Tahiti Honey

Tahiti Honey is a modestly entertaining and typical Republic musical with some tired shtick and a slightly irritating plot line BUT - Thanks to the beautiful face and singing voice of Simone Simon and the always deft comedic timing of Dennis O'Keefe it is all pleasantly watchable. Simon pretends to have an injured boyfriend named Johnny in the American military and she tags along with the members of a swing band (The Tahitian Bombshells, The Russian Bombshells etc.) led by Dennis O'Keefe who begrudgingly aids in the deception. Though he plays gruff, O'Keefe is falling for Suzy (Simon) and who in their right minds wouldn't? Ridiculous plot contrivance arrives when Tim Whelan (remember Shirley Temple's Dad in Poor Little Rich Girl?) shows up out of nowhere and he is (!) an injured American flyer named Johnny who swears he saw Simon's face (though he never met her before) before being injured and temporarily blinded. Wow! What really is memorable in this short film is the very fun music, especially the excellent title song (which you will never get out of your head),another great ballad called You Could Hear a Pin Drop and the amusing novelty numbers. Not for everybody but if you like attractive escapist hokum then "Take Tahiti Honey"!

The band "Eleven Brooklyn Bombshells," led by Mickey Monroe (Dennis O'Keefe), was stranded in Tahiti when France fell into the hands of the Nazis. Suzette "Suzie" Durand (Simone Simon). A French-amrical girl singing in a nightclub is swallowed up by a desire to go to the United States. Things go from bad to worse for the band. And they have to face either taking a singing girl in the group that they all consider unfortunate or starving. The gang insists that as soon as they earn enough to catch a stick, they must be discarded immediately. But Mickey falls in love with Suzie and smuggles the ship.