Customer Reviews

Honolulu [VHS]

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I never could understand a world in which Eleanor Powell could be a star, but in time knowledge is given to every man, and recently I had a dramatic conversion, like Saul on his way to Tarsus and lo he became Paul in the Bible. Powell still seems to be grinning all the time, but now this habit no longer irritates me, instead I think I'd be grinning too if I was 25 and had the world's most amazing body. As an American boy growing up in France I resented the French cult of Eleanor Powell, the fetishism surrounding her aura of mystery, reserve, and on the other hand her explosive, percussive taps. Now I can see what I was missing as a child.

The mid-budget HONOLULU may not be Powell's greatest showcase but on the other hand, maybe it IS the best because she doesn't really have to try very hard, she just is Dorothy March, international dancing star and tap diva. For some reason the script pairs her with an older, shorter (quite short, nearly midget size) goofball played by Gracie Allen. It's a bit confusing to the novice who might be pardoned for thinking that Powell and Allen are supposed to be about the same age when one is really about 15 or 20 years older than the other. Anyway the movie firmly separates Gracie Allen, who plays nearly all of her scenes in Honolulu or on shipboard, from husband George Burns, who thanklessly gets to underplay a callous movie agent in Manhattan. I wonder why they're kept at arms' length for most of the script, oh well, when they finally meet up they're instantly "together" even though their characters have hardly even met. But wait, what were Burns and Allen doing in an MGM movie anyhow? Didn't they work for Paramount or RKO? Studio experts, help me out here!

The best number is Eleanor Powell's tribute to Hawaii at the end, in which she performs a frightening war dance, then goes into an exotic and sexually driven hula, and then she puts on silver tap shoes and really rips up the nightclub she's supposed to be starring in. Even during this number she's acting in character--upset near to tears when she spots the man she loves, Robert Young, sitting ringside with his fiancee Rita Johnson. Powell is brilliant at acting while dancing, much more so than Rita Hayworth or Ginger Rogers or nearly anybody else I could think of.

The most bizarre number? On board the ocean liner when all passengers are invited to a "Come as your Favorite Movie Star" party. At the very least you get to see which actors of 1938-9 were super popular, or at any rate so distinctive that extras could imitate them and still be recognized. Clark Gable is easy to spot, his spit curl and big ears. Gracie Allen wiggles her hips a la Mae West, leading around the Seven Dwarves, then singing with imitation Marx Brothers (two Grouchos). Robert Young is playing (I can only assume) Toscanini, fresh from his movie star appearance in 100 MEN AND A GIRL. There's a W C Fields, a Greta Garbo, etc. (The odd thing is that the stars imitated are not necessarily MGM stars, which is weird.) (Later, Robert Young brags that he lived six months in Hollywood, dropping names like Crawford, Shearerm Garbo, Loy--only MGM contract players in fact.) At the party Eleanor Powell impersonates Bojangles Robinson, in blackface, a bizarre twist to an already surreal mise en scene. I was ready to hate this number, but it is astonishingly beautiful and respectful. The steps to the staircase popping up like bread from a toaster to meet Powell's feet are like something out of a beautiful modernist dream.

This is one of my all-time favorite movie musicals, believe it or not. It has a very nice story, is well-written, and seems the perfect movie. It's not a paper-thin plotline as seen in many other musicals, nor is it overly bombastic with huge production numbers and the like. It's right in the middle, a fairly normal film, but that is what makes it most appealing. And sadly, it is no longer available on video, so you have to try your luck finding it on TCM. As with any Burns & Allen vehicle, this film has its comedic moments, especially for Burns. An often overlooked aspect of this film is the original music that was written for it, mostly by songsters Harry Warren and Gus Kahn; incidentally, this was Warren & Kahn's only film project together. Eleanor Powell does a roller skate dance around a ship's pool as Gracie sings the rather banal title tune. At a costume party, a singer dressed as (I think) Bing Crosby croons the (greatly under-rated) dreamy love ballad, "This Night (Will Be My Souvenir)," while Gracie and the Kings' Men cut up with the very humorous "The Leader Doesn't Like Music." Needless to say, Gracie is Mae West and the Kings' Men are none other than the Marx Brothers, with TWO Groucho's. There are other stock numbers, mostly for a Hawaiian medley later in the film. The story of the film is of course the mistaken-identity one, but I will leave the details for when you hopefully watch this great and unduly forgotten film.

First if all i am a die hard Eleanor Powell fan. i have all of her movies. this is my favorite. The dances are wonderful and the music is outstanding. If you never seen Gracie Allen on film before, she almost steals the picture from Miss Powell.
And i would like to clarify that the first dance she does is a jump rope tap. Not a rollerskate dance. Her tribute to Bill Robinson is exceptional and unnerving at the same time (she is in blackface). At the time she wanted herself to dance with the true king of tap, but she could'nt at the time. Because at that time, 1938, america was deeply divided racially. So she the closest she came to dancing with him was to actually become him.
It is the best stair dance i have ever seen. It is Mr. Robinsons signature dance taught personally to her by him. And there was only one other person that knew the dance...Shirley Temple. The hula tap mix was great too. But i also loved how all of the actors played off of each other. My favorite song is "The Leader Doesn't Like Music" sang by Ms Allen and a quartet dressed in Marx Brothers garb. Fun from begining to end!! If your not a fan of Miss Powell and Ms. Allen you will be after this

Eleanor Powell performs a fabulous jazz and tap dance to Hawaiian music. I have watched this video over and over and am in awe of her talent. Another plus is seeing Gracie Allen tap dance and sing.

Brooks Mason (Robert Young) is a tremendously famous movie star. He is mobbed everywhere he goes and has just been signed to do a personal appearance tour in New York. He wants a way out to enjoy a real vacation and he stumbles upon it accidentally. George Smith (Young) looks exactly like Mason, and the two decide to switch places for a while. On his way back to Smith's home in Honolulu, Mason meets beautiful showgirl Dorothy March (Eleanor Powell) and her friend Millie (Gracie Allen). He quickly falls in love. Unfortunately, Smith has a fiancee in Hawaii and her father is suspicious of him. So suspicious, in fact, that he has Mason jailed for suspicion of theft.

This is a rather fun little film filled with stars from the golden age of Hollywood. Today, George Burns and Gracie Allen are the most recognizable names, but Powell and Young were quite famous in their own right. Powell shows of her famous legs in several dance sequences including one where she impersonates Bill Robinson. The King's Men make an appearance dressed as The Marx Brothers minus Zeppo. Overall, this movie features a fun story and several enjoyable dance numbers.

This was the last movie(1939) starring George Burns until he made the Sunshine Boys (1975).Also,co-starring Gracie Allen is a film concerning mistaken identities in Hawaii.It's a superb musical comedy classic!!

Surely, only legal problems have prevented the reissue on DVD of this bubbly, light-hearted, musical comedy from the late thirties. By this time in her career she had done song and dance with Fred Astaire in films, here she sings and dances with Eleanor Powell. She is a delight on both occasions. Of course, I mean the inimitable Mrs. Nat Birnbaum, known to all of us as Gracie Allen. Robert Young, still a long way from the actor taken seriously enough to play a medical doctor, is the customarily effective juvenile love interest which he played with various good looking actresses. Eleanor Powell was given the music and dance direction to show off one of the premiere dancers in film history...and quite a "dish" in the argot of the times. Oh, yes, Rochester used time off from the Jack Benny Show to do a few minutes of his classic butler bit. Submerged in the song, dance and love-making, one can find George Burns, second banana to his wife, Gracie, until her retirement and death, as well as buddy Jack Benny's, gave him the chance to be the master comic actor kept well hidden until Sunshine Boys and TV (somewhat earlier) forced him to go solo.
This film does appear one place and another on in such as Turner Classics, so be sure to avail yourself of the opportunity to see this when you can.

Its been since 95 that a lot of these musicals were last released. VHS is DEAD!!! Lets get with it folks!! DVD is a must for these musicals..The whole catalog needs to be re-mastered!!!!

THE GREAT ELEANOR POWELL DANCING HAWIAN STYLE, THE STORY LINE IS
NOT GREAT BUT HER DANCING MORE THAN MAKES UP FOR THIS. THE PICTURE QUALITY IS GOOD. I CAN RECOMMEND THIS FILM TO ANYONE WHO LIKES
DANCING ESPECIALLY TAP
ROYJAG

The story was silly,but the dancing by Eleanor Powell terific! Her "hawaiian" number should be considered the best dancing ever. Fred Astaire totally overrated.He was good when he accompenied her in the famous "begin the Begine" from Broadway Melody of 1940; which was trully amazing.