One of Elvis Best: Blue Hawaii

Elvis Presley in Blue Hawaii is a classic movie musical that every Elvis fan loves for two reasons: watching the King, and enjoying the backdrop of the beautiful Hawaiian Islands of Oahu and Kauai where the movie was filmed.  Believe it or not, Elvis Presley in Blue Hawaii was one of the biggest box office successes that Elvis had in his career.  The movie soundtrack also enjoyed equally great success with a total of 79 weeks on Billboard’s pop album chart, with 20 weeks at  #1.

Filmed in March of 1961, the director of Elvis Presley in Blue Hawaii picked the location for the famous wedding scene as the Coco Palms Resort Hotel on the East shore of Kauai.  The hotel, opened in 1953, operated as a luxury resort until it was destroyed by hurricane Iniki in September 1992.  The Coco Palms Resort Hotel is located on the land that at one time was the ancestral home of Kauai’s last and greatest reining queen, Queen Deborah Kapule.  There was a “Call to Feast” ceremony to honor her, which was featured in the film.  Unfortunately, ever since hurricane Iniki devastated this part of the island, it is no longer performed.

The leading role, played by Elvis Presley in Blue Hawaii is Chad Gates, a young man who has just gotten out of the army and has returned home to his family’s pineapple plantation in Hawaii.  While his father demands that he take over the plantation and marry a girl who is as wealthy as he is, Elvis Presley in Blue Hawaii has other plans.  He escapes the plantation and goes to work with his friends at a travel agency.  There, he meets the girl of his dreams and they decide to start their own agency.  Of course, they fall in love, and with the parent’s blessing, get married at the Coco Palms Resort Hotel.    

Elvis loved going to Hawaii. In fact it was one of the vacation spots he liked to visit when he wasn’t filming, recording or performing.  As a tribute, he dedicated an entire live concert to the islands when he performed a television special there.  Elvis’s love of Hawaii is evident when he sings the romantic tropical love songs that are a touching part of the movie.

No Elvis fan can ever resist watching Elvis Presley in Blue Hawaii.  The incredible soundtrack, the well-known actors and the beautiful footage of the Aloha State make Elvis Presley in Blue Hawaii a must-see movie for everyone.