Honolulu is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
musical filmThe musical film is a film genre in which several songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative. The songs are usually used to advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but some musical films simply plop the songs in as unrelated "specialties" - as with Carmen Miranda's...
that was released by MGM in
1939The year 1939 in film involved some significant events.- Events :Movie historians and film buffs often look back on 1939 as "the greatest year in film history"...
. The film stars dancer
Eleanor PowellEleanor Torrey Powell was an American film actress and dancer of the 1930s and 1940s, known for her exuberant solo tap dancing.-Early life:...
and
Robert YoungRobert George Young was an American actor, best known for his leading roles of Jim Anderson, the father of Father Knows Best and physician Marcus Welby in Marcus Welby, M.D. ....
, and was directed by
Edward BuzzellEdward Buzzell was a director for MGM who directed many of their films in the late 1930s, including Honolulu , the Marx Brothers films At the Circus and Go West , the musicals Best Foot Forward with Lucille Ball, and Neptune's Daughter with Esther Williams.Buzzell was born in Brooklyn, New York...
.
Inspired by stories about dopplegangers and identical twins such as
The Prince and the PauperThe Prince and the Pauper is an English-language novel by American author Mark Twain. It was first published in 1881 in Canada before its 1882 publication in the United States. The book represents Twain's first attempt at historical fiction...
,
Honolulu features Young in a dual role as Brooks Mason—a top movie star—and as
HawaiiHawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states, and is the only state made up entirely of islands. It is located on an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of Australia. The state was admitted to the Union on August...
-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.
Honolulu is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
musical filmThe musical film is a film genre in which several songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative. The songs are usually used to advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but some musical films simply plop the songs in as unrelated "specialties" - as with Carmen Miranda's...
that was released by MGM in
1939The year 1939 in film involved some significant events.- Events :Movie historians and film buffs often look back on 1939 as "the greatest year in film history"...
. The film stars dancer
Eleanor PowellEleanor Torrey Powell was an American film actress and dancer of the 1930s and 1940s, known for her exuberant solo tap dancing.-Early life:...
and
Robert YoungRobert George Young was an American actor, best known for his leading roles of Jim Anderson, the father of Father Knows Best and physician Marcus Welby in Marcus Welby, M.D. ....
, and was directed by
Edward BuzzellEdward Buzzell was a director for MGM who directed many of their films in the late 1930s, including Honolulu , the Marx Brothers films At the Circus and Go West , the musicals Best Foot Forward with Lucille Ball, and Neptune's Daughter with Esther Williams.Buzzell was born in Brooklyn, New York...
.
Inspired by stories about dopplegangers and identical twins such as
The Prince and the PauperThe Prince and the Pauper is an English-language novel by American author Mark Twain. It was first published in 1881 in Canada before its 1882 publication in the United States. The book represents Twain's first attempt at historical fiction...
,
Honolulu features Young in a dual role as Brooks Mason—a top movie star—and as
HawaiiHawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states, and is the only state made up entirely of islands. It is located on an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of Australia. The state was admitted to the Union on August...
-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 fiancée, 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.
Also appearing in the film are
George BurnsGeorge Burns , born Nathan Birnbaum, was an American comedian, actor, and writer.His career spanned vaudeville, film, radio, and television, with and without his wife, Gracie Allen. His arched eyebrow and cigar smoke punctuation became familiar trademarks for over three quarters of a century...
,
Gracie AllenGrace Ethel Cecile Rosalie Allen , better known as Gracie Allen, was an American comedienne who became internationally famous as the zany partner and comic foil of husband George Burns...
,
Eddie "Rochester" AndersonEdmund Lincoln Anderson , often known as Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, was an American comic actor who became famous playing "Rochester van Jones" , the valet to Jack Benny's eponymous title character on the long-running radio and television series The Jack Benny Program. Anderson also owned...
, and
Rita JohnsonRita Johnson was an American actress.She was born Rita McSean in Worcester, Massachusetts and attended the New England Conservatory of Music. She began acting on Broadway in 1935 and started her film career two years after that...
.
Eleanor Powell's dance routines, here given a mostly Hawaiian flavor, are the highlights of this film. One of her routines is performed in black face in tribute to Powell's idol,
Bill 'Bojangles' RobinsonBill “Bojangles” Robinson was an American tap dancer and actor of stage and film.-Early years:Robinson was born in Richmond, Virginia to Maxwell, a machine-shop worker, and Maria Robinson, a choir singer...
. The comedy of Burns & Allen is also featured, although the two actors work separately for much of the movie. The film is also notable for offering a somewhat rare cinematic look at pre-
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
Honolulu.
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 ItI Dood It is a MGM musical-comedy film starring Red Skelton and Eleanor Powell, and directed by Vincente Minnelli. The screenplay is by Fred Saidy and Sig Herzig and the film features Richard Ainley, Patricia Dane, Lena Horne and Hazel Scott...
, while another dance performance that was cut from the film appeared seven years later in the "hodge-podge" production
The Great MorganThe Great Morgan is an American musical-comedy film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The film is considered one of the more unusual in the MGM canon in that it is a compilation film built around a slight plot line, with a running time of less than 60 minutes.The film was produced for overseas The...
.
Cast
- Eleanor Powell
Eleanor Torrey Powell was an American film actress and dancer of the 1930s and 1940s, known for her exuberant solo tap dancing.-Early life:...
as Miss Dorothy 'Dot' March
- Robert Young
Robert George Young was an American actor, best known for his leading roles of Jim Anderson, the father of Father Knows Best and physician Marcus Welby in Marcus Welby, M.D. ....
as Brooks Mason / George Smith / David in the movie
- George Burns
George Burns , born Nathan Birnbaum, was an American comedian, actor, and writer.His career spanned vaudeville, film, radio, and television, with and without his wife, Gracie Allen. His arched eyebrow and cigar smoke punctuation became familiar trademarks for over three quarters of a century...
as Joe Duffy
- Gracie Allen
Grace Ethel Cecile Rosalie Allen , better known as Gracie Allen, was an American comedienne who became internationally famous as the zany partner and comic foil of husband George Burns...
as Millicent 'Millie' De Grasse
- Rita Johnson
Rita Johnson was an American actress.She was born Rita McSean in Worcester, Massachusetts and attended the New England Conservatory of Music. She began acting on Broadway in 1935 and started her film career two years after that...
as Cecelia Grayson
- Clarence Kolb
Clarence Kolb was an American vaudeville performer and actor.Clarence Kolb was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the only child of second generation Austrian parents who owned a local meat company. He started out as one half of a vaudeville comedy act with Max Dill, and they styled themselves on the famous...
as Mr. Horace Grayson
- Jo Ann Sayers as Nurse
- Ann Morriss as Gale Brewster
- Willie Fung
Willie Fung was a Chinese actor who played supporting roles in American films in 125 movies between 1922 and 1944.Born in Canton, China, Willie Fung was in his first movie, Hurricane's Gal, in 1922...
as Wong, Mason's Hawaiian servant
- Cliff Clark as First Detective
- Edward Gargan
Edward Gargan was one of the most prolific bit players in the history of the movies; the Internet Movie Database lists 293 feature films to his credit over a two-decade span between 1921 and 1951, and television work from '51 to '53....
as Second Detective
- Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson
Edmund Lincoln Anderson , often known as Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, was an American comic actor who became famous playing "Rochester van Jones" , the valet to Jack Benny's eponymous title character on the long-running radio and television series The Jack Benny Program. Anderson also owned...
as Washington, Mason's Hollywood servant (billed as Eddie Anderson)
- Sig Ruman
Sig Ruman was a German-American actor known for his comic portrayals of pompous villains....
as Professor Timmer, psychiatrist (billed as Sig Rumann)
- Ruth Hussey
Ruth Carol Hussey was an American actress best known for her Academy Award-nominated role as photographer Elizabeth Imbrie in The Philadelphia Story.-Early life:...
as Eve, David's wife in the movie
- Kealohu Holt as Native Dancing Girl (billed as Kealoha Holt)