Hawaiian Nights (1939)

Bandleader Tim Hartley's father objects strongly to his son's occupation choice and packs him off to Hawaii to manage the family hotel holdings. This proves to be a wrong move as Hawaiia has more bands than it does pineapples.

Director:

Albert S. Rogell

Writers:

John Grey (story), Charles Grayson (screenplay)

Stars:

Johnny Downs, Constance Moore, Mary Carlisle

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Johnny Downs	...	Ted Hartley
Constance Moore	...	Lonnie Lane
Mary Carlisle	...	Millie
Eddie Quillan	...	Ray Peters
Etienne Girardot	...	Alonzo Dilman
Samuel S. Hinds	...	Lane
Thurston Hall	...	T.C. Hartley
Robert Emmett Keane	...	Fothering
Willie Fung	...	Murphy
Princess Luana	...	Luana
Prince Leilani	...	Leileni (as Prince Leileni)
Matty Malneck	...	Orchestra Leader
Sol Hoopii Jr.	...	Hawaiian Band Leader (as Sol Hoopii)
Matty Malneck's Orchestra	...	Orchestra
Sol Hoopii Hawaiian Band	...	Band

Storyline

Bandleader Tim Hartley's father objects strongly to his son's occupation choice and packs him off to Hawaii to manage the family hotel holdings. This proves to be a wrong move as Hawaiia has more bands than it does pineapples.

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Plot Keywords:

pineapple | hotel | hawaii | bandleader | swing music | 

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Taglines:

WHACKY WHOOPEE AT WAI-KI-KI! (original poster - all caps)

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Genres:

Comedy | Music | Romance

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 September 1939 (USA)

Also Known As:

De zaak gaat met muziek

Filming Locations:

Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

65 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film was on a double-feature bill with Beau Geste at the Fox Theater in Riverside, Calif., on Sept. 9, 1939, when the manager made the announcement before the film began that the regularly scheduled movies would be preempted for a movie preview. He said the audience could stay or leave now, but no one could come or go once the preview movie began. When the preview's credits began and Margaret Mitchell's name came onscreen just before the title "Gone with the Wind" began to sweep across the screen, the audience went wild with unceasing cheers and applause for several minutes. The emotional impact was so much that Producer David O. Selznick, unrecognized and sitting in the back of the theater, wept uncontrollably. The rest of the world would not have opportunity to see the much-hyped and highly anticipated "Gone with the Wind" until its premeire more than three months later on Dec. 15 in Atlanta, Ga.

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Connections

Featured in The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind (1988)

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Soundtracks

I Found My Love
Written by Frank Loesser and Matty Malneck

User Reviews

Bland programmer has only one distinction for me...

I vaguely recall seeing this when movies were first being shown on television sometime in the fifties, and recall that it never impressed me as anything more than a slight little comedy with some nice nightclub settings and pretty CONSTANCE MOORE in one of the leading roles. I can barely recall JOHNNY DOWNS at all, but he was the male lead.

However, the only thing that sets this apart for me, in a film memory that goes back pretty far, is the fact that it was the film being shown in September of 1939 at the Riverside theater in Riverside, California when David O. Selznick decided to give GONE WITH THE WIND a sneak preview. At the conclusion of HAWAIIAN NIGHTS, it was announced that a major motion picture was about to be unveiled before an audience expecting to see Gary Cooper in BEAU GESTE.

The manager of the theater, according to reports I've seen, got on stage and told people no one would be allowed into or out of the theater once the film began and they should leave now if they wanted to go home. I doubt many people budged from their seats!! Then, as soon as the lights went out and the GWTW titles began, the audience cheered with delight and history was in the making.

But since then, HAWAIIAN NIGHTS has been merely a blip on anyone's radar screen.

Trivia note: When HAWAIIAN NIGHTS ended, one little boy said to his mother: "Now can we see BEAU GESTE?"