Kona Coast

Cheapjack theatrical production, filmed on Hawaiian locales, is underwritten and over-directed, with a camp-psychedelic opening that matches nothing else in the picture! Richard Boone plays a transportation skipper in Honolulu, searching for the persons responsible for making his estranged daughter a junkie and then dumping her body in the drink. Since the viewer is made well aware of what happened to the unfortunate girl, this amateur-detective melodrama offers not a hint mystery, only 'local color' and some stray brutality (and a gay-bitch villain). Executive produced by Boone, from John D. MacDonald's story (the uncredited "Bimini Gal"), though resembling nothing more than a failed TV-pilot. Supporting cast is extremely weak, with Kent Smith particularly tough to accept as a bearded tavern owner in a hep straw hat. * from ****

A man tries to bring the people responsible for his daughters death to justice.

Kona Coast starts badly and just gets worse. Underpinning the whole sorry mess is Richard Boone a thoroughly unlikeable lead who spends a fair proportion of the movie dressed in an alarming yellow jacket and shorts. I have rarely seen as shockingly bad a lead performance as the one dished up by Boone in this film.

An incredibly lousy script, pathetic dialogue, an appalling soundtrack and shockingly lame unbelievable characters are just a few of the flaws hurled at the poor unsuspecting viewer.

I've seen a lot of films and rarely give a film 1/10 but this mess has absolutely no redeeming qualities at all. How I managed to sit through the full running time is anyone's guess. How this appalling garbage currently has a rating of 4.9 (76 votes) is a cause for concern.

Avoid.

To the other reviewers here, I would add:

Cons: The dialog is contrived, the acting is poor, and the story is sophomoric. This all adds up to "hokey" as an apt description for this movie that must have escaped as opposed to being released. It's a miracle that Boone was even able to get Blondell and Miles to be in it. They must have needed to pay some bills.

There was one scene in which the goons hired by the bad guy beat him up next to a phone booth, and the police arrive not more than five seconds after he hits the ground! How's that for response by our boys in blue? What this adds up to is a hokey film, so save your time (and money if you thought of buying the DVD).

Pros: The scenery is nice. A lot has changed in the 40+ years since the filming of this movie, but those who have been to Kailua-Kona will recognize some of the views along Alii Drive.

From the tacky opening credits to the kitschy music, to the meandering script, to a supporting cast blending old stalwarts (Joan Blondell, Kent Taylor) and unknowns, to the "guest star" (Steve Inhant, Chips Rafferty) to the "special guest star" (Vera Miles), KONA COAST screams "unsold pilot." Calling from the home of a rich drug dealer (Steve Inhant) A "party girl" loaded on smack Sam "the Man" Moran (Richard Boone) a bigger-than-life fishing boat skipper. Boone begins a search for the "party girl;" whom, of course, is Boone's daughter. With a minimum of information, Boone shows up at Inhant's home and makes not-so-veiled threats. Though dialogue, we learn four days have passed since the girl's disappears (Aha! Station Break), and the police pick up Sam because the girl has "washed up on the beach". Boone "puts the word out" on the street, and gets beaten up by a couple of Inhant's henchmen. Boone's "neighbor" on the pier (Chips Rafferty), gets his lungs badly burned putting out a fire which destroys Boone's boat. Rafferty, who makes no attempt to act as if he is gasping for breath, asks Boone to put him on Rafferty's boat and take him home to die. Rafferty's Aussie accent is thick enough to spread on a cracker. When Boone arives at Kona Coast (Rafferty's home), he meets Rafferty's "sister" (Joan Blondell), who sounds closer to Yonkers than Sydney. Boone has never met Blondell before, but he know's the local tavern owner (Kent Taylor) as though they were old friends! Blondell runs a retreat for reformed alcoholics, and one of her guests just happens to be an "old flame" of Boone (Vera Miles). Boone meets Miles at the tavern rather than the retreat (I imagine, to save the number of shooting locations), and the tavern owner seems to know an awful lot about both Boone and Miles (?) Of course, none of this has anything to do with solving the case. Not a problem; Inhant, for some reason, considers Boone enough of a challenge to come after him (!) exposing himself to the kind of public scrutiny even the most daring drug dealer wouldn't risk. After all, wouldn't Inhant's suppliers feel "uncomfortable" providing "pharmasuticals" to a man this reckless? Further, Inhant's men don't carry any guns, and are pretty stupid to boot. So, of course, Boone prevails, makes a business partnership with Blondell, and revives a noncommittal romance with Miles. As bad as this movie is (And it is REALLY bad), I've wanted a VHS copy for twenty years. The movie is fun, in a mean-spirited way. Boone is a delight to watch; this man laughs and snarls with such gusto, you can't help but like and respect him; even when the script calls for him to do some incredibly stupid things; and even when he is verbally abusive to Miles. Boone is a man you can BELIEVE would take care of the "baddies." Despite the horrible shot mismatches (closeups aren't even properly posed), KONA COAST is also beautifully photographed, and has a more Hawaiian flavor than either HAWAII 5-0 or MAGNUM P.I. The young supporting cast of Hawaiians and Polynesians is attactive, if not particularly talented. And both Kent Taylor and Joan Blondell make the most of their few scenes and cliched characters. Shut off your brain, watch KONA COAST and enjoy.

Just happened to wake up at 3am last night and went to watch satellite TV to try and get back to sleep and this came on. This film was so bad that it was compelling viewing and as a result I couldn't get back to sleep!

A quite poor script, and dreadful acting by ALL concerned, but worst of all was the plot which has been explained by previous posters so I won't repeat it here. The film attempts to potray emotion and dignity and utterly fails - not even the funeral of one of the main characters made you care. The characters are completely devoid of any depth or meaning, and you really don't give a damn about what happens to any of them.