Hawaii Calls

Hawaii Calls finds young Bobby Breen on a boy's life adventure trip to what would become our 50th state. The film is complete with Japanese spies and everything three years before we got into World War II.

Truth be told orphan Breen hasn't got a whole lot going for him. His parents were killed in a plane crash, but he dreams of being a pilot like his aviator dad. On an impulse Breen and his pal Pua Lani stow away on a cruise ship bound for Honolulu. Would you believe that Ned Sparks takes pity on them and Breen gets to sing for his supper with the Raymond Paige orchestra which is the nightly entertainment on the boat.

But Bobby and Pua jump ship and swim to shore before the law catches him and can send him back to the mainland. And on shore he gets involved with Pua's family and with another pair of tourists Naval commander Warren Hull and wife Gloria Holden. It's here where the nasty Japanese spies come into the story.

No one outrightly says that the foreign power after some top secret documents that Hull is carrying is Japan, but in 1938 the Sino-Japanese War was in full swing with Japanese atrocities in China part of the newsreel footage being shown, no doubt with this film among others. A better picture could not be drawn.

Some traditional Hawaiian songs were given to Bobby to sing and some new stuff written by Hawaiian composer Harry Owens who doubled as conductor of the Orchestra at Honolulu's famous Royal Hawaiian Hotel. Owens was fresh of his Oscar for Sweet Leilani which Bing Crosby introduced the year before in Waikiki Wedding.

All in all a nice film from far more innocent times.

The copy that I saw was cut down from 91 minutes to 62, and it shows the effect in some occasionally abrupt cuts. What remains gives a decent idea of what the plot is; Orphan Bobby Breen and pal stow away from San Francisco to Hawaii, get caught, charm Ned Sparks (!) and all, hotfoot it from the authorities in Honolulu and travel the islands, singing a lot of songs.

Breen has a sweet boy's tenor, and he sings a lot of standards of the era, including an Irish ballad and "Song of the Islands". There's also a fine big-band version of Chabrier's "Espeana". It seems as if there's more singing than story in this Sol Lesser production; my guess is they cut story, which is fine by me. It's not as if it were a startling or particular original tale.

There are lots of good actors in this Sol Lesser production, so that will amuse those who like to spot well-known faces. The Hawaiians seem to be played by ethnic Hawaiians. Bobby Breen's role and acting seem bland under the direction of Eddie Cline, but he certainly can sing.

A younger, cuter Bobby than seen in the already available 'ESCAPE TO PARADISE', so all due thanks to the Perlinger Archive. Caught up, as usual, in a paper-thin storyline, Master Breen continues to cope well enough to emerge as that rare commodity, a likable moppet who fills his role in a delightfully natural way. A pre-Pearl Harbor Japanese bad guy is as tense as the drama ever gets but there are a couple of decent songs which almost survive the IL' missing frame caper. One thing about the Breen movies, money and time WERE spent on the musical side of things - and it shows. Despite this, the Archive is doing more to keep the 30's and alive than any other single source so, as an important part of that decade, this earns its place on any 30's listing.