Bird of Paradise (1951 film)

Bird of Paradise is a 1951 American adventure drama and romance film in Technicolor, produced and directed by Delmer Daves, and starring Debra Paget, Louis Jourdan, and Jeff Chandler. The screenplay was also written by Daves based on the 1912 play by Richard Walton Tully. The film was distributed by 20th Century-Fox.

Plot
Frenchman Andre Laurence accompanies his college roommate Tenga home to Polynesia. There, he learns how to surf and the cultural ways of the island population. He eventually falls in love with and marries Tenga's sister, Kalua. All is paradise until Andre falls under the disapproving glare of the Kahuna, who warns the islanders that Andre will poison their paradise with his evil White ways. When the island's volcano begins to erupt in endless lava flows, the Kahuna decrees that the gods can be appeased only by human sacrifice. One of them must be sacrificed to the gods, and Andre's wife, Kalua, is chosen.

The islanders gather to witness the sacrifice, all except Andre, who is ordered to remain in his hut. As the villagers watch, Kalua walks up the peak and leaps into the hellish maelstrom below. The volcano responds, and the island and its population are spared. The next day, Andre leaves paradise forever and returns to civilization.

Cast
Sterling Hayden had been mentioned as a possibility for the male lead.
 * Debra Paget as Kalua
 * Louis Jourdan as Andre Lawrence
 * Jeff Chandler as Tenga
 * Everett Sloane as The Akua
 * Maurice Schwartz as The Kahuna
 * Jack Elam as The Trader
 * Prince Leilani as Chief
 * Otto Waldis as Skipper
 * Alfred Zeisler as Van Hook

This was Schwartz's seventh film role.

Production
20th Century Fox announced the film in May 1950. It reunited several personnel from Broken Arrow including Debra Paget, Delmer Daves and Jeff Chandler. Chandler joked that his character was just a variation on his performance as Cochise in Broken Arrow. "The story is really about a conflict of worlds in 1850: a primitive people who live by their beliefs and the civilization – in quotes – brought by the white man. The problem is never resolved; even marriage can't do it – but... we used some wonderful locations and the scenery is breathtakingly beautiful."

Daves claims that he wrote "a practically new story" from the earlier play.

The film was shot on location in Hawaii beginning in August 1950. Key locations were Hanalei Bay, Waikiki, Kona Coast and Volcano.

Chandler flew back Los Angeles every weekend in order to fulfill his radio commitment to Our Miss Brooks.

O'ahu native Queenie Ventura (née Dowsett), who was half pure Hawaiian and half Portuguese, joined the cast as a featured dancer and the local lead actress.

Reception
New York Times film critic Bosley Crowther panned the film, writing: "There is certainly nothing original—or particularly blissful, we would say—about the romantic tumble here taken by a visiting white man for a beauteous native maid...Unfortunately, Delmer Daves, who directed and wrote the script, either didn't or wasn't permitted to pitch the whole film in this slyly kidding vein. And the consequence is a rambling mishmosh of South Sea romance and travesty, of solemn high-priesting and low clowning, of never-never spectacle and sport".

Variety reviewed the film favorably, writing: "Richard Walton Tully's old legit piece, Bird of Paradise, makes another trip to the screen in a refurbished version. Previous filming of the play was in 1932 and, while Delmer Daves' version deviates from the Tully form, the essentials of the drama are still there, plus a beautiful Technicolor camera job, haunting island music and the use of actual locales...Paget hits a high level in her performance as the Princess Kalua. She, as well as the other players give their characters considerable sincerity. Jourdan is an excellent choice as the island visitor, as is Chandler as the prince."