Weißer Herrscher über Tonga

If you like Burt Lancaster, than this film is worth watching. The plot is very silly, and takes place largely in the South Seas. There is the usual large contingent of half-naked South Sea natives interacting with the "white man", although several of the natives with speaking parts are white themselves, as always: Joan Rice and Abraham Sofaer in particular come to mind. And as always, the natives who speak English speak it better than many people I know in real life. Joan Rice, in particular, has a beautiful English accent of dubious ancestry for a native girl (OK, yes, her father was British, but she was brought up in the South Seas and somehow speaks a more polished English than he does).

There are many bad Germans, with very stereotypical movie accents (proto-Nazis?), and one good German, played by Andre Morell, with a less disagreeable accent (although his saying "zee" for "the" gets tiring). His genial friendship with Burt Lancaster is pleasing. Most hilariously, Joan Rice, as Burt Lancaster's eventual wife, looks completely lost most of the time, smiling her way through most scenes, looking like a confused tourist in Paris who doesn't speak the language.

But we started with Burt Lancaster. Burt gets to show off his acrobatic skills in several scenes, swinging on ropes and so forth, although in one shot he is shown only beginning to climb a coconut tree; I would like to have seen him climb to the top. He smiles a lot in this film, and this too is always pleasing.

The plot is too absurd and improbable to describe. Everybody wants the oil of the coconuts, which is very valuable, except the natives themselves. There are too many changes of power on the island, and it is not that interesting to follow. But it is a pleasant enough film, and totally harmless.

His Majesty O'Keefe is directed by Byron Haskin and adapted to the screen by Borden Chase & James Hill from the novel written by Lawrence Klingman & Gerald Green. It stars Burt Lancaster, Joan Rice, Andre Morell and Abraham Sofaer. Music is by Robert Farnon and Technicolor photography by Otto Heller.

Plot finds Lancaster as Captain David O'Keefe, who after a mutiny is tossed overboard in the South Pacific. Making his way to Yap Island, O'Keefe is pleased to see the money making potential by harvesting copra from the mass coconut growth on the island. However, the natives aren't exactly thrilled by his intentions and there's also some serious German businessmen interested in the island as well. Too many cooks spoil the broth and this once peaceful little island is soon to become a hotbed of greed and division.

It's all very muscular and pretty (actually filmed on location in Fiji), led by a super tanned, white toothy grinned Lancaster, film has a very decent theme at its core, but sadly this mostly get lost in the confusing mixture. Picture never quite settles into being one cohesive whole, at times a wannabe swashbuckling adventure propelled by a South Seas love story, at others an observation of capitalism corrupting the beautiful untapped paradise's of the world. The pace is stop/start, with Haskin (Treasure Island) struggling manfully to make the various strands of the screenplay work, and cast are effective enough in just about retaining viewing Interest.

Worth it for Lancaster fans, and for fans of great choreography and attractive scenery. But it remains a hit and miss affair, it takes an age to make its point but survives ignominy on account of the unusual flavours in the mix. 5/10

This film is not Lancaster's best but is enjoyable if you enjoy watching him in his athletic prime. Beautifully shot, it captures the exciting times of adventure on the high seas and island exploration. The plot is fairly insubstantial and there's nothing new here but at just over 90 minutes, the story never drags. Definitely worth a look if you're a fan of Burt's.

In 1870, the ambitious Captain David Dion O'Keefe (Burt Lancaster) leaves Hong Kong to seek the valuable copra in the South Seas. He pushes his crew too much and faces a mutiny. When the crew assumes the ship, they leave Captain O'Keefe in a small boat in the middle of nowhere. O'Keefe is found on the shore of the Island of Yap and is saved by the German agent from the company that has the monopoly in Yap, Alfred Tetins (Andre Morell), and the native Fatumak (Abraham Sofaer). When O'Keefe is recovered, he finds stranded in an island with a large quantity of coconuts and he sees the possibility of raising a fortune exploring the natural resource. However the natives do not like to work and O'Keefe returns to Hong Kong.

Captain O'Keefe tries to raise a loan to buy a new vessel, but he does not find any sponsor but the Chinese dentist Sien Tang (Philip Ahn) that offers his old vessel, crew and supplies to O'Keefe to become his partner and share his profits. O'Keefe accepts and begins his dangerous journey through the South Seas.

"His Majesty O'Keefe" is a silly adventure of an ambitious captain that seeks fortune in Micronesia and becomes a king without a crown. The plot has action, romance and drama and entertains but is dated and does not work well, despite the excellent Burt Lancaster in the lead role. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Sua Majestade o Aventureiro" ("His Majesty the Adventurer")

This is an amusing and fun movie , although heavily Hollywoodized, the film is based on real individuals and events . Here Burt Lancaster is the complete show , he played this adventure movie in the wake of his man-of-action epoch when he performed three magnificent movies that included ¨Crimson pirate¨ , ¨The Flame and the Arrow¨ and this one . Based on a real-life American adventurer , a Yankee sea captain who has adventures in paradise trying to become an entrepreneur in Micronesia. The entire picture was photographed in the South Pacific , where for years the basic economy and wealth revolved around the dried meat of coconut , known as Copra . And in the Island of Yap the natives worshipped an exotic sacred stone they called ¨Fei¨. It deals with Lancaster's attempts to make fame and fortune out of pearls or anything else he can lay his hands on , when he's not fighting gangs of pirates , he then became involved into the lucrative coconut-oil trade of the mid-1800s . There the disgruntled natives see him as a god and allow him to marry a charming maiden . When his kingdom is threatened by unscrupulous German traders , Burt springs into action to safeguard his kingdom .

Agreeable as well as entertaining adventure movie , plenty of action , thrills , bright cinematography and exotic scenarios . Although the story has been told before , tight filmmaking and nice acting win out . The picture is fast-moving , exciting and thrilling ; however the scenic qualities of the movie are rather better than the disjointed screenplay by Borden Chase and James Hill , being suggested by a novel from Lawrence Klingman and Gerald Green . ¨His Majesty O'Keefe¨ results to be one of Lancaster's swashbuckling best and has achieved a good status along with ¨Crimson pirate¨(1952) and ¨The Flame and the Arrow¨(1950) , all of them made during star Burt Lancaster's athletic and swashbuckler period . Because of cost overruns on "The Crimson Pirate" and "His Majesty O'Keefe," Warner Brothers insisted that future films from Hecht/Lancaster be limited to $900,000 ; then Lancaster and Hecht's response was to strike a new deal with United Artists. The cast is frankly well such as Andre Morell as a friendly trader , Abraham Sofaer as a medicine man and a gorgeous young Joan Rice . The producers , the notorious team formed by Harold Hecht-James Hill-Lancaster wish to acknowledge their gratitude to the Secretary for Fijian Affairs , to Ratu Penaia La La Latiamara , Serua District Chief in Charge and to the wonderful people of the Fiji Islands . Colorful cinematography shot on location by Otto Heller , this was the first film ever filmed in the Fiji Islands . Lively and atmospheric musical score composed by the classic Dimitri Tiomkin , though the British print has a Robert Farnon score conducted by Louis Levy, re-scored in Hollywood by Dimitri .

Lavishly produced and being professionally directed by Byron Haskin , though with no originality . Haskin was a good craftsman who worked in Warner Brothers Special Effects department . He returned to filmmaking , and was responsible for Walt Disney's first live-action film , the adventure cult-classic Treasure island (1950). In the mid-1950s Haskin began a rewarding association with producer George Pal, for whom he filmed what are probably his best-known films , the science fiction classic War of the worlds (1953) , Conquest of space (1955) and a catastrophe movie , The naked jungle (1954). Haskin was expert on Sci-Fi genre , as he would collaborate with Pal on other films , such as From the earth to moon , Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1964) and The power (1968). He also directed some Western as Denver Rio Grande and Silver City and especially adventure movie such as Treasure Island (1950) , Long John Silver (1954) , Captain Sinbad (1963) and this His Majesty O'Keefe (1954) .