 Elvis Presley's eighth film was 'Blue
Hawaii', filmed in the tropical paradise of the Hawaiian islands of
Oahu and Kauai. 'Blue Hawaii' was
Elvis' biggest commercial success.
With fourteen songs, more than any other Elvis film, the soundtrack
album spent a total of 79 weeks on Billboard's pop album chart, with
20 of those weeks at #1.
Filming for 'Blue
Hawaii' began on March 27, 1961 in the lush islands of
Hawaii. Location shooting took place on the islands of
Oahu and Kauai and was finished by April 17th. The cast
and crew then returned to Hollywood where filming
continued until May 23rd. The original working title of
the film was 'Hawaiian Beach Boy'.
After two years in
the army Chad Gates (Elvis), heir of an
pineapple-plantation, returns to Honolulu. According his
family he has to take over the plantation and marry a
girl of his own standing. But he wants to achieve
something by his own and starts a job as a travel agent,
on the same agency where is friend Maile (Joan Blackman)
works. He goes his own way and finally he starts his own
business together with Maile.
The famous wedding
scene was shot on Kauai at the Coco Palms Resort Hotel
which had been in operation since 1953. Unfortunately,
the resort closed after Kauai was hit with devastating
Hurricane Iniki in September 1992. In the 1800s, the
land where the Coco Palms is located was the ancestral
home of Kauai's last reigning queen, Queen Deborah
Kapule. The "Call to Feast" featured in the film with
its ceremonial torch lighting had taken place there
every night at 7:30 PM for 40 years until Iniki hit.
 Elvis loved Hawaii. It was one of his
favorite places to vacation and this movie provides us with a
glimpse into the beauty of these islands. That combined with the
romantic tropical music Elvis sings creates within us all the desire
to visit 'Blue Hawaii'.
Elvis' leading lady in 'Blue Hawaii'
was
Joan Blackman,
who played Maile Duval. The following year she played Elvis' love
interest in 'Kid Galahad'.
Elvis had dated the actress when he first came to Hollywood in 1956.
Roland
Winters
played Elvis' father Fred Gates. Like
Lansbury, he was a respected character actor with many
films to his credit. One career highlight was his
portrayal of detective Charlie Chan in several of
the"Charlie Chan" movies from 1947 to 1950, the third
actor to take on that role in these films. He can also
be seen portraying a judge in Elvis' 1962 movie 'Follow
That Dream'. You might also recognize him from
the 1973 remake of the movie 'Miracle on 34th. Street'
in which he played Mr. Gimbel.
 Angela Lansbury played
the role of Elvis' ditzy mother even though she was only 35 years
old at the time and Elvis was 26. She began her career in 1944 in a
movie called 'Gaslight', which quickly earned her an Academy Award
nomination for Best Supporting Actress. She would go on to achieve
great fame and numerous accolades in film and television and on
Broadway. She has starred in such films as 'National Velvet', 'The
Picture of Dorian Gray', 'The Harvey Girls', 'The Manchurian
Candidate', 'The Greatest Story Ever Told', 'Harlow', 'Bedknobs and
Broomsticks', 'Mrs. Santa Claus' and 'Beauty and the Beast' (voice
for animation). She is probably best known for her role as mystery
writer and sleuth Jessica Fletcher in the 'Murder, She
Wrote'
television series. To name just a few of her accolades,
she has received three Academy Award nominations, thirteen Emmy
nominations, six Golden Globe wins out of fourteen nominations, four
Tony Awards and the Screen Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award.
In 2000, she was a recipient of the John F. Kennedy Center Honors.
Jenny Maxwell played
Ellie Corbett. She also appeared in the 1963 movie 'Take
Her She's Mine' and a number of television roles in such
series as 'My Three Sons', 'Bonanza', 'Dr. Kildare',
'Wagon Train' and 'Death Valley Days'.
 Nancy Wtitleers played the role of
schoolteacher Abigail Prentice. Other credits include the 1966 movie
'The Singing Nun'.
Darlene Thompkins played Patsy Simon. She worked
on another Elvis film playing Ms. Stevers in
'
Fun In Acapulco'.
Other career credits include working as stunt double for Cheryl Ladd
in the TV series 'Charlie's Angels'.
Christian Kay played
Beverly Martin. Among her credits is the TV series 'My Three Sons'.
Pamela Austin played Sandy Emerson. She later worked on another
Elvis movie playing Selena Tatum in '
Kissin' Cousins'.
She also appeared in numerous TV series including 'Columbo', 'It
Takes A Thief', 'Laugh In', 'The Wild, Wild, West', ' Hawaiian Eye',
'My Three Sons' and 'Wagon Train'. She and Elvis dated for a short
time.
John Archer played Jack Kelman. Father of actress Anne
Archer, he may be best known for his radio announcer days when he
would voice the following line, 'Who knows what evil lurks in the
hearts of men? The Shadow knows!'.
Howard McNear played Mr. Chapman in 'Blue
Hawaii', the first of three Elvis movies he appeared in. The two
other Elvis movie roles were a bank vice president in 'Follow That
Dream' and Dr. John Stevers in '
Fun In Acapulco'. The
veteran character actor was the original voice of Doc Adams in the
radio version of 'Gunsmoke' and he appeared in many roles for
television. His most famous role was that of Floyd the barber on
television's 'The Andy Griffith Show'. You might notice in watching
him in this role that, after the second year, he was usually filmed
sitting down. This was due to the effects of having suffered a
stroke that impaired his left side.
Steve Brodie played troublemaker Tucker Garvey in
"Blue Hawaii". His two other Elvis movie roles were Freddie in 'Roustabout'
and an uncredited role in 'Paradise,
Hawaiian Style'. He too has had a long career as a character
actor. Among his credits are the films 'The Story of Will Rogers',
'The Treasure of Monte Cristo', 'Anchors Aweigh', and 'Thirty
Seconds Over Tokyo'. His numerous television credits include the
series 'Rawhide', 'CHiPs', 'Bonanza' and 'Burke's Law'.
Veteran character actress Iris Adrian played Enid Garvey in 'Blue
Hawaii'. Her notable credits are too many to list as she played
hundreds of roles in films and on television..
Frank Atienza
played Ito O'Hara in 'Blue Hawaii'. His other Elvis movie appearance
was in 'Girls! Girls! Girls!'.
He also had a recurring part as a policeman in the Hawaii-based
television series "Magnum P.I."
Guy Lee played Ping Pong the
houseboy in "Blue Hawaii" and he played Chen Young in the Elvis
movie 'Girls! Girls! Girls!'. His career credits include the films
'Flower Drum Song' and 'Gidget Goes Hawaiian' and the television
series 'Bachelor Father', 'Wild, Wild West' and 'Bonanza'.
 Richard Reeves had the role of the
harmonica playing jailhouse inmate in 'Blue Hawaii'. His four other
Elvis movie roles were Officer Wilkins in '
Girl Happy', a bartender in 'Tickle
Me', a Bedouin in 'Harum
Scarum' and a man on the street in 'Frankie
and Johnny'. He also had roles in numerous television series
including 'Man From Uncle', 'Superman', 'Loredo', 'Batman', 'Gunsmoke',
'Rawhide', and 'Perry Mason' to name just a few.
The screenplay was
written by Allan Weiss, who later wrote five other Elvis
movies: 'Easy Come, Easy Go', 'Fun In Acapulco', 'Girls!
Girls! Girls!', 'Paradise, Hawaiian Style' and
'Roustabout'..
Soundtrack Blue Hawaii
Almost Always True
Aloha
No More
Can't Help Falling In Love
Rock-A-Hula Baby
Moonlight Swim
Ku-u-i-po
Ito Eats
Slicin' Sand
Hawaiian Sunset
Beach Boy Blues
Island Of Love
Hawaiian Wedding Song
Steppin' Out Of Line (Cut)
Recorded at:
Radio Recorders Studios, 7000 Santa Monica Boulevard,
Hollywood. March 1961.
Musicians: Elvis
Presley (vocals), Hank Garland, Tiny Timbrell (guitars),
Bernie Lewis (steel guitar), Bob Moore (bass), D.J.
Fontana, Bernie Mattinson, Hal Blaine (drums), Floyd
Cramer, Dudley Brookes (piano), Boots Randolph (sax),
George Field (harmonica), Fred Tavares, Alvino Rey (ukeleles)
the Jordanaires and the Surfers (vocals).
An
intensive two nights of recording to cut the 14 tracks
for this movie.The success of the film at the box office
was also matched by record sales: the single of "Rock -
A - Hula Baby" sold over a million copies and the
soundtrack LP racked up half that number in the first
three months of it's release.
Billboards review
of the soundtrack stated "This should be a big one"
Blue Hawaii - Paramount 1961
Directed
Norman Taurog
Writing Credits Alan Weiss(story), Hal
Kanter
Producerr Hal Wallis
Technical Advisor
Colonel Tom Parker
Technicolor and Panavision
Cast Overview:
Elvis Presley .... Chad Gates,
Joan
Blackman .... Maile Duval, Angela Lansbury ....
Sarah Lee Gates, Nancy Wtitleers .... Abigail Prentice,
Roland Winters .... Fred Gates, John Archer .... Jack
Kelman, Howard McNear .... Mr. Chapman, Steve Brodie
.... Tucker Garvey, Iris Adrian .... Enid Garvey, Jenny
Maxwell .... Ellie Corbett, Pamela Austin .... Selena
(Sandy) Emerson, Darlene Tompkins .... Patsy Simon,
Christian Kay .... Beverly Martin, Lani Kai .... Carl
Tanami, Jose De Vega .... Ernie Gordon.
More Pictures from Blue Hawaii
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