Pagan Love Song
Pagan Love Song | |
---|---|
Directed by | Robert Alton |
Written by | Robert Nathan Jerry Davis William S. Stone (novel) |
Produced by | Arthur Freed |
Starring | Esther Williams Howard Keel Minna Gombell Charles Mauu Rita Moreno |
Cinematography | Charles Rosher |
Edited by | Adrienne Fazan |
Music by | Harry Warren, Nacio Herb Brown, Arthur Freed, conducted by Adolph Deutsch[1] |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Loew's, Inc. |
Release date | December 25, 1950 (New York City) December 29, 1950[2] |
Running time | 76 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $1,920,000[3] |
Box office | $3,360,000[3] |
Pagan Love Song is a 1950 American romantic musical film released by MGM and starring Esther Williams and Howard Keel. Set in Tahiti, it was based on the novel Tahiti Landfall by William S. Stone.
Plot[]
Mimi Bennett lives with her wealthy Aunt Kate on the Polynesian isle of Tahiti. A half-indigenous, half-White girl, Mimi's dream is to someday leave the South Pacific to live in America.
Hazard Endicott's arrival changes her plans. He is a school teacher from Ohio who has inherited a Tahiti estate. His first task is to hire a servant and, mistaking Mimi for a native girl, offers her the job. She amuses herself by feigning a bare grasp of English.
The estate turns out to be little more than a shack. Endicott also miscalculates an invitation to a party at Kate's, coming in casual island attire to an event with elegantly dressed guests. Mimi takes pity on him, and a romance blooms.
Cast[]
- Esther Williams as Mimi Bennett (singing voice was dubbed by Betty Wand)
- Howard Keel as Hazard Endicott
- Minna Gombell as Kate
- Charles Mauu as Tavee
- Rita Moreno as Teuru
Production[]
The film was originally announced as Tahiti and was to star Ann Miller, Howard Keel and Ricardo Montalbán.[4] Eventually Miller was replaced by Esther Williams and Montalbán by Charles Mauu.[5] The title was then changed to Hawaii.[6]
The film was to have been directed by Stanley Donen but Williams refused to work with him again after Take Me Out to the Ballgame.[7] Location work was done on the Hawaiian island of Kauai.[8][9]
Esther Williams realised she was pregnant during the shoot. She claimed she nearly drowned during filming.[8]
The film went $400,000 over budget.[8]
Deleted songs[]
"Sea of the Moon", performed by voice-dubbed Esther Williams, was cut from the released film; this video outtake still survives today.[10]
Howard Keel sings "Why Is Love So Crazy?" in the released film version, but a reprise performed by Esther Williams was cut; this video outtake also still exists.[11][12]
Howard Keel's song "Music on the Water" was deleted from the released film. The audio pre-recording survives; the status of the video outtake is unknown.[13]
Reception[]
According to MGM records the film earned $2,157,000 in the US and Canada and $1,203,000 elsewhere, resulting in a profit of $108,000.[3] This was considered a relative disappointment for an Esther Williams movie.[8]
References[]
- ^ Pagan Love Song, Library of Congress
- ^ "Pagan Love Song (1950): Release Dates". IMDb. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
- ^ Hopper, Hedda (May 7, 1949). "Looking at Hollywood". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 17.
- ^ "David Wayne to Stay for Films Till Fall". Los Angeles Times. Mar 18, 1950. p. 10.
- ^ Hopper, Hedda (May 19, 1948). "Looking at Hollywood". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. a4.
- ^ THOMAS F. BRADY (Jan 28, 1950). "DRATTLER DRAMA IS BOUGHT BY RKO: Studio Acquires 'Miami Story' as Vehicle for Robert Ryan --Author Named Producer Of Local Origin". New York Times. p. 10.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/3499/Pagan-Love-Song/articles.html
- ^ JOHN ROTHWELL LIHUE, Kauai, T.H. (May 7, 1950). "HAWAII HAILS CONQUERING HEROINE: Attraction Boom Actors All". New York Times. p. 116.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
- ^ "Sea of the Moon" from Pagan Love Song at YouTube
- ^ Esther Williams performing "Why Is Love So Crazy?" dubbed by ghost singer – outtake on YouTube
- ^ Performances of "Why Is Love So Crazy?" by Esther Willams and Howard Keel on YouTube
- ^ "Music on the Water" pre-recording by Howard Keel at YouTube
External links[]
- Pagan Love Song at IMDb
- Pagan Love Song at the TCM Movie Database
- English-language films
- 1950 films
- 1950 musical comedy films
- American films
- American musical comedy films
- American romantic comedy films
- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films
- Swimming films
- Films set in French Polynesia
- Films shot in Hawaii
- Films based on American novels
- Films produced by Arthur Freed
- American romantic musical films
- 1950 romantic comedy films