Chanson païenne

When Pagan Love Song came out in 1950 it reflected the changing times and the fact that the movies were competing with television. Ten years earlier a film like this would have been done on MGM's backlot. But now in order to get the audiences to a film about the south seas, you had to show the real thing.

The film is lovely to look at without the plot getting too much in the way of the lovely Hawaiian scenery which substituted for Tahiti. My guess is that Tahiti probably was still recovering from the effects of World War II otherwise MGM might have shot the film there. In any event having been to Hawaii, I am of the firm opinion, further documented by Pagan Love Song that it is impossible to make an unattractive film in Hawaii.

The plot is real simple, Howard Keel is an American whose heard about the romantic south seas and wants to get away from it all. Esther Williams is a native Tahitian who'd just like to get to see some of the rest of the world. Howard has bought a copra plantation and he settles into the Tahitian ways very fast. Of course seeing Esther in a bathing suit swimming in the lagoon helped a lot.

One thing that should also be remembered is that at the time Pagan Love Song came out, the most popular musical on Broadway was South Pacific. That Rodgers&Hammerstein classic by itself created a market for a film like Pagan Love Song. I only wish the music were up to the standards of that show.

Arthur Freed did double duty in this film, serving as both producer and lyricist. He wrote original songs with Harry Warren, nothing terribly memorable and also it's his song with Nacio Herb Brown that serves as the title of the film. It was one of the earliest hits from the beginning of sound films.

Esther Williams as usual has some lovely water ballets. Of her it can truly be said, her like in Hollywood has not appeared again and is unlikely to.

Pagan Love Song is a pleasant piece of fluff entertainment, easy to look at with a plot not too taxing.

It's safe to say that PAGAN LOVE SONG contains the thinnest wisp of a plot, even for an ESTHER WILLIAMS movie and barely a hint of conflict which only separates her briefly from HOWARD KEEL after a stormy argument over coconuts.

But MGM wisely uses Hawaii to substitute for Tahiti and filmed the whole fluffy romance in gorgeous Technicolor, provided songs for Keel to belt out in his robust baritone manner, and kept things moving nicely for a brief running time of 76 minutes. Result? One of the most attractive looking of all Esther's films, including a couple of dream sequences that have her appearing like a mermaid among the colorful coral reef backgrounds underwater. There's also a dreamy swimming scene set in the clouds, as Keel daydreams about the luscious swimmer.

It's a pity that none of the songs have much distinction and they are dropped into the proceedings with hardly any preparation--in other words, at the drop of a hat someone begins to sing with all the choreography intact. Keel's version of "The House of Singing Bamboo" is the best of the lot. It's only his second film, but he's already the pro when it comes to strutting his stuff for the camera.

He and Esther perform with a naturalness that seems to fit the faux Tahitian settings and seem completely well-matched as a screen couple under Robert Alton's smooth direction.

Summing up: An easy to take minor musical with enough eye candy to keep you pleasantly entertained even though there's almost no attempt at providing any real conflict in the easy-going storyline of a schoolteacher (Keel) who inherits a coconut plantation in Tahiti.

Someone seemed to have forgotten that a film needs a plot when they devised this piece of fluffy entertainment. Still the people are pretty, the setting even more pretty, and the fantasy sequence the prettiest of the lot. The songs are forgettable - but just turn the brain off and enjoy.

So-so musical with Howard Keel as an American coming to Tahiti to run a plantation he inherited. There he meets and immediately falls for a biracial Tahitian, played by Esther Williams. About as flimsy as they come, how much this entertains you will depend on how big a fan you are of the two stars. Keel sings a few decent songs and Esther has some nice swimming scenes. Both are great in their areas of expertise but their chemistry is nonexistent, so the romance aspect of the story falls flat. This was a troubled production that included a broken arm for Keel and a near-drowning incident for Esther. It also went way over budget and Esther found out she was pregnant during filming. The parts of the movie that were shot on location were shot in Hawaii, not Tahiti. The attractive scenery is certainly a plus, as is the short runtime. It's ultimately nothing special but if you enjoy handsome Keel's voice or beautiful Esther's swimming, you'll want to see it at least once. But be forewarned all that fake laughter gets old after awhile.

What a fascinating historical document, a dazzling Technicolor window into the hearts and desires of the American public, or at least what MGM was marketing to them in 1950! As long as today's viewer isn't expecting to see a gripping love story or the conflict that might occur when two radically different cultures attempt to meld, as long as plot or logic or suspense don't matter much, this musical document is amazingly entertaining! And perhaps it's entertainment value evolves from secondary values such as color and location and decent singing. It's not Mutiny On The Bounty!

I expect no one ever has watched an Esther Williams film for the intellectual challenge or for cutting edge plot development: first and foremost, we want to see Esther swim, to gloriously navigate the MGM waters as no one else has managed--in over a dozen films, this Million Dollar Mermaid dallied with her suitors, wore bathing suits perfectly, and ultimately proved who was boss in the romantic department, just as she does in this escapist delight. When Howard Keel sails into Tahiti (at the time there were no viable airfields accessible on Tahiti so the studio settled for Hawaii, and it's ravishing!), he mistakes Esther for a native swimmer, treats her with condescension and Esther goes along with the joke until she can turn the tables on him.

In the meantime, Howard learns how to live more gregariously with the local natives, a happy lot who seldom challenge his ways, and who are always happy to run off to a luau or a beach party when there's coconut to be husked. There are a couple of lavish MGM showpieces here, one of them a staged cellophaned hula extravaganza featuring dazzling hula action and a performer who utilizes his body as a percussion instrument: it's a frenzied five minutes!! And wait until you see the mind- boggling Dali-esque underwater fantasy ballet, a trip through a bright coral wonderland peppered with golden flashes from the local fishies!

Had Stanley Donen, director of such gems as Singin' In The Rain and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, been allowed to direct, this might have been one of Esther's best--but she had suffered under his indifferent attitude toward her talents on Take Me Out To The Ball Game, and she refused to work with him, so the studio provided Robert Alton. Fortunately, we are spared Red Skelton or the other usual guest appearances which hamper the pace, and we are gifted with actual lush photography from the island of what appears to be Kauai for a 50's time warp, a zippy escape from any kind of reality.