Song of the Islands (1942)

With his sidekick Rusty, Jeff Harper sails to paradisiacal tropical isle Ahmi-Oni to bargain on behalf of his cattle baron father for land owned by transplanted Irishman Dennis O'Brien. But... See full summary »

Director:

Walter Lang

Writers:

Joseph Schrank (original screenplay), Robert Pirosh (original screenplay),

Stars:

Betty Grable, Victor Mature, Jack Oakie

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Betty Grable	...	Eileen O'Brien
Victor Mature	...	Jefferson Harper
Jack Oakie	...	Rusty Smith
Thomas Mitchell	...	Dennis O'Brien
George Barbier	...	Jefferson Harper Sr.
Billy Gilbert	...	Palola's Father
Hilo Hattie	...	Palola
Harry Owens	...	Harry Owens
Lillian Porter	...	Palola's Cousin
Hal K. Dawson	...	John Rodney
Harry Owens' Royal Hawaiians Orchestra	...	Orchestra

Storyline

With his sidekick Rusty, Jeff Harper sails to paradisiacal tropical isle Ahmi-Oni to bargain on behalf of his cattle baron father for land owned by transplanted Irishman Dennis O'Brien. But Jeff falls in love with O'Brien's daughter, Eileen, and even his father can't break them up after he arrives and himself falls under the spell of island splendor.

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Plot Keywords:

cattle | island | tax | irish american | father son relationship | 

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Taglines:

All this...and Grable too.

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Genres:

Comedy | Musical | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 March 1942 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Canção do Havaí

Filming Locations:

Honolulu, O'ahu, Hawaii, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

76 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Cut from the release print was a ballad called "Blue Shadows and White Gardenias" (music and lyrics by Mack Gordon and Harry Owens), sung by Betty Grable and Victor Mature (dubbed by Ben Gage). The melody remains in the background score. Bing Crosby, for Decca Records, waxed a version issued originally on a 78.

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Quotes

Jeff Harper Jr.: If you see me in the moonlight, you better yell aloha and start running.

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Connections

Featured in Hidden Hollywood II: More Treasures from the 20th Century Fox Vaults (1999)

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Soundtracks

"Blue Shadows and White Gardenias"
(1942)
Music by Harry Owens
Lyrics by Mack Gordon
Played as background music

User Reviews

Grass Skirts? The Better To See Betty Grable's Legs

I'm not sure but that Song of the Islands was had been done before December 7, 1941 and definitely before US servicemen started bleeding and dying in the South Seas. There certainly is no mention of World War II at all in this escapist Betty Grable film where she's poaching on Dorothy Lamour's south sea territory.

I'm sure that Darryl Zanuck must have saw the kind of money that Paramount was raking in with those Dorothy Lamour sarong pictures. So why not put the woman who had risen to be their top musical star in the tropics. They gave Betty a hula grass skirt instead of a sarong, the better to show her legs with.

Zanuck was also smart enough not to pass the blond Grable as a native Hawaiian. She's come home to teach school on the island where her father, Thomas Mitchell, has a small place, but also where George Barbier is the absentee owner of a cattle ranch.

Barbier's place is run by Hal Spencer, but Victor Mature and Jack Oakie sail over from America to see if they can buy out Mitchell. Mature is Barbier's son and of course when he and Grable meet, the inevitable sparks do fly.

Zanuck also put an official Hawaiian imprimatur on Song of the Islands by using Harry Owens to write the music with Mack Gordon's lyrics. Owens was the musical interpreter of Hawaii to the world, his most famous song being Sweet Leilani. And a Hawaiian national treasure named Hilo Hattie also appears in the film, singing in her inimitable style and setting her marriage cap for Jack Oakie.

It's all light and pleasant escapist entertainment and Song of the Islands is a good indication of why Betty Grable was the number one pin-up of GIs all over the globe. Except for Rita Hayworth.