Singin' and Dancing Back in Time.: Song of the Islands(1942).

Friday, September 17, 2010

Song of the Islands(1942).

Song of the Islands (1942). Musical/ comedy. Cast: Betty Grable and Victor Mature. Director: Walter Lang.

The movie begins as Jeff Harper sails to the tropical paradise Ahmi-Oni with his long time friend Rusty. He is there to buy land. Jeff quickly falls in love with O'Brien's daughter Eileen, who has come home to teach school on the island where her father lives. Jeff's father decides to travel to the island and try to break them up. Will he succeed?

Betty Grable had performed in many major movie hits. After the success of Song of the Islands, Fox realized they had a gold mine on their hands and kept Grable working in glamorus musicals.

You can view this movie on youtube.

Soundtracks:
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"Song of the Islands (Na Lei O Hawaii)"
(1915) (uncredited)
Music and Lyrics by Charles E. King
Played during the opening credits

"Down on Ami Ami Oni Oni Isle"
(1942)
Music and Lyrics by Mack Gordon and Harry Owens
Played during the opening credits
Played and sung by the natives
Sung by Betty Grable
Danced to by Betty Grable and the natives
Reprised by the native girls
Played as background music often

"Hawaiian War Chant (Ta-Hu-Wa-Hu-Wai)"
(1936) (uncredited)
Original music and lyrics from "Kaua i ka Huahua'i (We Two in the Spray)" by Prince Leleiohaku (1860)
Modified music by Johnny Noble (1929)
Modified lyrics by Ralph Freed (1936)
Played and sung by Harry Owens and His Royal Hawaiians and danced to by the natives in the opening scene on the island

"Sing Me a Song of the Islands"
(1942)
Music and Lyrics by Mack Gordon and Harry Owens
Sung by Betty Grable approaching the island, the cast at the end
Played as background music often

"Home on the Range"
(1904) (uncredited)
Music by Daniel E. Kelly (1904)
Lyrics by Brewster M. Higley (1873)
Special lyrics by Mack Gordon, Harry Owens and Sol Hoopii Jr. (1942)
Played on guitar and sung by Jack Oakie
Reprised by Harry Owens and His Royal Hawaiians with special lyrics
Played as background music often

"Maluna Malolo Mawaena (Hawaiian Drinking Song)"
(1942)
Music and Lyrics by Mack Gordon and Harry Owens
Performed by Betty Grable and Hilo Hattie, Thomas Mitchell, George Barbier and Harry Owens and His Royal Hawaiians

"What's Buzzin' Cousin?"
(1942)
Music and Lyrics by Mack Gordon and Harry Owens
Sung by Jack Oakie

"Cockeyed Mayor of Kaunakakai"
(1935) (uncredited)
Music by R. Alex Anderson
Lyrics by R. Alex Anderson and Albert Stillman
Sung and danced to by Hilo Hattie

"O'Brien Has Gone Hawaiian"
(1942)
Music and Lyrics by Mack Gordon and Harry Owens
Sung and danced to by Betty Grable and native girls

"The Lily of Killarney"
(1862) (uncredited)
Music by Michael William Balfe
Sung and Danced to by Betty Grable and native girls

"Cannibal Chant"
(uncredited)
Music and Lyrics by Satini Puailoa
Performed by Harry Owens and His Royal Hawaiians

"Blue Shadows and White Gardenias"
(1942)
Music and Lyrics by Mack Gordon and Harry Owens
Played as background music

"Hu'I Mai"
Music and Lyrics by Sol Hoopii Jr.
Performed by Harry Owens and His Royal Hawaiians

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Bob Fosse

Was a musical theater choreographer and director, screenwriter and film director. He won an eight Tony Awards for choreography, as well as one for direction. He was nominated for an Academy Award four times, winning for his direction of Cabaret. He was identified with his third wife, Gwen Verdon. She was both the dancer/collaborator who he choreographed much of his work and, together with dancer/choreographer Ann Reinking, a guardian of the Fosse legacy after his death. Fosse is considered to be one the most influential coreographers of the 20th Century.

Esther Williams.

JANE POWELL

After rising to fame as a singer in her home state of Oregon, Powell was signed to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer while still in her teens. Once there, the studio utilized her vocal, dancing and acting talents, casting her in such musicals as Royal Wedding, with Fred Astaire, A Date with Judy, with friend Elizabeth Taylor and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, with Howard Keel. In the late 1950s, her film career slowed, only to be replaced with a busy theater and television career.Click picture to enter websight.

Jeanette MacDonald

Singer and actress best remembered for her musical films of the 1930s with Maurice Chevalier (Love Me Tonight, The Merry Widow) and Nelson Eddy (Naughty Marietta, Rose-Marie, and Maytime). During the 1930s and 1940s she starred in 29 feature films, four nominated for Best Picture Oscars (The Love Parade, One Hour With You, Naughty Marietta and San Francisco), and recorded extensively, earning three gold records. She later appeared in grand opera, concerts, radio, and television. MacDonald was one of most influential sopranos of the 20th century. Click picture to view fan website.

Joan Crawford.

Click picture to view website. Joan Crawford, born Lucille Fay LeSueur, was an American actress in film, television and theatre. Starting as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway, Crawford was signed to a motion picture contract by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1925. Initially frustrated by the size and quality of her parts, Crawford began a campaign of self-publicity and became nationally known as a flapper by the end of the 1920s. In the 1930s, Crawford's fame rivaled MGM colleagues Norma Shearer and Greta Garbo. Crawford often played hardworking young women who find romance and financial success. These "rags-to-riches" stories were well-received by Depression-era audiences and were popular with women. Crawford became one of Hollywood's most prominent movie stars and one of the highest paid women in the United States, but her films began losing money and by the end of the 1930s

Rodgers and Hammerstein.

Richard Rodgers (1902 – 1979) and Oscar Hammerstein II (1895 – 1960) the songwriting duo, on our musical page. They created many popular Broadway musicals in the 1940s and 1950s during what is considered the golden age. With Rodgers composing the music and Hammerstein writing the lyrics, five of their shows, Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I and The Sound of Music. They won thirty-four Tony Awards, fifteen Academy Awards, the Pulitzer Prize, and two Grammys. Click picture to read movie reviews.

Cab Calloway

Calloway was a master of energetic scat singing and led one of the United States' most popular African American big bands from the start of the 1930s through the late 1940s. Calloway's band featured performers including trumpeters Dizzy Gillespie and Adolphus "Doc" Cheatham, saxophonists Ben Webster and Leon "Chu" Berry, New Orleans guitar ace Danny Barker, and bassist Milt Hinton. Calloway continued to perform until his death in 1994 at the age of 86 .Click picture to view official website.

Friday, September 17, 2010

Song of the Islands(1942).

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