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Honolulu (film)
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Wikipedia article
'Honolulu' is a 1939 American musical comedy film directed by Edward Buzzell and starring dancer Eleanor Powell, Robert Young, George Burns and Gracie Allen. The picture was produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Also appearing in the film are Rita Johnson, Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, Sig Rumann and Ruth Hussey.
Plot
Inspired by stories about doppelgngers and identical twins such as 'The Prince and the Pauper', 'Honolulu' features Young in a dual role as Brooks Mason—a top movie star—and as Hawaii-based businessman George Smith. Mason is tired of being in the public eye, so when he discovers that Smith is close enough to be his twin, he arranges to switch places with Smith temporarily. When Mason steps into Smith's life, he finds himself in a tug-of-war between Smith's fiance, and a dancer named Dorothy March (Powell), with whom he has fallen in love. Meanwhile, Smith discovers that being a famous movie star is not all that it is made out to be.
Notes
Eleanor Powell's dance routines were given a mostly Hawaiian flavor. One of her routines was performed in blackface in tribute to Powell's idol, Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson. The comedy of Burns and Allen is also featured, although the two actors work separately for much of the movie, their characters only meeting in the final minutes. Powell and Gracie Allen sing and dance together in a sequence featuring the titular song. This was George Burns' last film appearance for 37 years until his Oscar-winning performance in 'The Sunshine Boys' in 1975. The film is also notable for offering a somewhat rare cinematic look at pre-World War II Honolulu.
There is a notable musical sequence featuring Gracie Allen, accompanied by musicians made to look like the Marx Brothers (including two Grouchos), while several actors in the audience are costumed to look like such famous actors as Clark Gable, W.C. Fields and Oliver Hardy.
Footage of one of Powell's dance routines (done in a hula skirt to a tiki drum orchestra) would be reused in the later comedy, 'I Dood It', while another dance performance that was cut from the film appeared seven years later in the "hodge-podge" production 'The Great Morgan'.
Cast
*Eleanor Powell as Miss Dorothy 'Dot' March
*Robert Young as Brooks Mason / George Smith / David in the movie
*George Burns as Joe Duffy
*Gracie Allen as Millicent 'Millie' De Grasse
*Rita Johnson as Cecelia Grayson
*Clarence Kolb as Mr. Horace Grayson
*Jo Ann Sayers as Nurse
*Ann Morriss as Gale Brewster
*Willie Fung as Wong, Mason's Hawaiian servant
*Cliff Clark as First Detective
*Edward Gargan as Second Detective
*Eddie Anderson as Washington, Mason's Hollywood servant
*Sig Rumann as Professor Timmer, psychiatrist
*Ruth Hussey as Eve, David's wife in the movie
* Russell Hicks as Clifford Jones
*Kealoha Holt as Native Dancing Girl
* Edward LeSaint as Minister
* Edgar Dearing as Jailer
* Tom Neal as Ambulance Intern
* Betty Jaynes as Singer
Bibliography
* Pugh, Megan. 'America Dancing: From the Cakewalk to the Moonwalk'. Yale University Press, 2015.
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