''Goin' Coconuts'' is a 1978 American
musical
Musical is the adjective of music.
Musical may also refer to:
* Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance
* Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...
adventure
An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...
comedy film
A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...
directed by
Howard Morris
Howard Jerome Morris (September 4, 1919 – May 21, 2005) was an American actor, comedian, and director. He was best known for his role in ''The Andy Griffith Show'' as Ernest T. Bass, and as "Uncle Goopy" in a celebrated comedy sketch on Sid Cae ...
and starring
Donny and
Marie Osmond
Olive Marie Osmond (born October 13, 1959) is an American singer, actress, television host, and a member of the show business family the Osmonds. Although she was never part of her family's singing group, she gained success as a country and pop ...
. The feature film was released in theaters on October 18, 1978. It was both a critical and commercial failure. Shooting took place in
Oahu
Oahu () (Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering place#Island of Oʻahu as The Gathering Place, Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over t ...
,
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
, from March 31 to May 1978, during the annual production hiatus for the Osmonds'
variety TV series. It was
Ted Cassidy
Theodore Crawford Cassidy (July 31, 1932 – January 16, 1979) was an American actor noted for his tall stature at and deep voice. He tended to play unusual characters in offbeat or science-fiction series such as ''Star Trek'' and ''I Dream of ...
's final film appearance before his death in January 1979 (although he continued to amass a number of animation-voiceover credits).
Donny and Marie chose to film ''Goin' Coconuts'' instead of accepting roles in the film ''
Grease'', which was being filmed at the same time (Marie was to play Sandy, and Donny the Teen Angel); they chose ''Goin' Coconuts'' mainly out of belief that the project was more
family-friendly
A family-friendly product or service is one that is considered to be suitable for all members of an average family. Family-friendly restaurants are ones that provide service to families that have young children. Frequently, family-friendly produc ...
.
[7 'Grease' Facts You May Not Have Known]
/ref>
Synopsis
While performing in concert with Donny in Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
, Marie acquires a lovely necklace, unaware that it's coveted by a group of thieves and by a mysterious woman. Plenty of trouble soon follows, with Donny and Marie getting into one jam after another.
Cast
*Donny Osmond
Donald Clark "Donny" Osmond (born December 9, 1957) is an American singer, dancer, actor, television host, and former teen idol. He first gained fame performing with four of his elder brothers as the Osmonds, earning several top ten hits and gol ...
as Donny
*Marie Osmond
Olive Marie Osmond (born October 13, 1959) is an American singer, actress, television host, and a member of the show business family the Osmonds. Although she was never part of her family's singing group, she gained success as a country and pop ...
as Marie
*Herb Edelman
Herbert Edelman (November 5, 1933 – July 21, 1996) was an American actor of stage, film and television. He was twice nominated for an Emmy Award for his television work. One of his best-known roles was as Stanley Zbornak, the ex-husband of ...
as Sid
*Kenneth Mars
Kenneth Mars (April 4, 1935 – February 12, 2011) was an American actor. He appeared in two Mel Brooks films: as the deranged Nazi playwright Franz Liebkind in '' The Producers'' (1967) and Police Inspector Hans Wilhelm Friedrich Kemp in ''Young ...
as Kruse
*Ted Cassidy
Theodore Crawford Cassidy (July 31, 1932 – January 16, 1979) was an American actor noted for his tall stature at and deep voice. He tended to play unusual characters in offbeat or science-fiction series such as ''Star Trek'' and ''I Dream of ...
as Mickey
*Marc Lawrence
Marc Lawrence (born Max Goldsmith; February 17, 1910 – November 28, 2005) was an American character actor who specialized in underworld types. He has also been credited as F. A. Foss, Marc Laurence and Marc C. Lawrence.
Early life
Lawrence w ...
as Webster
*Khigh Dhiegh
Khigh Alx Dhiegh ( or ; born Kenneth Dickerson; August 25, 1910 – October 25, 1991) Includes short biographical summary of Khigh Dhiegh. was an American television and motion picture actor of Anglo-Egyptian Sudanese ancestry, noted for portr ...
as Wong
*Harold Sakata
, better known as Harold Sakata, was an American Olympic weightlifter, professional wrestler, and film actor of Japanese descent. He won a silver medal for the United States at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London in weightlifting, and later b ...
as Ito
* Jack Collins as Charlie
*Danny Wells
Jack Westelman (April 7, 1941 – November 28, 2013), known as Danny Wells, was a Canadian actor. He was best known for his role as Charlie, the bartender on ''The Jeffersons'', as well as his role as Luigi in the live-action/animated series ''T ...
as Al
*Charles Walker as Jake
*Tommy Fujiwara as Alecki
Soundtrack
The ''Goin' Coconuts'' soundtrack was released on LP, cassette tape
The Compact Cassette or Musicassette (MC), also commonly called the tape cassette, cassette tape, audio cassette, or simply tape or cassette, is an analog magnetic tape recording format for audio recording and playback. Invented by Lou Ottens ...
and 8-track tape
The 8-track tape (formally Stereo 8; commonly called eight-track cartridge, eight-track tape, and eight-track) is a magnetic tape sound recording technology that was popular from the mid-1960s to the early 1980s, when the compact cassette, wh ...
by Polydor Records
Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...
in October 1978. It earned platinum status, despite the film doing poorly at the box office.
The first and only single release, "On the Shelf", was a U.S. Top 40 hit during November 1978 (Billboard #38, AC #25). The song also charted in Canada, reaching #60 on the pop singles chart and spending two weeks at #14 on the Adult Contemporary chart. The album also included "May Tomorrow Be a Perfect Day", which the Osmonds sang to close each episode of their TV series.
The album was released by 7t / Cherry Red Records out of the UK on a two-for-one CD in 2014. It was paired with Donny & Marie's 1977 album "Winning Combination."
Track listing
Certifications
References
External links
*
*
* {{amg title, 20106, Goin' Coconuts
1978 films
1970s musical comedy films
1970s adventure films
American musical comedy films
American adventure comedy films
American independent films
Films directed by Howard Morris
Films scored by Nelson Riddle
1978 comedy films
1970s English-language films
1970s American films