Movie Review: Blue Hawaii (1961)

Genre: Musical Romantic Comedy  

Director: Norman Taurog  

Starring: Elvis Presley, Joan Blackman, Angela Lansbury  

Running Time: 102 minutes  

Synopsis: After two years in the army, Chad Gates (Elvis Presley) returns to Hawaii and reunites with his girlfriend Maile (Joan Blackman). He is intent on carving his own path in life and not following the wishes of his wealthy parents (Roland Winters and Angela Lansbury), who want him to join his father's pineapple business empire. Instead Chad accepts a job as a tour guide at the travel agency where Maile works. When attractive teacher Ms. Prentice (Nancy Walters) and four teenaged girls retain his tour guide services, romantic complications ensue.

What Works Well: The Hawaii locations look postcard gorgeous; Presley, Joan Blackman, Nancy Walters, and Jenny Maxwell (as a teenaged seductress) all glow in the sun; and Presley's rendition of Can't Help Falling In Love is a highlight. Director Norman Taurog keeps the mood light with a steady stream of humour.

What Does Not Work As Well: A total of 14 songs, most of them forgettable, are crammed into the running time, turning the production into glossy travelogue with a soundtrack rather than any attempt at a serious movie. At 35 years old and just 9 years older than Presley, Angela Lansbury is somehow cast as his mother, and delivers a full-on cartoonish portrayal of an overbearing parent. As the flimsy plot desperately searches for oxygen in the brief intervals before the next song (and there is always a next song), it stumbles onto the lowlight of Presley delivering a spanking to straighten out a woman's behaviour.

Key Quote:

Chad (to Maile): On you, wet is my favourite colour.

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