Waikiki Wedding

WAIKIKI WEDDING (Paramount, 1937), directed by Frank Tuttle, is an enjoyable but sadly neglected musical set in Hawaii starring Paramount's box office attraction, Bing Crosby, crooning to the up-and-grooming Shirley Ross, a fine vocalist in her own right whose popularity faded as quickly as it started, with her peak years at Paramount being from 1936 to 1938. By 1939, she left the studio after appearing in some secondary roles, including another Crosby musical, Paris HONEYMOON (1938), in which the object to his affection there was a newcomer named Franciska Gaal, but to re-discover Shirley Ross, WAIKIKI WEDDING is a good introduction. And now for a brief synopsis and inside look of the movie.

Set in Hawaii, the story begins with Tony Marvin (Bing Crosby) and his pal, Shad Buggle (Bob Burns), accompanied by his pet pig, attending a native wedding feast, in which Tony participated with a Hawaiian song. Tony, a smooth talking publicity man for J.B. Todhunter (George Barbier), president of a pineapple company, is hired to escort Georgia Smith (Shirley Ross), from Birch Falls, a "Miss Pineapple Queen" contest winner, on her Hawaiian tour, accompanied by her companion, Myrtle Finch (Martha Raye), who in turn becomes escorted by Shad. Because Georgia is not satisfied with her trip, threatening to return home to the states and refusing to participate in any publicity campaigns, Tony goes through extremes in keeping her in Hawaii, ranging from having her accused of smuggling a black pearl, abducted by a native group headed by Kimo (Anthony Quinn); vocalizing to her, and having her attend ceremonial dances. After discovering this whole affair to be nothing but tricks to keep her in Hawaii, the angry Georgia decides to book passage on the next boat to return home and marry her dull fiancé, Victor P. Quimby (Leif Erickson), causing Tony, who now loves her, to continue using provide more tricks instead of sincerity to keep her.

Along with the lightweight plot and Hawaiian surroundings, the bright score by Ralph Rainger and Leo Robin include: "Blue Hawaii" and "In a Little Hula Heaven" (sung by chorus during opening credits); "Nani Ona Pua" (sung by Bing Crosby); "Blue Hawaii" (sung by Crosby); "Blue Hawaii" (sung by Crosby and Shirley Ross); "Sweet Leilani" by Harry Owens, (sung by Crosby); "In a Little Hula Heaven" (sung by Crosby and Ross); "Okolehao" (sung by Martha Raye. Take notice how Raye's hair style changes midway through this number); "Sweet Is the Word for You" (sung by Crosby) and "Sweet Is the Word for You" (reprise, sung by Ross). While "Blue Hawaii" and "In a Little Hula Heaven" are the best sounding tunes for this production, it's the slower tempo lullaby of "Sweet Leilani" that became the Academy Award winning song of 1937.

The supporting cast features Grady Sutton as Everett Todhunter; Granville Bates as Uncle Herman; George Regas, Emma Dunn, and Mitchell Lewis, among others.

While "Waikiki Wedding," which runs at about 89 minutes, hasn't aired on any television station for quite some time now, it was distributed on video cassette in 1995 as part of the Bing Crosby collection, along with other titles as RHYTHM ON THE RANGE (1936) with Frances Farmer, and its WAIKIKI WEDDING co-stars, Bob Burns and Martha Raye, and a decade later onto DVD double featured with DOUBLE OR NOTHING (1937) also featuring Martha Raye. Oh, boy!!!! All films mentioned make recommended viewing for Crosby fans. (***)

The more I see Bing Crosby's undervalued Paramount musicals, the more he is becoming one of my favorite musical stars of all time. Except for the tedious 1933 musical "Going Hollywood", I was impressed by all of Bing's works and his sweet, aching crooning.

"Waikiki Wedding", sumptuously set in Hawaii, is one of Bing's best efforts, featuring such remarkable and beguiling tunes as "Blue Hawaii", "Sweet Leilani", "Sweet Is the Word for You", and "Nani Ona Pua".

Although I enjoyed "Blue Hawaii" as the best sounding song in the movie, the Oscar-winning "Sweet Leilani" is really my favorite after repeated viewings.

Bing plays a publicity agent Tony Marvin working for a pineapple company taking part in a native wedding feast and becomes involved in a scheme to escort a beauty contest winner, played by Shirley Ross. Ms. Ross has a nice, appealing presence and does a very good job playing Bing's love interest and the "Miss Pineapple Queen" winner on her trip to Hawaii.

I also enjoyed George Barbier, Martha Raye, Bob Burns, and an interesting early appearance by Anthony Quinn as one of the Hawaiian natives.

Frank Tuttle's direction gets a little slack in the second half, but the music and Bing's timeless singing are all you need to enjoy "Waikiki Wedding".

"Waikiki Wedding" is a very lightweight film starring Bing Crosby. While it is quite watchable, sometimes the humor is very, very broad and the story a bit predictable.

When the film begins, the big boss at a pineapple company is upset because Miss Pineapple is upset. It seems that the lady who won this beauty contest and who has been brought to Hawaii is NOT enjoying her stay and things that all the talk about romance in the islands is a sham. And, if she goes home and talks about her experiences, it can't help but hurt sales. So, the company's #1 brain, Marvin (Crosby) concocts a long and complicated scheme to give her some excitement and romance. The only trouble is after a while, Marvin has really fallen for her and he feels like a rat.

So why do I give this light romance only a 5? Well, to put it very succinctly--Martha Raye. The comedienne has never been one of my favorites but here she is just awful--very, very broad and annoying. I think without the humor, the film would have actually worked better as I liked the romance. Still, it's a decent little time-passer if you can get past Raye's annoying antics--and the presence of a wild chimp living in the jungles of Hawaii!

The story and direction do slacken a tad towards the end and Anthony Quinn does look rather lost in an early role. But Waikiki Wedding is still a fun film that will cheer anybody up after a hard day. It is lovingly photographed and the costumes and sets do look beautiful even by today's standards. The incidental score is whimsical and catchy, and the songs are wonderful with Sweet Leilani, A Little Hula Heaven and especially Blue Hawaii being classics. The choreography is sharp and not too flashy but never simplistic, suiting the film just fine. Waikiki Wedding is smartly and wittily scripted and the story is not too complicated, moves swiftly and has a lot of charm and heart. Bing Crosby looks very relaxed here and gives a likewise charming performance. As ever, his distinctive voice sounds fabulous. The very attractive Shirley Ross has a voice like heaven and lights up the screen, sharing good chemistry with Crosby, she's virtually forgotten now and that's a shame. The performances of Bob Burns and Martha Raye won't be everyone's cup of tea but I found them a lot of fun with Raye particularly enjoying herself. Nice to see George Barbier too. All in all, very entertaining and charming particularly notable for the songs. 8/10 Bethany Cox

(1957) Waikiki Wedding ROMANTIC COMEDY

Like many of Elvis movies, the story is built around Bing Crosby's songs in which a young lady, Georgia Smith (Shirley Ross) winning a miss pineapple contest with a prize of 3 weeks in Hawaii. Because she was also promised romance with this vacation, and is unable to get any, motivating her to want to leave her vacation early. And that is when executives send Bing Crosby over, he plays Tony Marvin, to woo and convince her to stay. Both Martha Raye as Myrtle Finch and Bob Burns as Shad Buggle also stars as comedy relief. I like Bing Crosby, but if it's just to listen to the songs, I can do that without watching the movie.