Tikis in films

I think its cool, along with the tiki aquarium ornaments in "Finding Nemo". Come on, its a cartoon, who cares if its correct (if there is such a thing)

Here's a good example of pre-WWII Polynesian Pop in film...

In the 1st clip is Eleanor Powell hula tap dancing in "Honolulu" (1939).

This is some great stuff in the fine tradition of 1930's dance musicals !!

In the 2nd clip, she's doing a similar dance in "Ship Ahoy" (1942). This scene is especially noteworthy as it has Tommy Dorsey and his orchestra performing a jazzy "Hawaiian War Chant" in front of an elaborate Poly-pop stage.

We see giant PNG shields and some large Tikis as well !!

On 2011-04-23 12:06, JOHN-O wrote:
This scene is especially noteworthy as it has Tommy Dorsey and his orchestra performing a jazzy "Hawaiian War Chant" in front of an elaborate Poly-pop stage.

That stage looks like a giant Scorpion bowl!

This is the best screensnap I could get:

Found this tantalizing little ad when I was doing some newspaper archive research:

The phrase that got me of course was:

"The Tiki, God of Fertility, The Love Idol Beneath the Sea!"

Looking up the movie online, I found the following description, which doesn't mention the idol under the sea, unfortunately:

A 1955 Italian independent film, released in the USA in 1956, which is basically a travelogue telling four stories, each about a different island in the South Pacific. Native customs, tribal rites,ceremonial procedure, courtships, and feats of strength and courage are depicted. The test of courage, for males, on one island , is a leap from a high wooden tower to the ground with a thin vine wrapped around their ankle breaking the fall at the last minute.

The movie poster was nice, but no tiki either:

But as I've found several times in the past, the Spanish version of the movie poster often delivers:

You can purchase decent and inexpensive reproductions of this poster in two sizes at this website:

http://www.moviepostershop.com/the-last-paradise-movie-poster-1955

I dunno - I really like that first poster: Who needs a cheesy-looking tiki when you've got Pentecost Island land divers, man-eating sharks, topless women and that great caption: "The virgin paradise of ten thousand thrills!" :)

AND there's that picture down the bottom with what looks like a woman slapping a guy for getting too fresh...

Just to shamelessly derail this thread, I'll be bringing you photos of the Pentecost land divers in a future instalment of my Tiki Tour of Vanuatu over in the Tiki Travel thread...

CN

don't know if this was mentioned and i'm too lazy to search but i rewatched "the game" with micheal douglas and sean penn.... in one scene they are in san franciso driving and at a stop light, you can see a huge poster in the shop across the street with a huge ku style tiki on it and nothing else.....

On 2011-06-08 18:32, Sabu The Coconut Boy wrote:

But as I've found several times in the past, the Spanish version of the movie poster often delivers:

Sabu,

I have noticed that as well, not just Spanish, but many other European movie posters with a South Seas theme add a Tiki.

Case in point - a South Pacific poster from Belgium with a Tiki.

DC

1987's Back to the Beach starring Frankie and Annette! There are some Tiki totems in a few of the scenes and when they are in Connie Stevens's nightclub they are drinking from Tiki Bob mugs. Not to mention, it's a hilarious movie.

I hit the Long Pork Tiki jackpot the other night in the British horror anthology "Tales That Witness Madness" (1973). In the 4th segment "Luau"..."literary agent Auriol Pageant (Kim Novak) lasciviously courts a new client Kimo (Michael Petrovich), however he shows more interest in her beautiful young daughter Ginny (Mary Tamm). Auriol organises a sumptuous luau for him per the detailed instructions of Kimo's associate Keoki (Leon Lissek). However, it is actually a ceremony to reincarnate Kimo's deceased mother Malia (Zohra Segal), and a requirement is that the flesh of a virgin be consumed."

Mmmmmm, virrrginnn...

Bear

Anybody seen Cars 2? This was shown before the movie...

http://www.pixar.com/shorts/hv/index.html

On 2011-06-28 16:13, MrBaliHai wrote:

I hit the Long Pork Tiki jackpot the other night in the British horror anthology "Tales That Witness Madness" (1973)...

MrBaliHai, that movie looks FANTASTIC !! Thank you.

Here's another movie from the 1970's that features a enormous Tiki. It stars the late great John Holmes (aka Johnny Wadd).

Unfortunately I don't think the screen caps would be appropriate to post here on TC... :(

And to be honest, I wish the inclusions on this thread (and also on the televison one) would just reference pre-Tiki Revival content.

It's up!
Omoo Omoo The Shark God on YouTube!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N55hlcEy8Po

Harper (1966) starring Paul Newman. There's a very brief scene (18 seconds) with a glimpse of two tikis outside a building where Newman has gone to visit a lawyer played by Arthur Hill.

The camera tilts down the exterior of a very nondescript building - looks like it could even be a parking garage that was dressed for the movie.

The marquee of the building shows part of a neon sign reading "the MID..."

Newman and Hill exit

They meet Pamela Tiffin

Newman, Tiffin and Robert Wagner get into a waiting limo and drive off.

Anyone recognize this building (or the tikis)? Did it really have these tikis in front of it or were they put there for this movie?

[ Edited by: Sweet Daddy Tiki 2011-08-01 12:39 ]

VERY cool! Those are classic Milan Guanko Tikis...but the building - no idea, you might be right that they were put there as props. But if so, WHY? :)

I was watching this movie this weekend, the building was Miramar Hotel in Santa Monica on the corner of Ocean and Wilshire. It is called Fairmont Miramar now.

Tikis for Tiki-Jo ??...

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=33906&forum=2

Now that Hiltiki pointed it out, that does look like Ocean Ave near Palisades Park.

[ Edited by: JOHN-O 2011-08-01 13:27 ]

Yes indeeeed, Bingo! How exciting, it's all coming together now, gotta love TC!

But WHY did they switch ONE Guanko with TWO other Guankos!!?

According to Ben's Eli Scrapbook ad, the Miramar added the tower in 1959:

The cars in JP's slide all look '59 and older, so we can establish that the Gilligan's Tiki was the original Tiki there:

The movie Harper being from 1966 gives it 7 years where lots could have happened to that Tiki to warrant two new ones to appear in its place.

I saw that movie over ten years ago, but I always remember that "used coffee filter" opening sequence :)

Behold, the fabled Moais of British Columbia! The will save us from the planet vacuuming dark star pinwheel in space.

Doomsday Prophecy (2011)

On 2006-07-11 11:14, tiki5-0 wrote:
I was bored this weekend watching tv and was watching "Spy Hard" with Leslie Nielsen. There's a scene in front of a museum that has 4 or 5 tikis out in front of it.

I never watched this movie front to back...glad I did today.

My gal-pal Charlie was torturing me the other day by playing dozens of on-demand movie previews instead of just starting Tucker & Dale VS Evil (which is funny as heck,BTW).

One of these trailers was for a movie called Haunted Frat which, in theory i imagine, might appeal equally to anyone with a fetish or phobia of being chased by a bunch of possessed college guys wearing nothing but tighty-whiteys.

Anyway, there amidst all the the oiled abs and underpants was a big California style Tiki I recognized at once to be the the work of Malibu mega-carver Zach Zachary! Oasis 2006 attendees may remember his towering tiki monolith guarding the entrance to the Hanalei outdoor vending area.

Check out his work then the attached clip.

Warning: Beefcake alert.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwdS4h_ruEE

I caught part of **Barry Munday** the other day and it has a couple of scenes in a tiki bar and an apartment with tiki masks in it.

The location information states it was filmed in Los Angeles, so is there a tiki bar with fish tanks for bartops?

That would be Bahooka.

I suspected as much, I was just searching the Bahooka website and found this image of the bar..

..the Tiki Central thread is seriously in need of having it's image link renewed.

Dont know if this one was mentioned but the movie back to the beach is full of tiki. One of my favorit films from the 80's.

On 2011-11-27 10:40, forgotten tikiman wrote:
Dont know if this one was mentioned but the movie back to the beach is full of tiki. One of my favorit films from the 80's.

As a matter of fact, yes! It has been mentioned:
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=302&forum=1&vpost=593253

One way to learn if something has been mentioned already is to use the Search function found at the top right of the TC screen.
:wink:

I am currently struggling through a lame romantic comedy called You Did What? (2006) which has a sub plot about the leading man opening a Tiki bar, from the outside shots of the bar it appears to have been filmed in the possibly defunct Point Break Surfin' Tiki Club.

dunno if TV is "film" but saw this tonight and had to share. Cheesey crime drama called UNforgettable had a frat house luau scene with flaming drinks, plastic Oriental Trading Co mugs, and these images

I just saw a great british cheesy horror film a coule of nights ago called The Devils of Darkness(1965) which has a cool scene in a bachelor pad with tikis in the background also a loft scene with some in and a great party with a snake dancer

There's a moai in the new Aardman film The Pirates! Band of Misfits. (Release date 4/27/12)

Also there's a monkey butler.

There is also a Moai about 2/3 of the way through Tin Tin.

On 2008-07-27 05:42, MrBaliHai wrote:
The Elvis classic, Blue Hawaii. Not a tiki in sight.

not so...

in the restuarant, after Elvis performs "Hawaiian Sunset" and as the Garveys walk in,
you can see a stylized Tiki in the top right of the screen...

also, recently caught another look at "Ensign Pulver" which contains some Tiki imagery.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ensign_Pulver

[ Edited by: komohana 2012-02-23 16:48 ]

Just seen a great British B movie called the Leather Boys(1963)all about the Ton Up boys racing bikes and great locations including the Ace cafe in north London,I last saw this about 20 years ago and its still great, However the main interest is they main couple spend a holiday in the Bognor Regis Butlins and are in the Beachcomber bar with piped hawaiian music in the background, Here are a few of pics with one showing a couple of tikis behind the bar, The one on the right is the same design they had as souvenir mug!

Ah proof that Butlin's had full size versions of their signature tiki, you can see them in this postcard but you can't see the lower part of the tiki.

Wow thank's guys. I wondered where the weird Butlin's tiki mug idea came from.

On 2012-02-23 05:25, Kon-Hemsby wrote:
I wondered where the weird Butlin's tiki mug idea came from.

I heard from Trader Jim, who was told it by Vince Ray, that Vince Rays Uncle designed it and the menus.

Id love to know what happened to all that stuff when they took it down a few years ago,Probably just put in the skip!

how hard is it to move a 40,000 pound tiki??? check this short film out!
http://youtu.be/v1cyzycI7iM

For fun here's some Japanese Tiki in their monster movies:

KING KONG VS GODZILLA - Tikis have ape heads

GAPPA - Tall Tikis in background to the left

GODZILLA VS MOTHRA - Tikis way in background

GODZILLA VS MOTHRA - Tighter shot of Tikis

GAMERA VS BARUGON - Note stone Tiki in background center

GAMERA VS BARUGON - Close stone Tiki in taboo cave

Latest Tiki in film from the just released THE DESCENDANTS on DVD & Blu-Ray. They were not that easy to spot but here's three"

Tiki mask on wall in the Tahiti Nui restaurant set in Hanalei, Kauai (a real place) More masks in other angles in the restaurant but I'll show this one

Tiki on the right in Clooney home den

Small mug like Tiki in background behind to the left in his office. Need help on this one because it looks like it comes with a grinder/pounder like implement in the head. Anyone seen this before?

Sorry here's a closer shot:

CN, I think what we are looking at is the bamboo-colored version of this Okolehao bottle:

Nice one Bigbro. I was hoping to get an answer on this thread but not this fast. I'm a tikiphile that doesn't drink so I'm ignorant of the drinking side of this culture which I know is an important part of Tiki. So I'm not familiar with this bottle, is it rare? Cause I'm trying to track it down with my set dressing pals.

I think that one is kind of rare, while you can still get most of the full sized Okolehao bottles for around 50.- bucks, here's my collection:

I found most of these in liquor stores on back shelves - but that was in the 90s. :) Most of them are made by Hawaiian Distillers:

The one in the Descendants is not even an Okolehao bottle per se: My version (above) has no type on it, and there is a blue one that says "Vodka" on it in Phil Roberts' "Waikiki Tiki". So I think it was made as a decanter and sold empty. Mine is signed thus:

Waikiki Tiki has a couple of other ceramic Tiki pieces by Kay Good in it.

nice goods