Pagan Love Song

Pagan Love Song is a 1950 American romantic musical film released by MGM and starring Esther Williams and Howard Keel. Set in Tahiti, it was based on the novel Tahiti Landfall by William S. Stone.

This article is about the film musical. For the Virgin Prunes song, see Pagan Lovesong.
Pagan Love Song
Original film poster
Directed byRobert Alton
Produced byArthur Freed
Written byRobert Nathan
Jerry Davis
William S. Stone (novel)
StarringEsther Williams
Howard Keel
Minna Gombell
Charles Mauu
Rita Moreno
Music byHarry Warren, Nacio Herb Brown, Arthur Freed, conducted by Adolph Deutsch[1]
CinematographyCharles Rosher
Edited byAdrienne Fazan
Production
company
Distributed byLoew's, Inc.
Release date
December 25, 1950
(New York City)
December 29, 1950[2]
Running time
76 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1,920,000[3]
Box office$3,360,000[3]

Plot

Mimi Bennett lives with her wealthy aunt Kate on the South Pacific isle of Tahiti. A half-Tahitian, half-Caucasian girl, Mimi's dream is to someday leave this world to live in America.

Hazard Endicott's arrival changes her plans. He is a school teacher from Ohio who has inherited a Tahiti estate. His first task is to hire a servant and he mistakes Mimi for a native girl, offering her a job. She amuses herself by not telling him the truth.

The estate turns out to be little more than a shack. Endicott also miscalculates an invitation to a party at Kate's, coming in casual island attire to an event with elegantly dressed guests. Mimi takes pity on him and a romance blooms.

Cast

Production

The film was originally announced as Tahiti and was to star Ann Miller, Howard Keel and Ricardo Montalbán.[4] Eventually Miller was replaced by Esther Williams and Montalban by Charles Mauu.[5] The title was then changed to Hawaii.[6]

The film was to have been directed by Stanley Donen but Williams refused to work with him again after Take Me Out to the Ballgame.[7] Location work was done on the Hawaiian island of Kauai.[8][9]

Esther Williams realised she was pregnant during the shoot. She claimed she nearly drowned during filming.[8]

The film went $400,000 over budget.[8]

Deleted songs

"Sea of the Moon", performed by voice-dubbed Esther Williams, was cut from the released film; this video outtake still survives today.[10]

Howard Keel sings "Why Is Love So Crazy?" in the released film version, but a reprise performed by Esther Williams was cut; this video outtake also still exists.[11][12]

Howard Keel's song "Music on the Water" was deleted from the released film. The audio pre-recording survives; the status of the video outtake is unknown.[13]

Reception

According to MGM records the film earned $2,157,000 in the US and Canada and $1,203,000 elsewhere, resulting in a profit of $108,000.[3] This was considered a relative disappointment for an Esther Williams movie.[8]

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References
  1. Pagan Love Song, Library of Congress
  2. "Pagan Love Song (1950): Release Dates". IMDb. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  3. The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
  4. Hopper, Hedda (May 7, 1949). "Looking at Hollywood". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 17.
  5. "David Wayne to Stay for Films Till Fall". Los Angeles Times. Mar 18, 1950. p. 10.
  6. Hopper, Hedda (May 19, 1948). "Looking at Hollywood". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. a4.
  7. THOMAS F. BRADY (Jan 28, 1950). "DRATTLER DRAMA IS BOUGHT BY RKO: Studio Acquires 'Miami Story' as Vehicle for Robert Ryan --Author Named Producer Of Local Origin". New York Times. p. 10.
  8. http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/3499/Pagan-Love-Song/articles.html
  9. JOHN ROTHWELL LIHUE, Kauai, T.H. (May 7, 1950). "HAWAII HAILS CONQUERING HEROINE: Attraction Boom Actors All". New York Times. p. 116.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  10. "Sea of the Moon" from Pagan Love Song at YouTube
  11. Esther Williams performing "Why Is Love So Crazy?" dubbed by ghost singer – outtake on YouTube
  12. Performances of "Why Is Love So Crazy?" by Esther Willams and Howard Keel on YouTube
  13. "Music on the Water" pre-recording by Howard Keel at YouTube
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