Hawaiian Nights (1954) User Reviews

Banannas!

[davecobb · 5/10 · 11 September 2006]

Ridiculous and cheesy, sure. And yes, Pinky Lee is really not very funny.

However, Pinky does pull off one of the best "bananna in my pocket" gags I'd ever seen, which truly made me laugh. How the heck did the censors *not* get that one?

Also, Mamie Van Doren looks incredible, as do the rest of the Miss Universe gals. But what about those hula performers? Not an authentic islander in the bunch -- they all looked like pasty chorus boys to me.

Oh, and the hula-hands in 3D was a very clever and subtle gag. Worth seeing in 3D for that alone.

Much Maligned

[mr3d · 7/10 · 11 September 2006]

EVERYBODY'S a critic.

This film, heretofore "lost," finally has been seen on a theater screen in 3D. And while some apparently HATE Pinky Lee (a cross between a poor man's Pee-wee Herman and any number of Vaudvillian solo's of the era) and (per a previous post) this film, just ask the audience that saw it. In MANY of the scenes the audience laughed mighty well for what has been said to be a BORING waste of time.

Nevertheless, this short won't win any awards, but was entertaining to the majority who saw it, and was talked about with smiling faces by the majority of the audience.

Fact is, most of the Universal shorts of the period were cheap and less-than-stellar. This was one way they could try out new starlets and allow their cameramen to learn the new 3D medium before starting features.

The 3D FILM EXPO is not a critical forum. Our finding the elements of this and getting the new prints made (and made RIGHT) and showing it to a LARGELY grateful audience is our continuing goal, and we are ecstatic at the positive response. The history and legacy of 3D has gained from this virtually unknown short as the 3D aspect is excellent in all respects.

Too bad people can't either keep overly negative or biased comments to themselves or just chill and enjoy the moment.

PS: the next day (11 SEPT) I asked the audience if they liked it and I got a huge round of applause. Likely to be shown again before the EXPO closes.

I Loved It

[anoxinomin · 7/10 · 11 September 2006]

I too was at this screening and enjoyed it very much. Perhaps we saw two different films. The use of 3D had some of the best effects I've ever seen. The print was in excellent condition, sharp and well projected with the two images. Almost everyone present went wild when the hula-girls came off the screen and danced in our laps. It was obvious that a great deal of time went into the filming of this small, but classic example of what the process could achieve when projected with professionalism. It's no HOUSE OF WAX,just a few moments of fun and escapism. Mamie and Lisa looked HOT,and their curves looked even better,thanks to the addition of "depth",if you can get my drift. A big bravo to the presenters and thanks for letting us see this little bit of history.Never mind what one over blown, self centered, "Malton wanna be" thinks. See this film for yourselves and enjoy it for what it is,a few fun moments in the third dimension.

A better-than-average short

[boblinds · 12 September 2006]

A previous poster obviously has little experience with the film shorts of the 1930s-50s. Few of them were world-beaters in the quality department, but they were often entertaining and, today, represent a nice time capsule of the variety acts that were playing the circuit in their times.

"Hawaiian Nights" features, what else?, a Hawaiian music and dance troupe, augmented by the often silly, occasionally amusing, and at one time immensely popular clowning of Pinky Lee.

For a musical short, the production values of this are remarkably good, including the excellent 3D BW photography (vividly presented in a new print debuted at the 3D festival).

Plus, Mamie van Doren looks spectacular before she perfected her slightly sleazy "bad girl" image of the late '50s, and the featured Miss Universe contestants from the mid-20th century are still looking pretty darned good by 21st Century standards.

The World 3D Expo II has shown two shorts produced by Will Cowan. Both of them have solid production values, and the artists involve suggest that Cowan had good taste in talent. His list of shorts includes such superb musicians as Nat Cole, David Rose, Harry James, Billy May, Spade Cooley, Buddy Rich, and many others. There's probably a treasure of American musical history preserved in Cowan's shorts. tucked away in the Universal vaults. Unfortunately, there is probably little to no chance they'll ever be seen, except in festival situations.

A waste of film, even in 3-D

[CharlieDyer · 3/10 · 10 September 2006]

Just saw this at the World 3-D Film Expo and it was the world premiere showing of it as a 3-D public showing. I can't even imagine why this was even made in the first place.

I guess they wanted to show off some of what could be done in 3-D, but, then they never showed it to the public in 3-D, only 2-D. Wow, it must've been dull, dull, dull...

17 minutes of hula in Hawaii and not on a crappy sound stage would've been far more interesting.

What's really funny is that the print I saw was brand new. It was struck recently from the original negative. Now we know what's cluttering up film vaults while other films are left to degrade and need 'saving.' Glad to know a no-talent like Pinky Lee is safe for posterity...whew...