HAWAII CALLS

Hawaii Calls
Principal Productions / RKO, 1938, B/W, 65 / 72 minutes. **½
Released March, 1938

Billy Coulter (Bobby Breen) and best friend Pua (Pua Lani) stow away on a life boat onboard an ocean liner bound from San Francisco to Hawaii. Pua is Hawaiian and wants to return home. Billy is San Franciscan, but his parents were both killed in an airplane crash, so he plans on living in Hawaii with Pua. Strings (Ned Sparks) discovers the boys and takes them under his wing, though the ship's captain intends on turning Pua over to the Hawaiian officials and taking Billy back to San Franciso on their return voyage. As the ship sails into Honolulu (an interesting sight in 1938!) Billy and Pua dive overboard and make their escape. In order to evade capture, the boys go to Maui to live with Pua's Aunt. While there, they become entangled in a burglary of some government plans.

It's a fun film, though the story sort of lumbers along between musical numbers. The music is very nice, though, and definitely worth the price of admission!

Producer: Sol Lesser
Directed by: Edward F. Cline
Assistant Director: John Sherwood
Screen Play: Wanda Tuchock
(Adapted from the novel Stowaways in Paradise by Don Blanding)
Title "Hawaii Calls" inspired by Radio Station K-G-M-B Honolulu
Music: "Hawaii Calls," "Down Where the Trade Winds Blow" by Harry Owens; "That's the Hawaiian in Me" by Johnny Noble and Margarita Lake; "Espana" by Chabrier; "Song of the Islands" by Charles King; "Macushla" by Josephinie V. Rowe and Dermot MacMurrough
Hawaiian Backgrounds: Paul Marques
Musical Score: Hugo Riesenfeld
Musical Supervision: Abe Meyer
Vocal Supervision: Max Terr
Art Direction: Lewis J. Rachmil
Wardrobe Supervision: Waldron Johnson
Original Song Score: Johnny Noble and Harry Owens
Dance Director: Larry Ceballos
Photography: Jack McKenzie
Sound Engineer: Hugh McDowell, Jr.
Film Editor: Arthur Hilton

Cast: Bobby Breen [Billy Coulter], Ned Sparks [Strings], Irvin S. Cobb [Captain O'Hare], Gloria Holden [Mrs. Milburn], Warren Hull [Commander Milburn], Mamo Clark [Hina], Raymond Paige [Himself], Aggie Auld [Hula Dancer], Cy Kendall [Hawaiian Policeman], Herbert Rawlinson [Mr. Harlow], William Harrigan [Blake], Juanita Quigley [Doris Milburn], Pua Lani [Pua], Dora Clement [Mrs. Harlow], Donald Kirke [Regon], Philip Ahn [Julius], Ward Bond [Muller], William Abbey [Lonzo], Birdie De Bolt [Aunty Pinau], Additional Cast: (from various sources) Laurence Duran [Banana], Ruben Maldonado [Solly], Ruben Duran [Ka-ne], Jerry Mandy [Taxi Driver], Uilani Silva [Hula Dancer]

Musical Program: [0:09] Down Where the Trade Winds Blow (sung by Bobby Breen); [0:12] Macushla (excerpt sung by Bobby Breen); [0:13] España (misspelled as "Espeana" on film titles) (excerpt played by Raymond Paige and His Orchestra); [0:17] Macushla (sung by Bobby Breen with Raymond Paige and His Orchestra); [0:19] unidentified instrumental number played by Raymond Paige and His Orchestra; [0:22] Hawaii Calls (sung by Chorus); [0:32] Hawaii Calls (sung by Bobby Breen with Chorus); [0:40] That's the Hawaiian in Me (sung by Bobby Breen); [0:43] unidentified Hawaiian number (sung by Chorus, danced by Hula dancing Chorus Girls); [0:50] Song of the Islands (Na Lei O Hawaii) (sung by Bobby Breen); [1:00] Aloha Oe (sung by Bobby Breen and Chorus)