The Hawaiians

Compelling parallel tales of two connected families, in a time of great change in 19th century Hawaii. Charlton Heston is the black sheep of his rich family, who uses ruthless and criminal ways to build a pineapple empire. Mako and Tina Chen are Chinese immigrants, that Heston brings to the islands. Mako and Tina end up working for Heston on his plantation, and they soon recognize the importance of land ownership, and Tina becomes a tough business woman. And how both families adapt to the changes in Hawaii, including the growth of agriculture, slum like conditions for immirgrants, a leper colony on Molokai, America's overthrow of the Hawaian monarchy, bubonic plague, and the great Chinatown fire. All of this works, thanks to the strong performances by Heston and escpecially, Tina Chen.

The Hawaiians was made from the middle third of Michener's novel Hawaii. Compared to the Julie Andrews - Max von Sydow movie Hawaii, made from the first third of the book, The Hawaiians is unpretentious, lowbrow, but much more entertaining. The plot of The Hawaiians revolves around two stories -- the rise to political and commercial power of second generation American immigrants, and the arrival in Hawaii of Chinese and Japanese immigrants.

The story of the American immigrants' rise to power follows the life of Whip Hoxworth, played by Charlton Heston. He gains wealth by establishing the first pinepple plantation in Hawaii, then participates in the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy, which led to the islands becoming an American territory.

The story of Chinese and Japanese immigration to Hawaii is told through the life of Char Nyuk Tsin, played by Tina Chen. She becomes the second wife of fellow immigrant Kee Mun Kee, who fails at almost everything he does. But through hard work and perseverence, Char Nyuk Tsin prospers and creates a better life for her children.

This is not highbrow cinema. The acting is second rate, the script is second rate, everything about it is second rate. For example, the attempts by the Chinese-American actors to speak Chinese is almost laughable. They speak Mandarin with atrocious accents, even though the characters are supposed to be speaking either Hakka or Cantonese. But it doesn't really matter. This is the sort of movie to watch when you don't want to have to think hard. It's an enjoyable no-brainer, a pleasant diversion while eating popcorn.

The Hawaiians enjoys a footnote in the history of the MPAA's movie rating system. When it came out in 1970, it earned a PG rating, despite having two scenes of female nudity. Japanese immigrant farm workers are shown enjoying a traditional communal bath, and one attractive young woman is shown topless for a short time. This created a mild controversy at the time, although the scene is about as sexy as a National Geographic pictorial.

I have not been able to find The Hawaiians on tape or DVD. If anyone in the business can get it released, please do!

I'm sure that what attracted Charlton Heston to sign on for The Hawaiians was the fact he'd be working with director Tom Gries with whom he had done Will Penny and Number One. Will Penny was Heston's favorite film. The Hawaiians would mark the third and final joint project the two men worked on.

Heston plays the grandson of that New England sea captain Richard Harris from the film Hawaii and the James Michener book it is based on. He's every bit the hell raiser that grandfather was, but has an eye for business and does have a vision for Hawaii. Of course it's not the same vision as the native Hawaiians had or the same vision that Chinese and Japanese immigrants have. That in a nutshell is the history of Hawaii.

The rest of the white characters are descendants from the characters in the first film. The added component are the characters of Mako and Tina Chen who immigrate to Hawaii from China and found a small dynasty of their own. Their story and that of Heston and his family entwine over several decades.

One thing I will say about The Hawaiians that is most admirable. The Asian and Pacific Islander characters you see here are portrayed as three dimensional and with dignity. No fortune cookie stereotypes are to be found in The Hawaiians.

I've always been of the opinion that you cannot make a bad film about Hawaii because the scenery is so beautiful. The Hawaiians is no exception and the film did get an Oscar nomination for costume design.

Tina Chen does a remarkable job as the matriarchal head of her family after Mako dies of leprosy on the island of Molokai. In a patriarchal culture that was by no means an easy thing. Her performance is the best acting in The Hawaiians.

The Hawaiians has an Edna Ferber like sweep in its plot and its subject. It's also sticking close to the facts in terms of Hawaiian history, a very worthy film to see.

I happened to be living in Hawaii when this was released (along with *Patton*) It was beautifully shot and the character portrayals were wonderful.

Based somewhat on historical facts, Heston is the hard-bitten adventurer/entrepreneur responsible for bringing pineapples to the islands.

As others have pointed out, the portrayal of the Asian immigration and subsequent influence in the islands is, if not accurate, certainly believable, given the Asian makeup of the island population, today.

All of the performances are strong, revolving around Heston as the central 'motivator'. The camera work brings the beauty of Hawaii right up to your face. Finally, the fire is accurate - Honolulu suffered more than one huge fire in it's early days.

I would very much like to see this out in DVD.

Given the epic nature of James Michener's thousand-page novel "Hawaii," if the first film did any kind of positive business whatsoever, a sequel was bound to happen. The result is actually quite good, though nowhere near as good as George Roy Hill's original. Practically none of the original cast or crew has returned. Hill was succeeded as director by Tom Gries; Trumbo and Taradash are replaced on script duty by James R. Webb ("How the West Was Won," "Cheyenne Autumn"), who certainly had a bizarre gift for crafting intelligible and reasonably entertaining stories out of momentous historical hoopla. And since it takes place a couple generations after the end of the first film, obviously the cast is all gone. Charlton Heston adds more than prestige (he also adds presence and strength) to the central character of Whip Hoxworth, with Geraldine Chaplin decent but underused as his odd wife Purity. Mako is terrific as a Chinese peasant farmer who comes to Hawaii after cheating himself a new wife-- Char Nyuk Tsin, played by Tina Chen in a performance that starts off rather uninteresting but blossoms into a real stunner. The story goes on through racial strife, economic and ecological developments on the islands, political turmoil, and personal tragedy, very much in the spirit of the first "Hawaii" but without all the buildup (remember how much time had passed before we saw the islands in the first one?) and with a quicker pace. The film is lush, intriguing, and adequately enacted, but there are a few obstacles to overcome before you can really get into it. The worst of these is Henry Mancini's tacky, obvious, ethnic cliché-infused score, which comes nowhere near the scope, emotion or wonderment of Elmer Bernstein's original. If Bernstein couldn't have been secured, surely there was a better option (Jerry Goldsmith springs to mind) than Henry "The Pink Panther" Mancini. But the score does have a few moments of... well, adequacy. Given that the film obviously failed and-- having never been released on either VHS or mass-market DVD-- both suffers in obscurity while toiling in notoriety, and given that the first film was (at least to this reviewer) almost thoroughly a masterpiece, "The Hawaiians" is much better than can be expected. And compared to the lame sequels that stuff the cineplexes these days, it plays off like a "Citizen Kane" or a "Godfather."