tiki bar scene in old (or not so old) movie

I just bought the Gidget series that came out on DVD, and there are some fantastic Tiki Bar scenes on the "Gidget Goes Hawaiian" disc.

Cheers!

There is a Tiki bar scene in the movie "Jack Frost 2".. no not the Michael Keaton one.. it's a stage bar, but still it's tiki.

Plus there is a tiki bar scene in the movie "Weekend Warriors" (the movie is pretty much the same as "Police Academy" It's a dining hall, changed into a tiki lounge.

On 2004-07-04 13:18, Satan's Sin wrote:
...the babe is island hot and Marlon sits there in his English naval officer's uniform smiling a smile that everyone who's ever had sex instantly understands.

Is that '...everyone who's ever had sex instantly, understands...' or '...everyone who's ever had sex, instantly understands'..? :wink:

The best thing about that scene is that Marlon, as a god in it's own time, got to marry that native actress (Tarita), AND buy her and himself their own Tahitian island...and after the tragedy that ensued there with their son, proved that the actual realization of that eternal Dream of the Polynesian Paradise does not guarantee happiness......

we checked out the 1937 bing crosby film "waikiki wedding" last nite.

it was a really fun flick, lots of grass skirted natives pretty much 24-7 singing and luau-ing

there was a BRIEF tiki scene about halfway thru, involving the local priest who was trying to appease the volcano. the tiki itself was fairly onscured, i did not catch any stylictic references to refer it to.

notable appearances besides the bingster were anthony quinn as a native (!!! - well he was really spindly and all 'sexy man') and martha raye as a kind of podunk clumsy girl. i just couldn't stop thinking of denture commercials :)

there was also a musical number about hawaiian moonshine, i forget what the stuff itself was called. a pretty "drunky" number, it wouldn't pass hollywood muster today.

all in all, highly recommended. i give it two tikis up.

Found "The Magnificent Seven" dvd at a garage sale two weeks ago. In the Special Features section, there is a documentary about the Making of The Movie from, (I assume,) the 1970s or 80s? Actor Brad Dexter makes several comments about his role, seated by a swimming pool at his home in what looks like Palm Springs. Behind him is a giant tiki of what looks to be vintage design.

Saw the Michael Douglas video, "The Game" again last weekend on dvd. There is a scene where he is running through the streets of San Francisco and he passes a Tiki on a flyer glued to a telephone pole or streetsign. Tikibelle spotted this brief flash of tiki and we rewound and paused on the frame. Can't make out what this Tiki-flyer was advertising. This would have probably been filmed in 1996. Any ideas?

On 2004-09-01 06:30, Johnny Dollar wrote:
we checked out the 1937 bing crosby film "waikiki wedding" last nite.

it was a really fun flick, lots of grass skirted natives pretty much 24-7 singing and luau-ing

there was also a musical number about hawaiian moonshine, i forget what the stuff itself was called. a pretty "drunky" number, it wouldn't pass hollywood muster today.

Atomic Cocktail and I saw this over the summer and loved it as well. There's a big "native" dance number that's like Busby Berkeley goes Tiki.

As for the song that Martha Raye sings, it's a swing number called "Okolehao". Wish I could find the sheet music, but here's the lyrics at least. (And I think you can find it on CD):

OKOLEHAO
© 1937
Lyrics & Music: Leo Robin, Ralph Rainger, Don Hartman

Okolehao, okolehao
There's a man-made moonshine in Hawaii now
Okolehao hip-hip horray
After two sips your hips want to swing and sway.

When the gals begin to beg for just one more keg
The boys know what it means and they send for the marines.
Okolehao, I'm telling you
After one drink you'll think you're Hawaiian too.

Here's a question for ya...

What movies would be classified as representing the classic 'lounge' and 'tiki' style and sound?

I watched the Rat Pack in the original 'Oceans 11' last night and thought that this fits the bill for a 'lounge' movie. As for Tiki...maybe Elvis in 'Blue Hawaii' ?? I dunno.

I invite a discussion on lounge and Tiki movies!

Chris

Hi Audiophile.

I'm a record collector too. Glad you're here. Looking forward to conversing with you on all things exotica and Tiki.

One word of advice: do a search before you post a new topic. Many of the topics you're bringing up have been discussed!

For example, here's a nice meaty thread on Tiki movies...

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=51&forum=1

Opps...

Thanks, I shall read with interest!

Chris

OK. I've read that thread. LOTS of Tiki references in flicks, but the short list of more Tiki themed movies looks like;

I am Cuba
Donovans Reef
Psycho Beach Party
The Blue Gardiner

I'll track these down. Thanks!

Chris

[i]On 2004-12-09 12:26, audiophile wrote:
As for Tiki...maybe Elvis in 'Blue Hawaii' ?? I dunno.

I invite a discussion on lounge and Tiki movies!

Chris

Elvis did three movies in Hawaii -- 'Blue Hawaii,' 'Girls! Girls! Girls!'and 'Paradise Hawaiian Style'

I've only seen Blue Hawaii, and do not recall any tiki. However, I did see Hilo Hattie, which is the utmost for Hawaiiana lounge.

However, I believe there is an extravagant luau in one of the others Elvis in Hawaii films, and there should be a tiki scene in that one.

[ Edited by: christiki295 on 2004-12-09 19:09 ]

You probly have "Hawaii Calls", featuring eight songs by Martin Denny. "Quiet Village" has been called the "Stairway to Heaven" of Tiki.

I love showing films like this outside in summer.

[ Edited by: bifcozz 2007-02-09 22:04 ]

"Paradise Hawaiian Style" has lots of cool stuff and was shot at the Polynesian Cultural Center with a huge production of "Drums of the Islands" at the end with different types of musicians and hula dancers.

[ Edited by: Chip and Andy 2012-05-01 20:23 ]

i'd pay lots of money to see the movie version of this book

thx sabuuu

Found a new one!!

"The Man Who Loved Women" (1983) the Blake Edwards remake, has a tiki bar scene with Burt Reynolds and Julie Andrews that's worth checking out. (The movie is not). They go sailing for a day, and end up at a bar which could be Catalina(??) It looks real, not a set, and there's tons of peanut mugs and 3-face buckets behind the bar. Some interesting lamps and masks as they walk in. The staff are wearing white T-shirts with a single large colorful fish on the front. Sadly, Burt orders a tequilla sunrise. Any ideas anyone? Someone please rent this kinda lousy movie and tell me!

EDIT: I saw it on Comcast On Demand for free on my digital cable, so some of you might find it there- just fast forward to the scene. Trust me. Save yourselves.

[ Edited by: martiki on 2005-01-25 11:45 ]

Luau Larrys????
Mahalo,
Al

the75Stingray and DoctorZ, not only did I experience the horror of "The Experts" and the fact that they destroy a really cool bar to make it "80s" style, but I OWN IT ON LASERDISC!! A friend gave me all his old laserdiscs and it was in there. I'm sitting there watching this horrible movie, when all of a sudden, there's the most beautiful bar I could imagine,beautiful enough to make me keep watching, then, they promptly tear it down!

As for other movies, I think every scene in "Tiara Tahiti" with James Mason is a feast for the eyes. Especially the few scenes in his home/hut.

On 2005-01-25 12:14, Alnshely wrote:
Luau Larrys????
Mahalo,
Al

Nah, they opened five years after the movie came out. I don't know for sure it was on Catalina, but as they walk in, there is a fairly large mountain in the background and torches outside, and they were supposed to be sailing in So Cal. Beats me. Someone rent it!!

The Pajama Game doesn't have a Tiki Bar scene but it has some pretty wild footage from Hernado's Hideaway. Lot's of drunken knife throwing too. This mid 1950's musical showcases some of Bob Fosse's early work and is worth checking out. The tiki tie-in? The guy playing the pajama maker's union president looks like Josh Agle.

I don't know if this would classify as Tiki Bar or Psudo-Tiki bar. But my wife and I where watching the "Martian Chronicles" (about people living on Mars.. crappy story) but anyways in the background there is a bar (which you never see the inside) but it's called the Liti Li or was it the Kiti Li. Even the same typestyle on the sign. But anyways it looks just like the front facade of the Tiki Ti on page 173 of the BOT

okay- don't know if these are mentioned yet, but how about elvis presleys rumble in the tiki strip club in "girl happy" -check out those killer maori tikis flanking the stage. also, in "next of kin" with patrick swayze, you can catch a scene where the mobsters in chicago are plotting his death at the now closed jimmy wongs downtown. Jimmy's was a chinese/tiki restuarant that served tropical drinks in mugs with their logo on it. It was the place to be back in the 60's. you can see some of the interior... check out the original of "it's a mad,mad,mad world" -there is the scene where the freaked out surfer dudes hot lookin girlfriend is go-go dancing next to an awesome tiki in his apartment. It's short, but a great scene. also, the scene from "fear and loathing in las vegas" that was shot in the bahooka. on a side note- I haven't seen "night shift" with henry winkler and michael keaton in awhile, but I think that the last scenes were shot in the hawaii kai before it closed -anyone know if this is true or is my memory gone fuzzy....

On 2002-04-13 05:25, Tiki Chris wrote:
not necessarily a tiki bar - the bar in "from here to eternity" is way cool, as is that movie, as is the cast (sinatra, lancaster, clift, etc). & those guys wear the coolest aloha shirts in that movie!

finally caught this classic last nite ~ it's arguable that without the g.i.'s serving in hawaii (as depicted in the film) and learning to love the aloha shirts, we might have had not tiki on the mainland! i only wish that i could see all the shirts in color, despite loving it as a black and white film. highly recommended, only i warn that there is some violence depicted as well (not a spoiler, but w. kitty don't like the violence)

I just watched Orgasmo (the Trey Parker movie and if you haven't seen it you simply must!) a while back. One of the scenes has a girl tied up to a couple of tiki statues.

On 2003-02-11 11:16, Kailuageoff wrote:
Watched a completely excellent movie last night called "The Breaking Point" with John Garfield. It's based on Hemingway's To Have and Have Not. There is a Bogart film by the same title, but I guess that one doesn't really follow Papa's book.
Anyway, there is a bar scene shot in a town called Newport, California that has lots of bamboo, fishing floats and oher nautical stuff. I didn't see any tikis, but the bar had a great look.

I finally got a chance to see this great movie "The BReaking Point" last night at the San Francisco Film Noir Festival. Much of the movie was shot in Newport Beach, and the bar was in fact Christian's Hut. Gleaned from searches on TC I found out the bar was built in Catalina for the movie Mutiny on the Bounty in 1935, moved to Newport Beach soon after filming, and torn down in the 70s. There's a good scene of front of the bar and several minutes shot inside the bar. Here's a picture of the scene with John Garfield's character drinking Old Crow with Patricia Neal's character (she is a real hot number in the movie).

The movie is not on video or DVD but Bongofury posted in the past that he has a copy.

[ Edited by: thejab 2006-01-20 17:52 ]

Wow, keen detective work! I'm sorry I couldn't make it out to the Palace last night...after ignoring him for most of my adult life, I suddenly have a colossal crush on John Garfield. Go figure.

And happy news: you CAN get this film on VHS or DVD from our friends at http://www.noirfilm.com. Only $17 collector-to-collector including shipping! (Costs go down if you add more titles to your purchase, and they do international sales as well.) They are an amazing resource for out-of-print/rare/forgotten film noir. Plus, they have free, fun screenings many Thursday nights in SF. Another cool group well worth connecting up with!

darkly yours,
tikivixen

On 2002-06-12 21:46, suicide_sam wrote:
I recently caught Steve Martin's "The Man With Two Brains" on cabel and caught something I had always missed. At the door that goes into the laboratory where the brain transfers occur, on the floor to the right of the door there is a Moai about a foot and a half big. I love all the old Steve Martin movies and when I caught this I couldm't believe I had never seen it before.

Sorry if someone else has mentioned this, I came in late to this thread.....

Not only is there a pretty cool Moai at the entrance to the lab, but when Steve Martin is asked if he would like a drink he asks for a Tahitian Tingle. And, in case you missed it, the butler asks him to confirm his request. A few minutes later, the butler comes out with a pilsner glass with a flaming drink in it. It is even funnier when you realize that the glass is glued to the tray because the butler spills the flaming drink onto the tray and floor in the next seen when he starts poking holes in the door.

I guess you had to be there..........

Mahalo Jabber...
Christian's Hut. How cool. I love classic films. When they feature scenes with tiki bars, so much the better.
KG

If any of you go to Catalina, go to the Isthmus. Go to the bar and look around. There are still signs of Christians Hut there. I re-did the place about 10 years ago. It's in a Tiki News article also. They have a lot of great pics of the town during the filming of the movies, in the bar too.

The COURAGEOUS CAT & MINUTE MOUSE episode, "Case of The Hawaiian Holiday" from 1963 has some tiki-ish imagery:

Sabu

1937...Ever Since Eve

Marion Davies (William Randolph Hearst's infamous luva)
Robert Montgomery (Elizabeth's Dad)

I don't know if the name of the club is the Equator Club in the movie or if it was a real place or not.
But the scenes in the Equator Club were pretty nice. Palm trees, gobs of bamboo everywhere...definately pre tiki mugs though...none to be seen. The typical
glitter-y vintage Hollywood Polynesian dream supper club. Dorthy Thompson does a sweet hula to the tune Wreath Of Flowers written by Hoopi Haaia.
Movie is nice xtra light hearted entertainment.

[ Edited by: DawnTiki 2006-01-31 18:02 ]

My children forced me to watch Pixar's The Incredibles again recently and I noticed something. In the conferance with the lava curtian in the back there is a huge Moai head.

Mr. Incredible is going to use it the get into Syndrome's computer and the curtian opens and he has to put it back and hide in one scene.

Not sure if this has been posted before, but Marian and I just saw a lengthy scene shot in a heavily bambooed and fish-netted tiki bar in the 1949 Jimmy Stewart movie, the Stratton Story. It was a black and white film shown today on the Turner Classic Movies channel. I'm thinking the bar might have been Don the Beachcomber's in Hollywood. The funny thing is they were playing a great version of "Pagan Love Song" in the background. It had great jazzy, exotica feel complete with vibes and piano. Very Martin Denny sounding, but kind of early for exotica.
KG says, "check it out!"

[ Edited by: Kailuageoff 2006-02-24 15:41 ]

Not a real old movie...
Envy....starring Ben Stiller and Jack Black and Christopher Walken....2004

Ben Stiller in a generic nothing interesting neighborhood bar. He asks the bartender to bring him something that people drink to get drunk. The bartender brings him a drink in a pineapple with lots of doohickeys and baubles in it and hanging on it.
Christopher Walken decides to start up a conversation with Ben Stiller, when Walken sits next to Stiller at the bar, sitting on the bar right in from of Walken is a ...volcano bowl...
Not terribly exciting, but it was there none the less.

There was a really well done show on Masterpiece Theather several years ago called "Danger UXB". Very realistic and technical about the real adventures of a bomb disposal officer during WWII in Britan. It is on DVD now if anyone is interested.

Anyway in the opening of one episode you are in a tiki strip club called the "Wakiki Club" in c1941 London. During a raid it takes a hit from a bomb but there is no explosion. So most of the show takes place inside the club as they dig out and defuse the bomb. This episode also remains one of the few time I saw topless girls dancing on TV in the 1970s and on PBS.

"Its A Wonderful Life"

George Bailey is running down Main Street of the town, now called Pottersville as George does not exist. The street is lined with dance halls, pawn shops, and taverns (you know fun stuff). One of the places is the Bamboo Room. He does not go in, but you briefly hear Polynesian music.

"My Favorite Martian"

I have seen two episodes where they spend an evening in a Tiki bar. Very funny and cool to see the vintage scene.

In The Pink Panther's A Shot In The Dark there is a sequence where Peter Sellers and Elke Summers are doing the town and one of the stops is a Tiki bar with hula dancers and a few blurry totem poles in the background. Not sure if it's a sound stage or on location but I don't think it's in Paris

On 2002-05-02 17:18, martiki wrote:
I also seem to remember the generally terrible 1989 film "Loverboy" with Patrick Dempsey ended in a tiki bar. It also features Kirstie Alley, Kate Jackson, and Princess Leia. Can anyone else confirm this?

-Martin

Martiki,
I know you've been losing sleep over this for 4+ years, but the answer is YES! I was just flipping channels and saw the grand finale slapstick fight-scene. The credits called the restaurant "Tiki Joe's". Nice looking place. Cool floor-to-ceiling volcano feature.
Based on 15 seconds viewing, "generally terible" might be generous. The giant clamshell of punch was used to douse a toupee set aflame by a pupu hibachi. Hard to top that.

JTD

I just can't get enough of this thread....

JT... that part of the video always struck me as funny... actually, the whole video is pretty bad... and the chicks scare me.

Long live DM though.

WOW! I just saw an amazing movie that I TIVOed (is that a verb?) from the Fox Movie Channel in December called "The Right Approach". It was made in 1961 (a very good year!).

Dig this scene: a young bachelor named Horace Wetheridge Tobey III (Robert Casper) picks up carhop Ursula Poe (Juliet Prowse) at the drive-in where she works and takes her to his pad, which is an abandoned Polynesian restaurant called the Hideaway Hut! The place is full of tiki masks, spears, hanging lamps, bamboo, tapa, etc., as well as dozens of caricature portraits from the old restaurant. There's a huge standing Papua New Guinea tiki in front of the place, and a large mask over the front porch. The bachelor lives with his 4 bachelor roommates there, in bedrooms made out of different rooms from the original restaurant! There is a bamboo bar and a phone booth inside as well.

The plot wasn't bad. I won't go into it, but there's plenty of goodies to keep things interesting, including a scene in a beatnik jazz club where bachelor Rip (Gary Crosby) plays piano in a jazz combo, and some great dialog, like when the bachelor brings the carhop to his pad she says: "I would have brought my ukulele if I had known where you lived!".

There's a funny scene where two decked out girls go into the ladies room at the jazz club to preen. This beatnik chick comes in, sits down in front of the mirror, and proceeds to purposely mess up her hair before she goes back out to the dance floor to shake it with a guy in a beret and goatee.

There's a great bit where blond bombshell Martha Hyer comes in soaking wet from a rainstorm. Oooogaahhh!

At least half of the movie is shot at the tiki pad!

This one is definitely a keeper, as it's not on DVD or video. The only bad thing about it is that it was shot in wide-screen format so the left and right edges are cut off in this version (it's not very noticeable though).

The Kirby Stone Four did the theme song, which Dominic Frontiere wrote, and Frankie Vaughan sings in the movie. The movie's tagline is: "The lowdown on bachelor boys - and their search for girls!"

Has anyone else seen this tiki movie masterpiece?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055373/

[ Edited by: thejab 2007-01-03 13:09 ]

Sounds like a phenomenal find, Jab.

Now I'm going to have to hunt down a copy somehow.

Wow, 1961 is pretty early for any abandoned Polynesian restaurants. I'll program my DVR to record it if it ever comes back on. Thanks for the tip!

Oh by the way, just watched "Gidget" the night before last. Funny to watch now as she swoons over the "Big Kahuna"! I knew Sandra Dee had died, but after reading her bio, I didn't realize she had such a tragic life. Such as drastic contrast to the Gidget character.

Maybe it was supposed to be a Pre-Tiki joint, a la Pago Pago? AND, here they actually LIVE in the place, while in "THE EXPERTS", shot at the end of the 80s, John Travolta and Kelly Preston (very appropriately ignorant) RENOVATE a closed Polynesian club :)

I am not a big John Wayne fan.....but just learning to be tiki observant so I ordered and received "Donovan's Reef"....guess I'm gonna have to watch that movie again pretty soon pilgram!!!!

Haloa, this is Mauri from Italy.
Looking the UK sci-fi movie "Island of Terror" (1966) with Peter Cushing, I have found this nice private tiki bar:

the beauty...

... and the monster

A very nice location... but also a very good cult movie, recommended!

See you,
Mauri

[ Edited by: mauri 2007-01-12 23:55 ]

I saw a part of the trailer for Bob Hope film "Bachelor in Paradise" and i spotted that one scene was set in a tiki bar, anybody seen this film?