Blue Hawaii
Encyclopedia
Blue Hawaii is a 1961 musical film
set in the state of Hawaii
and starring Elvis Presley
. The screenplay by Hal Kanter
was nominated by the
Writers Guild of America
in 1962 in the category of Best Written American Musical. The movie opened at no. 2 in box office receipts for that week and despite mixed reviews from critics, finished as the #8 top-grossing movie of 1961 and #14 for 1962 on 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.
, and is happy to be back in Hawaii
with his surfboard, his beach buddies, and his girlfriend. His mother wants him to go to work at the Great Southern Hawaiian Fruit Company, but Chad is reluctant, so Chad goes to work as a tour guide at his girlfriend's agency.
in 1962 and Paradise, Hawaiian Style
in 1965. Producer Hal B. Wallis
was keen to put Presley into a film that showed how the army affected a man. Actress Juliet Prowse, who had starred with Presley in GI Blues, was approached to be his love interest again. However, after her demands were put forward, Paramount decided to drop her as a possible candidate 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. At the time, film producer Walter Mirisch
had a similar titled film in production, "Hawaii", 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 that he was performing on March 25 to raise funds for a memorial at Pearl Harbour. He arrived at the recording studio on March 21 to start the recording of the film's soundtrack. 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. Following location filming, the crew returned to the Paramount lot to finish other scenes for the film. Presley would relax during filming by giving karate demonstrations with his friend and employee, Red West, which resulted in Presley's fingers becoming bruised and swollen. Wallis warned the female stars of the film to avoid parties hosted by Presley because they were turning up for shooting looking tired.
It could be argued that this film set the tone for Presley's future film career — pretty locations, gorgeous girls, dull plots, and mediocre songs. Almost all of these musical-comedy films performed well, whereas more "serious" films, such as Flaming Star
, Wild in the Country
and Charro!
, did poorly at the box office. Blue Hawaii, on the other hand, was one of Elvis' most successful films, opening at #2 at the box office when released on November 22, 1961.
Presley was 26 at the time this film was released, and a not yet 36-year-old Angela Lansbury
played his character's mother. Lansbury would later comment that her appearance here was one of the worst in her career.
Much of the film was shot on location at the Coco Palms Resort
on the east coast of Kauai. The resort has been abandoned since Hurricane Iniki
in 1992.
Although it is mentioned in the film that Chad's parents live in Kahala, one of the most expensive and exclusive areas of Honolulu in 1961, the view from their "lanai" (porch or terrace) shows Diamond Head
as it appears from Waikiki and downtown Honolulu. In actuality, Kahala is located on the other side of Diamond Head from Waikiki.
There were several scenes filmed in and around the famous Waikiki Beach, including the opening driving scenes, as well as the office scene across the street from the "International Market." The scenes where Chad's clients stayed in a hotel and where he picked up his tour group - as well as the beach he spent time with his girlfriend - were all filmed on the property that is now known as the Hilton Hawaiian Village on Waikiki Beach.
's original hit version. His recording of "Can't Help Falling In Love
" compares quite well to his other Top 10 hits, and his recordings of "Rock-A-Hula Baby
" and "Ku-u-ipo (Hawaiian Sweetheart)" are notable as well.
The Blue Hawaii 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 Blue Hawaii soundtrack album was nominated for a Grammy Award
in 1961 in the category of Best Sound Track Album Or Recording Of Original Cast From A Motion Picture Or Television.
Musical film
The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...
set in the state of Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
and starring Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
. The screenplay by Hal Kanter
Hal Kanter
Hal Kanter was a writer, producer and director, principally for comedy actors such as Bob Hope, Jerry Lewis, and Elvis Presley , for both feature films and television...
was nominated by the
Writers Guild of America
Writers Guild of America Award
The Writers Guild of America Award for outstanding achievements in film, television, and radio has been presented annually by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America, West since 1949...
in 1962 in the category of Best Written American Musical. The movie opened at no. 2 in box office receipts for that week and despite mixed reviews from critics, finished as the #8 top-grossing movie of 1961 and #14 for 1962 on 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
Chadwick Gates (Presley) has just gotten out of the ArmyArmy
An army An army An army (from Latin arma "arms, weapons" via Old French armée, "armed" (feminine), in the broadest sense, is the land-based military of a nation or state. It may also include other branches of the military such as the air force via means of aviation corps...
, and is happy to be back in Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
with his surfboard, his beach buddies, and his girlfriend. His mother wants him to go to work at the Great Southern Hawaiian Fruit Company, but Chad is reluctant, so Chad goes to work as a tour guide at his girlfriend's agency.
Primary cast
- Elvis PresleyElvis PresleyElvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
.... Chad (Chadwick) Gates - Joan BlackmanJoan BlackmanJoan Blackman is an American actress.-Biography:Blackman made her television acting debut as a guest performer in a 1957 series, Hawkeye and the Last of the Mohicans, and then appeared in her first motion picture, Good Day for a Hanging, in 1959. She had a significant role in two Elvis Presley films...
.... Maile Duval - Angela LansburyAngela LansburyAngela Brigid Lansbury CBE is an English actress and singer in theatre, television and motion pictures, whose career has spanned eight decades and earned her more performance Tony Awards than any other individual , with five wins...
.... Sarah Lee Gates - Nancy Walters .... Abigail Prentice
- Jenny MaxwellJenny MaxwellJenny Maxwell was an American film and television actress, probably best remembered for her role in the 1961 Elvis Presley film Blue Hawaii.- Biography :...
.... Ellie Corbett - Pamela Austin .... Selena (Sandy) Emerson (as Pamela Kirk)
- Darlene TompkinsDarlene Tompkins-Biography:She was born in Chicago, Illinois. Her birth surname was 'Perfect', but her parents were divorced when she reached the age of five and she took the surname of her step father. Her family performed in plays and vaudeville, and she had an early goal to be a Hollywood actress. At the age of...
.... Patsy Simon - Christian Kay .... Beverly Martin
- Roland WintersRoland WintersRoland Winters was an American actor who portrayed Charlie Chan in six films.-Biography:Born Roland Winternitz in Boston, Massachusetts on 22 December 1904, Winters was the son of Felix Winternitz, a violinist and composer who was teaching at New England Conservatory of Music...
.... Fred Gates - John ArcherJohn Archer (actor)John Archer was an American movie and television actor.-Biography:Born Ralph Bowman in Osceola, Nebraska, Archer moved to California at the age of five...
.... Jack Kelman - Howard McNearHoward McNearHoward Terbell McNear was an American film, television and radio character actor. McNear is best remembered as Floyd Lawson, the barber in The Andy Griffith Show and as Doc Charles Adams in CBS Radio's Gunsmoke .-Career:McNear was born in Los Angeles, California to Luzetta M. Spencer and Franklin...
.... Mr. Chapman
Production notes
Blue Hawaii was the first of three Elvis films to be shot in Hawaii, followed by Girls! Girls! Girls!Girls! Girls! Girls!
Girls! Girls! Girls! is a 1962 musical comedy film starring Elvis Presley as a penniless Hawaiian fisherman who loves his life on the sea and dreams of owning his own boat. "Return to Sender", which reached #2 on the Billboard pop singles chart, is featured in the movie...
in 1962 and Paradise, Hawaiian Style
Paradise, Hawaiian Style
Paradise, Hawaiian Style is a 1966 musical comedy film starring Elvis Presley. It was the third and final motion picture that Presley filmed in Hawaii. The film reached #40 on the Variety weekly box office chart, earning $2.5 million in theaters....
in 1965. Producer Hal B. Wallis
Hal B. Wallis
Hal B. Wallis was an American film producer.-Career:Harold Brent Wallis was born in Chicago in 1898. His family moved in 1922 to Los Angeles, California, where he found work as part of the publicity department at Warner Bros...
was keen to put Presley into a film that showed how the army affected a man. Actress Juliet Prowse, who had starred with Presley in GI Blues, was approached to be his love interest again. However, after her demands were put forward, Paramount decided to drop her as a possible candidate 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. At the time, film producer Walter Mirisch
Walter Mirisch
Walter Mortimer Mirisch is an American film producer. In his long and successful motion picture career, Walter Mirisch has produced some of the industry’s finest and most memorable films...
had a similar titled film in production, "Hawaii", 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 that he was performing on March 25 to raise funds for a memorial at Pearl Harbour. He arrived at the recording studio on March 21 to start the recording of the film's soundtrack. Three weeks later location filming had finished, including scenes at Waikiki Beach, Diamond Head
Diamond Head, Hawaii
Diamond Head is the name of a volcanic tuff cone on the Hawaiian island of Oahu and known to Hawaiians as Lēahi, most likely from lae 'browridge, promontory' plus ahi 'tuna' because the shape of the ridgeline resembles the shape of a tuna's dorsal fin...
, Mount Tantalus, and Hanauma Bay
Hanauma Bay
Hanauma is a marine embayment formed within a volcanic cone and located along the southeast coast of the Island of Oahu in the Hawaiian Islands....
, a volcanic crater that is open to the sea, near the bedroom community of Hawaii-Kai, a few miles away from Waikiki. Following location filming, the crew returned to the Paramount lot to finish other scenes for the film. Presley would relax during filming by giving karate demonstrations with his friend and employee, Red West, which resulted in Presley's fingers becoming bruised and swollen. Wallis warned the female stars of the film to avoid parties hosted by Presley because they were turning up for shooting looking tired.
It could be argued that this film set the tone for Presley's future film career — pretty locations, gorgeous girls, dull plots, and mediocre songs. Almost all of these musical-comedy films performed well, whereas more "serious" films, such as Flaming Star
Flaming Star
Flaming Star is a 1960 western film starring Elvis Presley, based on the book Flaming Lance by Clair Huffaker. Critics agreed that Presley gave one of his best acting performances as the mixed-blood "Pacer Burton", a dramatic role. The film was directed by Don Siegel, and had a working title of...
, Wild in the Country
Wild in the Country
Wild in the Country is a 1961 film drama starring Elvis Presley in which he portrays a troubled young man from a dysfunctional family who pursues a literary career. The screenplay was written by playwright Clifford Odets.-Synopsis:...
and Charro!
Charro!
Charro! is a 1969 Western film starring Elvis Presley. It was his only role that didn't feature him singing on-screen, and is the only Presley film to feature no songs at all except for the main title theme. It also features a bearded Presley for the first and last time in any of his films.The film...
, did poorly at the box office. Blue Hawaii, on the other hand, was one of Elvis' most successful films, opening at #2 at the box office when released on November 22, 1961.
Presley was 26 at the time this film was released, and a not yet 36-year-old Angela Lansbury
Angela Lansbury
Angela Brigid Lansbury CBE is an English actress and singer in theatre, television and motion pictures, whose career has spanned eight decades and earned her more performance Tony Awards than any other individual , with five wins...
played his character's mother. Lansbury would later comment that her appearance here was one of the worst in her career.
Much of the film was shot on location at the Coco Palms Resort
Coco Palms Resort
Coco Palms Resort was a resort hotel in Wailuā, Kauai, Hawaii. The resort was visited by numerous movie stars and was also the scene of Elvis Presley's film Blue Hawaii. The resort has been closed since being hit by Hurricane Iniki in 1992. Currently there are no plans to reopen the...
on the east coast of Kauai. The resort has been abandoned since Hurricane Iniki
Hurricane Iniki
Hurricane Iniki was the most powerful hurricane to strike the U.S. state of Hawaii in recorded history. Forming on September 5 during the strong El Niño of 1991–1994, Iniki was one of eleven Central Pacific tropical cyclones during the 1992 season. It attained tropical storm status on...
in 1992.
Although it is mentioned in the film that Chad's parents live in Kahala, one of the most expensive and exclusive areas of Honolulu in 1961, the view from their "lanai" (porch or terrace) shows Diamond Head
Diamond Head, Hawaii
Diamond Head is the name of a volcanic tuff cone on the Hawaiian island of Oahu and known to Hawaiians as Lēahi, most likely from lae 'browridge, promontory' plus ahi 'tuna' because the shape of the ridgeline resembles the shape of a tuna's dorsal fin...
as it appears from Waikiki and downtown Honolulu. In actuality, Kahala is located on the other side of Diamond Head from Waikiki.
There were several scenes filmed in and around the famous Waikiki Beach, including the opening driving scenes, as well as the office scene across the street from the "International Market." The scenes where Chad's clients stayed in a hotel and where he picked up his tour group - as well as the beach he spent time with his girlfriend - were all filmed on the property that is now known as the Hilton Hawaiian Village on Waikiki Beach.
Soundtrack
Some of the songs on the soundtrack album compare favorably to his non-soundtrack recordings. Presley's remake of the title song did justice to the Academy Award-winning song, while also introducing it to an audience too young to remember Bing CrosbyBing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
's original hit version. His recording of "Can't Help Falling In Love
Can't Help Falling in Love
"Can't Help Falling in Love" is a pop song originally recorded by American singer Elvis Presley and published by Gladys Music, Elvis Presley's publishing company. It was written by Hugo Peretti, Luigi Creatore, and George David Weiss. The melody was based on "Plaisir d'Amour" but with a different...
" compares quite well to his other Top 10 hits, and his recordings of "Rock-A-Hula Baby
Rock-A-Hula Baby
"Rock-A-Hula Baby" is a song performed by Elvis Presley for the 1961 movie Blue Hawaii. Written by Ben Weisman, Fred Wise, Dolores Fuller, it is a genre mix of Hawaiian folk and rock n' roll. It was Dolores' first published song, and she would eventually co-write a dozen songs for Elvis Presley...
" and "Ku-u-ipo (Hawaiian Sweetheart)" are notable as well.
The Blue Hawaii 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 Blue Hawaii soundtrack album was nominated for a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
in 1961 in the category of Best Sound Track Album Or Recording Of Original Cast From A Motion Picture Or Television.