It’s not right that Elvis gets all the credit. The recognizable tune, Blue Hawaii, is almost inseparable from the King’s movie of the same name but that’s not where it originated. Bing Crosby sang it first, while behind the wheel on a double masted sailboat with actress Shirley Ross in Waikiki Wedding.
The story line is a rather amusing one from the perspective those who know anything of Hawaii’s destination marketing efforts. Bing plays the PR flack responsible for bringing a “Pineapple Girl” out to the islands. She’s unimpressed, he sets up a bunch of fake adventures and fake press stories to make it look like she loves Hawaii and is having an amazing time. Some of the language is just like you’d see in any glowing story about Hawaii today. There’s a sumptuous luau, lots of flower leis, a hopped up superstitious plot, scads of scantily clad non-natives in grass skirts and tapa cloth. There’s also a surprising amount of Hawaiian language in the film, though I can’t vouch for it’s accuracy either in use or translation.
Only the silhouette of Diamond Head is recognizable in this black and white confection of a movie. The hula girls don’t look the least bit Hawaiian and the role of Kimo, the Hawaiian character with the most speaking lines is played by an ethnically ambiguous and oh so young Anthony Quinn.It’s a Hollywood frolic through and through. And while it’s the home of another crooning megahit, Sweet Leilani, it’s also the birthplace of Blue Hawaii.
Elvis, give it back.