Wikipedia article
'Tiara Tahiti' is a 1962 comedy-drama film directed by Ted Kotcheff and starring James Mason and John Mills. Kotcheff's directorial debut, it is based on the novel by Geoffrey Cotterell, who also adapted it for the screen with Ivan Foxwell.[ It was filmed in London and Tahiti.] Rosenda Monteros, a Mexican actress, plays a Tahitian beauty. Roy Kinnear had a minor role.[
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Plot
Clifford Southey (Mills) is a clerk at a brokerage firm who is promoted to lieutenant colonel during the war. His subordinate officer, Captain Brett Aimsley (Mason), was a partner at Southey's firm. Popular and charismatic, Capt. Aimsley is everything Col. Southey is not, but aspires to be. Unfortunately money is Aimsley's weakness. His profligacy sees him removed from Southey's command.
Some time after the war, Aimsley's comfortable exile in Tahiti is rudely interrupted by the arrival of his old adversary, now director of a hotel chain looking to expand into the burgeoning South Seas market.
Cast
* James Mason as Aimsley
* John Mills as Southey
* Herbert Lom as Chong Sing
* Rosenda Monteros as Belle Annie
* Claude Dauphin as Henry
* Roy Kinnear as Enderby
Critical reception
In 'The New York Times', Bosley Crowther called it "lush, foolish, sometimes funny...splotchy entertainment that is, at least, colorful"; while 'Variety' wrote "The two male stars in this pic have a field day. Mason is fine as the mocking wastrel while Mills is equally good in a more difficult role that could have lapsed into parody. These two carry the main burden of the film" whereas 'Time Out' found it an "uneven mix of character study and situation comedy".
References
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