~ JANE ~ Blue Hawaii. An In-Depth Look at the Movie Filming for Blue Hawaii, Elvis eighth movie, began on March 27, 1961 in the lush islands of Hawaii. Location shooting took place on the islands of Oahu and Kauai and was finished by April 17th. The cast and crew then returned to Hollywood where filming continued until May 23rd. The famous wedding scene was shot on Kauai at the Coco Palms Resort Hotel which had been in operation since 1953. Unfortunately, the resort closed after Kauai was hit with devastating Hurricane Iniki in September 1992. In the 1800s, the land where the Coco Palms is located was the ancestral home of Kauais last reigning queen, Queen Deborah Kapule. The Call to Feast featured in the film with its ceremonial torch lighting had taken place there every night at 7:30 PM for 40 years until Iniki hit. The original working title of the film was Hawaiian Beach Boy and the screenplay was written by Allan Weiss, who later wrote five other Elvis movies: Easy Come, Easy Go, Fun In Acapulco, Girls! Girls! Girls!, Paradise, Hawaiian Style and Roustabout. Elvis leading lady in Blue Hawaii was Joan Blackman, who played Maile Duval. The following year she played Elvis love interest in Kid Galahad. Elvis had dated the actress when he first came to Hollywood in 1956. Angela Lansbury played the role of Elvis ditzy mother even though she was only 35 years old at the time and Elvis was 26. She began her career in 1944 in a movie called Gaslight, which quickly earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. She would go on to achieve great fame and numerous accolades in film and television and on Broadway. She has starred in such films as National Velvet, The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Harvey Girls, The Manchurian Candidate, The Greatest Story Ever Told, Harlow, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Mrs. Santa Claus and Beauty and the Beast (voice for animation). She is probably best known for her role as mystery writer and sleuth Jessica Fletcher in the Murder, She Wrote television series. To name just a few of her accolades, she has received three Academy Award nominations, thirteen Emmy nominations, six Golden Globe wins out of fourteen nominations, four Tony Awards and the Screen Act! ors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2000, she was a recipient of the John F. Kennedy Center Honors. Roland Winters played Elvis father Fred Gates. Like Lansbury, he was a respected character actor with many films to his credit. One career highlight was his portrayal of detective Charlie Chan in several of theCharlie Chan movies from 1947 to 1950, the third actor to take on that role in these films. He can also be seen portraying a judge in Elvis 1962 movie Follow That Dream. You might also recognize him from the 1973 remake of the movie Miracle on 34th. Street in which he played Mr. Gimbel. Elvis eighth film was Blue Hawaii, filmed in the tropical paradise of the Hawaiian islands of Oahu and Kauai. With fourteen songs, more than any other Elvis film, the soundtrack album spent a total of 79 weeks on Billboards pop album chart, with 20 of those weeks at #1. Nancy Walters played the role of schoolteacher Abigail Prentice. Other credits include the 1966 movie The Singing Nun. Jenny Maxwell played Ellie Corbett. She also appeared in the 1963 movie Take Her Shes Mine and a number of television roles in such series as My Three Sons, Bonanza, Dr. Kildare, Wagon Train and Death Valley Days. Darlene Thompkins played Patsy Simon. She worked on another Elvis film playing Ms. Stevers in Fun In Acapulco. Other career credits include working as stunt double for Cheryl Ladd in the TV series Charlies Angels. Christian Kay played Beverly Martin. Among her credits is the TV series My Three Sons. Pamela Austin played Sandy Emerson. She later worked on another Elvis movie playing Selena Tatum in Kissin Cousins. She also appeared in numerous TV series including Columbo, It Takes A Thief, Laugh In, The Wild, Wild, West, Hawaiian Eye, My Three Sons and Wagon Train. She and Elvis dated for a short time. John Archer played Jack Kelman. Father of actress Anne Archer, he may be best known for his radio announcer days when he would voice the following line, Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows! Howard McNear played Mr. Chapman in Blue Hawaii, the first of three Elvis movies he appeared in. The two other Elvis movie roles were a bank vice president in Follow That Dream and Dr. John Stevers in Fun In Acapulco. The veteran character actor was the original voice of Doc Adams in the radio version of Gunsmoke and he appeared in many roles for television. His most famous role was that of Floyd the barber on televisions The Andy Griffith Show. You might notice in watching him in this role that, after the second year, he was usually filmed sitting down. This was due to the effects of having suffered a stroke that impaired his left side. Steve Brodie played troublemaker Tucker Garvey in Blue Hawaii. His two other Elvis movie roles were Freddie in Roustabout and an uncredited role in Paradise, Hawaiian Style. He too has had a long career as a character actor. Among his credits are the films The Story of Will Rogers, The Treasure of Monte Cristo, Anchors Aweigh, and Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo. His numerous television credits include the series Rawhide, CHiPs, Bonanza and Burkes Law. Veteran character actress Iris Adrian played Enid Garvey in Blue Hawaii. Her notable credits are too many to list as she played hundreds of roles in films and on television. Frank Atienza played Ito OHara in Blue Hawaii. His other Elvis movie appearance was in Girls! Girls! Girls!. He also had a recurring part as a policeman in the Hawaii-based television series Magnum P.I. Guy Lee played Ping Pong the houseboy in Blue Hawaii and he played Chen Young in the Elvis movie Girls! Girls! Girls! His career credits include the films Flower Drum Song and Gidget Goes Hawaiian and the television series Bachelor Father, Wild, Wild West and Bonanza. Richard Reeves had the role of the harmonica playing jailhouse inmate in Blue Hawaii. His four other Elvis movie roles were Officer Wilkins in Girl Happy, a bartender in Tickle Me, a Bedouin in Harum Scarum and a man on the street in Frankie and Johnny. He also had roles in numerous television series including Man From Uncle, Superman, Loredo, Batman, Gunsmoke, Rawhide, and Perry Mason to name just a few. Elvis loved Hawaii. It was one of his favorite places to vacation. This movie, which is now available on DVD, provides us with a glimpse into the beauty of these islands. That combined with the romantic tropical music Elvis sings creates within us all the desire to visit Blue Hawaii.
Posted on: Wed, 13 Nov 2013 18:22:22 +0000
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