His Majesty O'Keefe

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")

Aside from some good old studio stand-bys, like Benson Fong and Philip Ahn (A Korean usually cast as some other Asian), this film has few of the faces that hung around the screens of Hollywood. But, Lancaster teamed up with the lovely Joan Rice from the UK to give us a wonderful tale of adventure in the South Seas. This time, it takes us to the Solomons to the island of Yap, who worship the stone Fey, spirits who reside in stone wheels cut and transported nearly a thousand miles. O'Keefe winds up becoming their king but with profit in mind. He wants to exploit the copra market but the Yap Islanders won't work. So, he hits on the plan to bring their Fey back and this is the beginning. The Solomons were part of the old German trust Islands and there actually was a man named O'Keefe who slipped in by marrying a local girl. But, the Germans, unlike in the movie, eventually kicked him out until they were kicked out after the first world war and then the Island went to the Japanese who were kicked out after the second world war and then...well, you get the idea. I loved this film when I saw it as a kid. No, it's far from perfect but it is a charming story with lots of action and Burt was at his best. But, those beautiful green eyes of Joan Rice were a delight as well. It's too bad we saw so little of her afterwards. Also, there's a lovely song from this film, based in part on Rachmaninov's rhapsody, called Sweet Emerald Isle. Check it out.

19th century freebooter O'Keefe (Lancaster) uses his wiles to set up copra trade in south seas despite native resistance and organized competition.

Lancaster was made for this kind of role. With his athletic frame, blinding grin, and iron jaw, he's a great adventurer. Later, he became a serious actor, but I always preferred the grinning swashbuckler ever up to some kind of daring-do, as he is here.

This is one of his lesser known action films and I'm not sure why. At times the shifting loyalties are hard to follow, so it's not the simple action narrative of good guys versus bad. Still, the story's based on fact, and I like the insight into how the Europeans try to turn the simple native economy into a commodity producing one (copra). In that regard, I really like the ending that seems surprisingly contemporary in its respectful politics. As a result, the story may be complex, but there's also considerable substance.

Meanwhile, I'm on my way to Yap to see if the green-eyed Dalabo (Rice) left any female offspring. Besides, the scenery there is spectacular, nicely captured by Warner's Technicolor department. Traditional Hollywood usually went to Catalina for its south seas background. Not here. Instead, Warner's popped for authentic Pacific locations-- probably to compete with newfangled TV. Then too, Lancaster's big, native ceremony is elaborately colorful and unusual, especially the costuming. At the same time, he gets to do some of his effortless acrobatics and come up grinning.

In my book, it all adds up to an entertaining package and well worth tuning in.

I don't know why His Majesty O'Keefe isn't an extremely famous classic, included on all referenced lists, one that almost everyone sees at least once in their lifetime. It has all the elements: Technicolor, exotic setting, period piece, interesting story, a scantily-clad romance, energetic acting, and a hunky, shirtless Burt Lancaster. You won't want to feel traitorous, but after you watch this movie you'll find yourself wondering, "Why wasn't Burt Lancaster the lead in Ben-Hur?" Burt plays an American sea captain, stranded to an island in the South Pacific after a mutiny on his ship. He's ambitious and a little greedy, so when he finds a natural resource that's valuable, he doesn't hesitate to exploit the native islanders into workers and harvesters. He also romances a few island babes along the way, but his selfish ways just might catch up with him. . .

If you like Burt Lancaster, you need to watch this one. If you don't, watch it anyway and you'll probably develop a massive crush on him after the first ten minutes.

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.