Paradise, Hawaiian Style

source: Paradise, Hawaiian Style

Trailer—Paradise, Hawaiian Style

Paradise, Hawaiian Style

I watched this movie because a friend of mine who also has Irish Setters said I have to watch it because there is an Irish Setter in the helicopter with him all the time. Well, that turned out to be about 3 minutes. The rest of the movie was dreadful. When he came out of the ocean from a swim he looked like he was wearing a girdle and quickly put on a bathrobe. None of the songs I ever heard again. None of the leading ladies could act or perform. This was not Viva Las Vegas. The only good thing was seeing John Doucette who was one of my favorite character actors. This is only for the diehard Elvis fans.

Okay this a typical Elvis movie. He sings a lot of songs, the bikini clad women chase him and he plays the roue. Until of course he meets the ONE. In my opinion Donna Butterworth (what a name) comes close to stealing the movie. She is a cute tyke, can sing and dance a bit, and she can act. What is that old show biz adage: Never act with children or animals, they will always steal the show. Most of the movie revolves around Elvis's character trying to get a flying service off the ground :) in the Hawaiian Islands. Of course things get off to a rough start and just go down hill from there. Until the end of the movie when everything works it's self out and all becomes good.

This has to be one of the top 5 worst Elvis movies ever made. Not only is Elvis overweight and has obviously lost interest in movies (who can clame him?) but the supporting cast stinks and so does the plot. Blue Hawaii II, it is not. This movie is not even close to the caliber of Blue Hawaii.What were the producers thinking? The one saving grace of this movie is that the scenery was very well photographed. This is another movie to avoid unless you are desperately trying to fall asleep.

Airline pilot Elvis Presley--sacked for fooling around with a stewardess mid-flight--can't find work because of his bad reputation; he returns to Hawaii, his old stomping grounds, to hit up friends for the funding he needs to start a helicopter-shuttle business for tourists. Presley's buddy this time is James Shigeta, a family man with lots of little ones for Elvis to coo over. Strictly for die-hard fans. The mixture of location shots/travelogue footage with studio fakery and back-projection gives the end results a tatty look, and Elvis just walks through it. There's not even a standout song here, so that the movie isn't even exciting to listen to. *1/2 from ****

A classic Elvis formula escapade. Producer Hal Wallis, with whom Elvis and his manager, Colonel Tom Parker, had a non-exclusive contract, had publicly admitted, around the time of Roustabout (1964), that he was skimming the reliable profits from his Elvis pictures to fund what he considered more serious artistic endeavours. Elvis himself, by all accounts, remained consistently well-mannered, cooperative, and thoroughly professional, in spite of his own career frustrations. He deserved better. Having said that, Paradise, Hawaiian Style, a nice, enjoyable and undemanding film, in great colour, and with fantastic scenery. In places, it seems to be more of a star vehicle for the talented child actor and singer, Donna Butterworth, with Elvis consigned to a supporting role. I wonder what Colonel Parker made of that?

Elvis had clearly had one too many peanut butter and banana sandwiches before making this travelogue that must have been underwritten by the Hawaiian tourist board. The story is minimal, the songs amongst the worst of Elvis' movie career. Watch him try to land a helicopter with four dogs in the cockpit. Watch the happy natives do the hula--endlessly. Watch the cute child actress entertain the tourists. Me, I enjoyed the scenery, and Suzanna Leigh is quite attractive.

Last night, I watched Elvis in "Paradise, Hawaiian Style" for the 20,000th time. It's not one of his best (few movies can be considered 'his best'). It has a silly plot, and the scenery is more of an attraction than story itself. The one actress that steals the show is not one of the bevy of beauties that Elvis woos. It comes more in the form of 10-year old Donna Butterworth. She steals every scene that she is in, and not a bad singer at all. I have roamed heaven and earth to try to find out what has happened to young Donna. If anyone knows, drop me an email. Anyway, if you are looking for a good time killer, watch this film.