Song of the Islands

Song of the Islands


20th Century-Fox, 1942, B/W, 73 minutes, ***

Released March, 1942



Betty Grable adds her own luster to a Pacific paradise in this romantic comedy set on a lush Hawaiian isle. After being educated on the mainland, Eileen O'Brien (Grable) comes home to live with her father. But their idyllic existence is threatened when Jefferson Harper (Victor Mature), the son of a Chicago cattle baron, arrives to close a deal that directly involves their land. Once Jefferson lays eyes on Eileen he loses his head for business, but wedding bells will ring only if this budding romance can survive a pair of feuding fathers. Jack Oakie is hilarious as Jefferson's sidekick, a ranch manager plagued by misadventures with the natives.




Lots of laughs with the zany antics of Jack Oakie, Hilo Hattie, Billy Gilbert and George Barbier. Betty Grable is even cuter than usual! Fun movie.



Produced by: William LeBaron

Directed by: Walter Lang

Original Screen Play by: Joseph Schrank, Robert Pirosh and Robert Ellis and Helen Logan

Lyrics and Music: "Down on Ami Ami Oni Oni Isle," "O'Brien Has Gone Hawaiian," "Sing Me a Song of the Islands," "Maluna Malolo Mawaena," "Blue Shadows and White Gardenias," "What's Buzzin' Cousin" by Mack Gordon and Harry Owens

Dances Staged by: Hermes Pan

Musical Direction: Alfred Newman

Art Direction: Richard Day, Joseph C. Wright

Set Decorations: Thomas Little

Makeup Artist: Guy Pearce

Sound: E. Clayton Ward, Roger Heman

Director of Photography: Ernest Palmer

Photographed in Technicolor

Technicolor Director: Natalie Kalmus

Associate: Morgan Padelford

Film Editor: Robert Simpson



Cast: Betty Grable [Eileen O'Brien], Victor Mature [Jefferson Harper], Jack Oakie [Rusty Smith], Thomas Mitchell [Dennis O'Brien], George Barbier [Harper], Billy Gilbert [Palola's Father], Hilo Hattie [Palola], Lillian Porter [Palola's Cousin], Hal K. Dawson [John Rodney], Additional Cast: Alex Pollard [Valet], Bruce Wong [House Boy], Bobby Stone, Rudy Robles [Native Boys], Harold Lishman [Old Native], Amy Cordone [Specialty], Harry Owens and His Royal Hawaiians [Themselves], Ben Gage [singing voice of Victor Mature]



Musical Program: [0:00] Overture ("Down on Ami Ami Oni Oni Island") (played by Orchestra behind titles; [0:01] Hawaiian War Chant (Ta Hu Wa Hu Wai) (sung by Islanders, danced by Hula dancers); [0:03] Sing Me a Song of the Islands (sung by Betty Grable and the Islanders); [0:07] Down on Ami Ami Oni Oni Island (begins as instrumental, then sung and danced by Betty Grable and Hilo Hattie with Chorus Girls accompanied by Harry Owens and His Royal Hawaiians); [0:21] Mountain Cowboy (excerpt sung in Hawaiian by Harry Owens and His Royal Hawaiians); [0:22] Home on the Range (excerpt sung by Jack Oakie with Harry Owens and his Royal Hawaiians); [0:29] Home on the Range (excerpt sung in English and Hawaiian by Harry Owens and his Royal Hawaiians); [0:43] Maluna, Malalo, Mawaena (Hawaiian Drinking Song) (sung by Betty Grable, Hilo Hattie, Thomas Mitchell, George Barbier and Chorus); [0:51] Cannibal Chant (chanted offscreen by Harry Owens and his Royal Hawaiians); [0:55] What's Buzzin' Cousin? (sung by Jack Oakie to Lillian Porter); [1:04] The Cockeyed Mayor of Kaunakiki (sung and danced by Hilo Hattie); [1:06] Hu'i Mai (?) (sung by Islanders in background); [1:08] Down on Ami Ami Oni Oni Island (sung by Chorus Girls) / O'Brien Has Gone Hawaiian (sung by Betty Grable and offscreen vocal group, danced by Grable and Chorus Girls); [1:14] Song of the Islands (sung by Principals and Chorus, danced by Chorus Girls); Blue Shadows and White Gardenias (used as instrumental)