Hawaii: Why Hollywood loves it

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This was published 8 years ago

Hawaii: Why Hollywood loves it

By Steve Meacham
Elvis in Blue Hawaii.

Elvis in Blue Hawaii.Credit: Michael Ochs Archives

Even six decades later, it remains one of the sexiest scenes Hollywood has ever produced. Two illicit lovers – the neglected wife of an American officer and his First Sergeant – flaunt their affair, lying in each other's arms as the Hawaiian surf washes suggestively over them, oblivious to the fact that the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour is only weeks away.

Yes, it's the famous "beach scene" at Halona​ Cove, Oahu​ in From Here to Eternity. Fred Zinnemann's 1953 film (starring Burt Lancaster, Deborah Kerr, Montgomery Clift and Frank Sinatra) won 13 Oscars and remains the most celebrated movie ever made in the 50th State.

And, yes, of course you can join the countless couples who have lain in the surf at Halona Cove replicating the scene. Hawaii – "Hollywood's favourite backlot" – has been the location of at least 100 movies since Eternity as well as countless television shows: most notably Lost, Magnum P.I. and Hawaii Five-O.

Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr in <i>From Here To Eternity</i>.

Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr in From Here To Eternity.

If you can't recognise that many, it is often because most of the films shot in Hawaii aren't set in Hawaii.

Apart from the state's consistently good weather, its pool of technical talent, and its tax breaks, Hawaii's main attraction to filmmakers is that its geography and topography can double for, well, just about anywhere hot and exotic. Which is why films as diverse as South Pacific, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Tropic Thunder, Waterworld, and George of the Jungle have all used Hawaiian locations.

But let's concentrate on movies set in Hawaii, featuring real places tourists can visit. Although Bing Crosby's 1938 film Waikiki Wedding was the first major box office success set in Hawaii itself, Elvis Presley did more to promote Hawaii as a dream destination than anyone.

Hanauma Bay.

Hanauma Bay.Credit: Getty Images

We forget Hawaii was never a mass tourism destination before 1959 when it became the 50th State. The late 1950s and early '60s also coincided with cheaper air travel with commercial jets slicing flight times from the west coast of the United States.

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Elvis made three movies in Oahu in the early 1960s. Blue Hawaii (the first and best) was released in 1961, followed by Girls, Girls, Girls in 1962 and Paradise Hawaiian Style in 1965. All three were Technicolor spectaculars in which the tropical scenery, beach lifestyle and potential for romance were at least as important as the plots.

Head to Hanauma​ Bay, 18 kilometres east of Waikiki, to see where many of the most striking scenes in Blue Hawaii were filmed, though the beach shack where Elvis and his love interest, Joan Blackman, changed into their swimsuits is long gone.

Surfers enjoy the water at Hanalei Bay.

Surfers enjoy the water at Hanalei Bay.Credit: Getty Images

Hanauma also featured in his other two Hawaiian movies, and is now a national park noted for being the best snorkelling spot on Oahu.

Gidget Goes Hawaiian, released in the same year as Blue Hawaii, was filmed at Waikiki's Royal Hawaiian Hotel. However the 1987 cult classic North Shore – filmed on Oahu's northern shore between Kaiaka Bay and Wailea Beach – is regarded by locals as the surf movie to watch (it involves Australia's own Mark Occhilupo​ in action).

Unsurprisingly, most of the major box office successes set in Hawaii over the past two decades have been "rom-coms". Even 2001's Pearl Harbour, starring Ben Affleck and Kate Beckinsale​, is essentially a love story. My advice if you plan to see Pearl Harbour is to book an organised "boutique" tour that gives you access to USS Missouri – the ship that witnessed the surrender of the Japanese to end World War II.

Adam Sandler​ and Drew Barrymore made a commercial success out of their second celluloid collaboration, 50 First Dates in 2004, mainly filmed in Oahu. Sandler's character worked at Sea Life Park, which you can visit.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008, starring Jason Segel​, Kristen Bell and Russell Brand) was filmed mainly at Turtle Bay Resort at the most northern point of Oahu, so just book a room at the resort.

Easily the most critically acclaimed movie set in Hawaii recently has been The Descendants (2011) which won George Clooney a Golden Globe award for Best Actor. Clooney played a Honolulu lawyer who is the sole trustee of a family trust which owns 10,000 hectares of unspoilt land on the island of Kauai.

Most of the movie was shot in Honolulu and Hanalei​ Bay, the largest bay on Kauai and a favourite spot for yachts in summer. Both the real life Tahiti Nui restaurant and bar in Hanalei have subsequently become popular haunts for movie fans.

However the scene where the Clooney character drives up to a ridge to look over the land that is the subject of the family dispute is out of bounds: it was filmed at Kipu Ranch, a private cattle property on Kauai's southern shore.

Cameron Crowe's 2015 film Aloha, starring Brad Cooper, caused controversy in Hawaii because no native Hawaiian actors were cast in the film. Downtown Honolulu appears in the movie, but the most spectacular scenes involve Oahu's Ka'a'awa​ Valley.

This is the one spot you should visit if you want to see how one Hawaiian location can appear in so many different movies.

On the east coast of Oahu, near Kahana Bay, Ka'a'awa Valley appears in Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jurassic Park, Godzilla, 50 First Dates, George of the Jungle and Pearl Harbour.

The valley is part of a 1600-hectare cattle property, Kualoa Ranch. Even if you're not interested in movies, it is worth a visit. The options for tourists include horse riding, a shooting range, hula lessons and all-terrain vehicle tours.

Sounds like the plot for an Elvis movie? Cue the song.

TRIP NOTES

MORE INFORMATION

gohawaii.com.au

GETTING THERE

Hawaiian Airlines flies daily from Sydney and four times weekly from Brisbane direct to Honolulu, using new Airbus A330-200 aircraft. Connections from Melbourne and other Australian cities available with preferred partner Virgin Australia.

Hawaiian Airlines also has around 160 daily Boeing 717 flights between Honolulu and Kauai, Maui and both Kona and Hilo on Hawaii Island (The Big Island).

See hawaiianairlines.com.au.

Steve Meacham travelled at his own expense.

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