''Pagan Love Song'' is a 1950 American

romantic musical film Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their journey ...

released by

MGM 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 a ...

and starring

Esther Williams Esther Jane Williams (August 8, 1921 – June 6, 2013) was an American competitive swimmer and actress. She set regional and national records in her late teens on the Los Angeles Athletic Club swim team. Unable to compete in the 1940 Summer Ol ...

and

Howard Keel Harold Clifford Keel (April 13, 1919November 7, 2004), known professionally as Howard Keel, was an American actor and singer, known for his rich bass-baritone singing voice. He starred in a number of MGM musicals in the 1950s and in the CBS tel ...

. Set in

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Austr ...

, it was based on the novel ''Tahiti Landfall'' by William S. Stone.

Plot

Mimi Bennett lives with her wealthy aunt Kate on the Polynesian isle of

. A half-indigenous, half-White girl, Mimi's dream is to someday leave the South Pacific to live in America. Hazard Endicott's arrival changes her plans. He is a schoolteacher from

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

who has inherited a Tahiti estate. His first task is to hire a servant and, mistaking Mimi for a native girl, offers her the job. She amuses herself by feigning a bare grasp of English. The estate turns out to be little more than a shack. Endicott also miscalculates an invitation to a party at Kate's, coming in casual island attire to an event with elegantly dressed guests. Mimi takes pity on him, and a romance blooms.

Cast

as Mimi Bennett (singing voice was dubbed by

Betty Wand Betty Wand was an American singer and author, best known as the singing voice dubbed in for various actresses in musical films, including Leslie Caron in '' Gigi'' and some of Rita Moreno's part in ''West Side Story''.Crosby Day. "Showtime will a ...

) *

as Hazard Endicott *

Minna Gombell Minna Marie Gombell (''née'' Gombel; May 28, 1892 – April 14, 1973) was an American stage and film actress. Early years She was born Minna Marie Gombel in Baltimore, Maryland, the daughter of William and Emma M. Debring Gombel. Her father ...

as Kate * Charles Mauu as Tavee *

Rita Moreno Rita Moreno (born Rosa Dolores Alverío Marcano; December 11, 1931) is a Puerto Rican actress, dancer, and singer. Noted for her work across different areas of the entertainment industry, she has appeared in numerous film, television, and thea ...

as Teuru

Production

The film was originally announced as ''Tahiti'' and was to star

Ann Miller Ann Miller (born Johnnie Lucille Collier; April 12, 1923 – January 22, 2004) was an American retired actress and former dancer. She is best remembered for her work in the Classical Hollywood cinema musicals of the 1940s and 1950s. Her early ...

and

Ricardo Montalbán Ricardo Gonzalo Pedro Montalbán y Merino, KSG (; ; November 25, 1920 – January 14, 2009) was a Mexican and American film and television actor. Montalbán's career spanned seven decades, during which he became known for performances in a var ...

. Eventually Miller was replaced by Esther Williams and Montalbán by Charles Mauu. The title was then changed to ''Hawaii''. The film was to have been directed by

Stanley Donen Stanley Donen ( ; April 13, 1924 – February 21, 2019) was an American film director and choreographer whose most celebrated works are '' On the Town,'' (1949) and ''Singin' in the Rain'' (1952), both of which he co-directed with Gene Kell ...

, but Williams refused to work with him after her experience filming the previous year's ''

Take Me Out to the Ball Game "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" is a 1908 Tin Pan Alley song by Jack Norworth and Albert Von Tilzer which has become the unofficial anthem of North American baseball, although neither of its authors had attended a game prior to writing the song ...

''. Location shooting took place on the Hawaiian island of

Kauai Kauai, () anglicized as Kauai ( ), is geologically the second-oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands (after Niʻihau). With an area of 562.3 square miles (1,456.4 km2), it is the fourth-largest of these islands and the 21st largest island ...

.http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/3499/Pagan-Love-Song/articles.html Williams realized that she was pregnant while making the film. She claimed that she nearly drowned during filming. The film exceeded its budget by $400,000.

Reception

In a contemporary review, Thomas M. Pryor of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' praised the scenery and Williams' "aquatic exercises" but panned the film overall: "Presumably there is a story somewhere in the picture, but all we can recollect is a series of incidents, some eye-filling and some amusing, others rather pointless and tedious. Perhaps life on the island is just too idyllic." According to MGM records, the film earned $2,157,000 in the U.S. and Canada and $1,203,000 elsewhere, resulting in a profit of $108,000. This was considered a relative disappointment for an Esther Williams film.

References

External links

* * * * * {{Arthur Freed 1950 films 1950 musical comedy films American musical comedy films American romantic comedy films Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Swimming films Films set in French Polynesia Films shot in Hawaii Films based on American novels Films produced by Arthur Freed American romantic musical films 1950 romantic comedy films 1950s English-language films 1950s American films