Blue Hawaii

Blue Hawaii is a 1961 American musical romantic comedy film set in the state of Hawaii and starring Elvis Presley. The screenplay by Hal Kanter was nominated by the Writers Guild of America in 1962 in the category of Best Written American Musical. The movie opened at no.in box office receipts for that week and despite mixed reviews from critics, finished as the 10th topgrossing movie of 1961 and 14th for 1962 on the Variety national box office survey, earningmillion. The film won a fourth place prize Laurel Award in the category of Top Musical of 1961.

Blue Hawaii was the first of three Elvis films to be shot in Hawaii, followed by Girls Girls Girls in 1962 and Paradise, Hawaiian Style in 1965. Producer Hal B. Wallis was keen to put Presley into a film that showed how the army affected a man. Actress Juliet Prowse, who had starred with Presley in GI Blues, was approached to be his love interest again. However, after her demands were put forward, Paramount decided to drop her as a possible candidate for the role, choosing Joan Blackman instead. Presley was apparently so pale before shooting that Wallis personally recommended a brand of tanning lamp to darken his skin. The film was announced in the fall of 1960 as Hawaii Beach Boy. At the time, film producer Walter Mirisch had a similar titled film in production, Hawaii, and he was upset that Wallis had chosen such a similar name.Presley arrived in Hawaii on March 18, 1961, to prepare for a charity concert that he was performing on Marchto raise funds for the Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor. He arrived at the recording studio on Marchto start the recording of the films soundtrack. Three weeks later, location filming had finished, including scenes at Waikiki Beach, Diamond Head, Mount Tantalus, and Hanauma Bay, a volcanic crater that is open to the sea, near the bedroom community of Hawaii Kai, a few miles away from Waikiki. Following location filming, the crew returned to the Paramount lot to finish other scenes for the film. Presley would relax during filming by giving karate demonstrations with his friend and employee, Red West, which resulted in Presleys fingers becoming bruised and swollen. Wallis warned the female stars of the film to avoid parties hosted by Presley because they were turning up for shooting looking tired. ........

Source: Wikipedia