Hawaii

Production

United Artists and the Mirisch Corporation released Hawaii in October 1966. The screenplay by Dalton Trumbo and Daniel Taradash adapted roughly a third of James A. Michener’s vast novel. Julie Andrews, Max von Sydow, and Richard Harris led the cast, and Elmer Bernstein composed the score.

Story

Recent Yale Divinity graduate Abner Hale answers a call from the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions and sails to the Sandwich Islands in 1820 with his wife Jerusha. Their attempts to convert Hawaiian royalty come into conflict with the islanders’ religion and with traders.

Reception

Hawaii received seven Academy Award nominations, including Best Supporting Actress for Jocelyne LaGarde, a Tahitian first-time performer playing the Hawaiian queen Malama. The film grossed over 34 million dollars and was the highest-earning American release of 1966.