''Honolulu'' is a 1939 American
musical comedy film
Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serve merely as breaks ...
directed by
Edward Buzzell
Edward Buzzell (November 13, 1895 – January 11, 1985) was an American film actor and director whose credits include '' Child of Manhattan'' (1933); ''Honolulu'' (1939); the Marx Brothers films '' At the Circus'' (1939) and '' Go West'' (1 ...
and starring dancer
Eleanor Powell
Eleanor Torrey Powell (November 21, 1912 – February 11, 1982) was an American dancer and actress. Best remembered for her tap dance numbers in musical films in the 1930s and 1940s, she was one of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's top dancing stars du ...
,
Robert Young,
George Burns
George Burns (born Nathan Birnbaum; January 20, 1896March 9, 1996) was an American comedian, actor, writer, and singer, and one of the few entertainers whose career successfully spanned vaudeville, radio, film and television. His arched eyebr ...
and
Gracie Allen
Grace Ethel Cecile Rosalie Allen (July 26, 1895 – August 27, 1964) was an American vaudevillian, singer, actress, and comedian who became internationally famous as the zany partner and comic foil of husband George Burns, her straight man, ...
. The picture was produced by
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 ...
. Also appearing in the film are
Rita Johnson
Rita may refer to:
People
* Rita (given name)
* Rita (Indian singer) (born 1984)
* Rita (Israeli singer) (born 1962)
* Rita (Japanese singer)
* Eliza Humphreys (1850–1938), wrote under the pseudonym Rita
Places
* Djarrit, also known as Rita, ...
,
Eddie "Rochester" Anderson
Edmund Lincoln Anderson (September 18, 1905 – February 28, 1977) was an American comedian and actor. To a generation of early radio and television comedy he was known as "Rochester".
Anderson entered show business as a teenager on the vaudevi ...
,
Sig Ruman
Siegfried Carl Alban Rumann (October 11, 1884 – February 14, 1967), billed as Sig Ruman and Sig Rumann, was a German-American character actor known for his portrayals of pompous and often stereotypically Teutonic officials or villains i ...
n and
Ruth Hussey
Ruth Carol Hussey (October 30, 1911 – April 19, 2005) was an American actress best known for her Academy Award-nominated role as photographer Elizabeth Imbrie in '' The Philadelphia Story''.
Early life
Hussey was born in Providence, Rhode I ...
.
Plot
Inspired by stories about
doppelgängers and
identical twin
Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of TwinLast Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two ...
s such as ''
The Prince and the Pauper
''The Prince and the Pauper'' is a novel by American author Mark Twain. It was first published in 1881 in Canada, before its 1882 publication in the United States. The novel represents Twain's first attempt at historical fiction. Set in 1547 ...
'', ''Honolulu'' features Young in a dual role as Brooks Mason—a top movie star—and as
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 state ...
-based businessman George Smith. Mason is tired of being in the public eye, so when he discovers that Smith is close enough to be his twin, he arranges to switch places with Smith temporarily. When Mason steps into Smith's life, he finds himself in a tug-of-war between Smith's fiancée, and a dancer named Dorothy March (Powell), with whom he has fallen in love. Meanwhile, Smith discovers that being a famous movie star is not all that it is made out to be.
Notes
Eleanor Powell's dance routines were given a mostly Hawaiian flavor. One of her routines was performed in
blackface in tribute to Powell's idol,
Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson. The comedy of
Burns and Allen
Burns and Allen was an American comedy duo consisting of George Burns and his wife, Gracie Allen. They worked together as a successful comedy team that entertained vaudeville, film, radio, and television audiences for over forty years.
The duo ...
is also featured, although the two actors work separately for much of the movie, their characters only meeting in the final minutes. Powell and Gracie Allen sing and dance together in a sequence featuring the titular song. This was George Burns' last film appearance for 37 years until his Oscar-winning performance in ''
The Sunshine Boys
''The Sunshine Boys'' is an original two-act play written by Neil Simon that premiered December 20, 1972 on Broadway starring Jack Albertson as Willie Clark and Sam Levene as Al Lewis and later adapted for film and television.
Plot
The pla ...
'' in 1975. The film is also notable for offering a somewhat rare cinematic look at pre-World War II
Honolulu
Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...
.
There is a notable musical sequence featuring
Gracie Allen
Grace Ethel Cecile Rosalie Allen (July 26, 1895 – August 27, 1964) was an American vaudevillian, singer, actress, and comedian who became internationally famous as the zany partner and comic foil of husband George Burns, her straight man, ...
, accompanied by musicians made to look like the
Marx Brothers
The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act that was successful in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in motion pictures from 1905 to 1949. Five of the Marx Brothers' thirteen feature films were selected by the American Film Institute (AFI) ...
(including two Grouchos), while several actors in the audience are costumed to look like such famous actors as
Clark Gable
William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901November 16, 1960) was an American film actor, often referred to as "The King of Hollywood". He had roles in more than 60 motion pictures in multiple genres during a career that lasted 37 years, three decades ...
,
W.C. Fields
WC or wc may refer to:
* Water closet or flush toilet
Arts and entertainment
* ''W.C.'' (film), an Irish feature film
* WC (band), a Polish punk rock band
* WC (rapper), a rapper from Los Angeles, California
* Westside Connection, former ...
and
Oliver Hardy
Oliver Norvell Hardy (born Norvell Hardy; January 18, 1892 – August 7, 1957) was an American comic actor and one half of Laurel and Hardy, the double act that began in the era of silent films and lasted from 1926 to 1957. He appeared with his c ...
.
Footage of one of Powell's dance routines (done in a hula skirt to a tiki drum orchestra) would be reused in the later comedy, ''
I Dood It
''I Dood It'' (UK title ''By Hook or by Crook'') is a 1943 American musical-comedy film starring Red Skelton and Eleanor Powell, directed by Vincente Minnelli, and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The screenplay is by Fred Saidy and Sig Herzig ...
'', while another dance performance that was cut from the film appeared seven years later in the "hodge-podge" production ''
The Great Morgan''.
Cast
*
Eleanor Powell
Eleanor Torrey Powell (November 21, 1912 – February 11, 1982) was an American dancer and actress. Best remembered for her tap dance numbers in musical films in the 1930s and 1940s, she was one of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's top dancing stars du ...
as Miss Dorothy 'Dot' March
*
Robert Young as Brooks Mason / George Smith / David in the movie
*
George Burns
George Burns (born Nathan Birnbaum; January 20, 1896March 9, 1996) was an American comedian, actor, writer, and singer, and one of the few entertainers whose career successfully spanned vaudeville, radio, film and television. His arched eyebr ...
as Joe Duffy
*
Gracie Allen
Grace Ethel Cecile Rosalie Allen (July 26, 1895 – August 27, 1964) was an American vaudevillian, singer, actress, and comedian who became internationally famous as the zany partner and comic foil of husband George Burns, her straight man, ...
as Millicent 'Millie' De Grasse
*
Rita Johnson
Rita may refer to:
People
* Rita (given name)
* Rita (Indian singer) (born 1984)
* Rita (Israeli singer) (born 1962)
* Rita (Japanese singer)
* Eliza Humphreys (1850–1938), wrote under the pseudonym Rita
Places
* Djarrit, also known as Rita, ...
as Cecelia Grayson
*
Clarence Kolb
Clarence William Kolb (July 31, 1874 – November 25, 1964) was an American vaudeville performer and actor known for his comedy routines that featured a Dutch dialect.
Biography
Kolb started out as one half of a vaudeville comedy team, Kol ...
as Mr. Horace Grayson
*
Jo Ann Sayers
Jo Ann Sayers (born Miriam Lucille Lilygren, October 22, 1918 – November 14, 2011) was an American actress who was active in Broadway and in Hollywood films. Her film career spanned the 1930s through the 1950s.
Biography
Sayers was born in S ...
as Nurse
* Ann Morriss as Gale Brewster
*
Willie Fung
Willie Fung (3 March 1896 – 16 April 1945) was a Chinese-American film actor who played supporting roles in 125 American films between 1922 and 1944. Like many Chinese actors working in Hollywood during the era, he often played Japanese charac ...
as Wong, Mason's Hawaiian servant
*
Cliff Clark as First Detective
*
Edward Gargan
Edward Gargan (July 17, 1902 – February 19, 1964) was an American film and television actor.
Career
He was born of Irish parents in Brooklyn, New York. He was the elder brother of actor William Gargan.
As soon as he had left college, he we ...
as Second Detective
*
Eddie Anderson as Washington, Mason's Hollywood servant
*
Sig Ruman
Siegfried Carl Alban Rumann (October 11, 1884 – February 14, 1967), billed as Sig Ruman and Sig Rumann, was a German-American character actor known for his portrayals of pompous and often stereotypically Teutonic officials or villains i ...
n as Professor Timmer, psychiatrist
*
Ruth Hussey
Ruth Carol Hussey (October 30, 1911 – April 19, 2005) was an American actress best known for her Academy Award-nominated role as photographer Elizabeth Imbrie in '' The Philadelphia Story''.
Early life
Hussey was born in Providence, Rhode I ...
as Eve, David's wife in the movie
*
Russell Hicks
Edward Russell Hicks (June 4, 1895 – June 1, 1957) was an American film character actor. Hicks was born in 1895 in Baltimore, Maryland. During World War I, he served in the U.S. Army in France. He later became a lieutenant Colonel in the Cali ...
as Clifford Jones
* Kealoha Holt as Native Dancing Girl
*
Edward LeSaint
Edward LeSaint (January 1, 1871 – September 10, 1940) was an American stage and film actor and director whose career began in the silent era
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dia ...
as Minister
*
Edgar Dearing
Edgar Dearing (May 4, 1893 – August 17, 1974) was an American actor who became heavily type cast as a motorcycle cop in Hollywood films.
Biography
Born in 1893, Dearing started in silent comedy shorts for Hal Roach, including several with La ...
as Jailer
*
Tom Neal
Thomas Carroll Neal Jr. (January 28, 1914 – August 7, 1972) was an American actor and successful amateur boxer best known for his costarring role in the critically lauded film ''Detour'', for having a widely publicized affair with actress Ba ...
as Ambulance Intern
*
Betty Jaynes as Singer
Bibliography
* Pugh, Megan. ''America Dancing: From the Cakewalk to the Moonwalk''. Yale University Press, 2015.
References
External links
*
*
*
*
{{Edward Buzzell
1939 films
American musical comedy films
1930s English-language films
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films
American black-and-white films
Films directed by Edward Buzzell
1939 musical comedy films
Films set in Hawaii
1930s American films