Le roi des îles

This film is not Lancaster's best but is enjoyable if you enjoy watching him in his athletic prime. Beautifully shot, it captures the exciting times of adventure on the high seas and island exploration. The plot is fairly insubstantial and there's nothing new here but at just over 90 minutes, the story never drags. Definitely worth a look if you're a fan of Burt's.

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.

This is an amusing and fun movie , although heavily Hollywoodized, the film is based on real individuals and events . Here Burt Lancaster is the complete show , he played this adventure movie in the wake of his man-of-action epoch when he performed three magnificent movies that included ¨Crimson pirate¨ , ¨The Flame and the Arrow¨ and this one . Based on a real-life American adventurer , a Yankee sea captain who has adventures in paradise trying to become an entrepreneur in Micronesia. The entire picture was photographed in the South Pacific , where for years the basic economy and wealth revolved around the dried meat of coconut , known as Copra . And in the Island of Yap the natives worshipped an exotic sacred stone they called ¨Fei¨. It deals with Lancaster's attempts to make fame and fortune out of pearls or anything else he can lay his hands on , when he's not fighting gangs of pirates , he then became involved into the lucrative coconut-oil trade of the mid-1800s . There the disgruntled natives see him as a god and allow him to marry a charming maiden . When his kingdom is threatened by unscrupulous German traders , Burt springs into action to safeguard his kingdom .

Agreeable as well as entertaining adventure movie , plenty of action , thrills , bright cinematography and exotic scenarios . Although the story has been told before , tight filmmaking and nice acting win out . The picture is fast-moving , exciting and thrilling ; however the scenic qualities of the movie are rather better than the disjointed screenplay by Borden Chase and James Hill , being suggested by a novel from Lawrence Klingman and Gerald Green . ¨His Majesty O'Keefe¨ results to be one of Lancaster's swashbuckling best and has achieved a good status along with ¨Crimson pirate¨(1952) and ¨The Flame and the Arrow¨(1950) , all of them made during star Burt Lancaster's athletic and swashbuckler period . Because of cost overruns on "The Crimson Pirate" and "His Majesty O'Keefe," Warner Brothers insisted that future films from Hecht/Lancaster be limited to $900,000 ; then Lancaster and Hecht's response was to strike a new deal with United Artists. The cast is frankly well such as Andre Morell as a friendly trader , Abraham Sofaer as a medicine man and a gorgeous young Joan Rice . The producers , the notorious team formed by Harold Hecht-James Hill-Lancaster wish to acknowledge their gratitude to the Secretary for Fijian Affairs , to Ratu Penaia La La Latiamara , Serua District Chief in Charge and to the wonderful people of the Fiji Islands . Colorful cinematography shot on location by Otto Heller , this was the first film ever filmed in the Fiji Islands . Lively and atmospheric musical score composed by the classic Dimitri Tiomkin , though the British print has a Robert Farnon score conducted by Louis Levy, re-scored in Hollywood by Dimitri .

Lavishly produced and being professionally directed by Byron Haskin , though with no originality . Haskin was a good craftsman who worked in Warner Brothers Special Effects department . He returned to filmmaking , and was responsible for Walt Disney's first live-action film , the adventure cult-classic Treasure island (1950). In the mid-1950s Haskin began a rewarding association with producer George Pal, for whom he filmed what are probably his best-known films , the science fiction classic War of the worlds (1953) , Conquest of space (1955) and a catastrophe movie , The naked jungle (1954). Haskin was expert on Sci-Fi genre , as he would collaborate with Pal on other films , such as From the earth to moon , Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1964) and The power (1968). He also directed some Western as Denver Rio Grande and Silver City and especially adventure movie such as Treasure Island (1950) , Long John Silver (1954) , Captain Sinbad (1963) and this His Majesty O'Keefe (1954) .

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.