfit and Jimmy Durante. What was funny about the movie was not the usual fake Hawaii on stage but the even worst art direction of the South Seas movie within the movie with sandy blonde, brown painted native wahines (Ester and Cyd) and a awful music number with mixed Polynesian and South American Mayan cultures. Like an old Universal South Seas film. "On an Island", being a MGM movie, I wonder if this was a putdown of one of their rival studios?
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