Main Cast: Betty Grable, Victor Mature, Jack Oakie, Thomas Mitchell, George Barbier, Hilo Hattie
Release Year: 1942
Country: US
Run Time: 75 minutes
Plot
One of the shortest and sweetest of Betty Grable's Technicolor musicals, Song of the Islands casts the Leggy One as Eileen, the daughter of Hawaii-based Irish planter Dennis O'Brien (Thomas Mitchell). For many years, O'Brien has been carrying on a feud with local cattle baron Harper (George Barbier), who covets a patch of beach land that O'Brien owns but won't relinquish. It so happens that Barbier has a handsome son named Jeff (Victor Mature), who upon returning to Hawaii from the Mainland immediately falls in love with Eileen. Before the feud can be patched up, the audience is treated to an endless supply of music and dancing, with both Betty Grable and Victor Mature generously displaying the physical attributes which brought them worldwide fame. Incidentally, some wonderful outtake footage of Song of the Islands exists, featuring Grable and Mature giggling their way through a tender love scene. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Although it's really only a mediocre little tuner, Song of the Islands does have a sequence that musical film mavens will appreciate. This is Betty Grable's introduction to the film, sailing into the action from out at sea while trilling "Sing Me a Song of the Islands." In this moment, Islands proclaims what can be wonderful about musicals: their presentational style. The number is not a big production number and is pretty much just one shot, but it has a size (in spirit) that captures the joy, even the giddiness, that defines a musical at its best. Unfortunately, there's little else in Islands that matches this moment. The other numbers are certainly entertaining and are for the most part staged well; no one's going to really complain about them. But they lack that little spark, a charge which can be laid against the film as a whole. The story, of course, is ridiculous, but better musicals have been derived from lesser ones. Certainly Grable does her best, and her engaging presence and pleasant manner make her as always a joy to watch. Victor Mature looks great, although his performance is on the lifeless side, and Jack Oakie, Thomas Mitchell and Hilo Hattie provide adept support. If the rest of the film matched its best moment, it would be something special rather than the overall average film that it is. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Billy Gilbert - Palola's father; Lillian Porter - Palola's cousin; Hal K. Dawson - John Rodney; Amy Cordone - Specialty; Alex Pollard - Valet; Rudy Robles - Native Boy; Bobby Stone; Bruce Wong - House Boy; Harry Owens and His Royal Hawaiians - Themselves
Credit
Richard Day - Art Director, Joseph C. Wright - Art Director, Hermes Pan - Choreography, Gwen Wakeling - Costume Designer, Walter Lang - Director, Robert L. Simpson - Editor, Johnny Noble - Composer (Music Score), Harry Owens - Composer (Music Score), Ralph Freed - Composer (Music Score), Mack Gordon - Composer (Music Score), Alfred Newman - Composer (Music Score), Alfred Newman - Musical Direction/Supervision, Guy Pearce - Makeup, Ernest Palmer - Cinematographer, William Le Baron - Producer, Thomas K. Little - Set Designer, Roger Heman - Sound/Sound Designer, E. Clayton Ward - Sound/Sound Designer, Helen Logan - Screenwriter, Robert Pirosh - Screenwriter, Joseph Schrank - Screenwriter, Robert Ellis - Screenwriter
