Tagged: Hawaii
Blue Hawaii: Elvis’ Red Aloha Shirts
Elvis Presley in promotional art for Blue Hawaii (1961). His character Chad Gates never actually wore this actual shirt on screen, instead wearing a differently patterned red Aloha shirt.
Vitals
Elvis Presley as Chadwick “Chad” Gates, young tour guide and U.S. Army veteran
Honolulu, Hawaii, Summer 1961
Film: Blue Hawaii
Release Date: November 22, 1961
Director: Norman Taurog
Costume Designer: Edith Head
Background
Particularly on #AlohaFriday, Aloha shirts are an obvious necessity for life in the Hawaiian islands, though these tropical printed tops are enjoying a renaissance here in the continental United States this summer as well. But what makes the difference between an out-of-touch tourist and a stylish tropical traveler? To illustrate how to effectively pull off the decades-old Hawaiian shirt, we turn to prolific clotheshorse Elvis Presley. Continue reading
John Wayne’s Field Jacket in Donovan’s Reef
John Wayne as Michael “Guns” Donovan in Donovan’s Reef (1963)
Vitals
John Wayne as Michael “Guns” Donovan, island saloon owner and U.S. Navy veteran
French Polynesia, December 1963
Film: Donovan’s Reef
Release Date: June 12, 1963
Director: John Ford
Costume Designer: Edith Head
Background
A decade after John Wayne traveled to Hawaii to play the titular anti-communist agent in Big Jim McLain, the actor returned for the production of Donovan’s Reef, a more lighthearted and less politically motivated film and the final of Duke’s many cinematic collaborations with prolific director John Ford.
Donovan’s Reef is set during the holidays in French Polynesia where ex-Navy gunner’s mate Michael “Guns” Donovan operates a saloon on the fictional island of Haleakaloha. Continue reading
John Wayne’s White Camp Shirt in Donovan’s Reef
John Wayne as Michael “Guns” Donovan in Donovan’s Reef (1963)
Vitals
John Wayne as Michael “Guns” Donovan, island saloon owner and U.S. Navy veteran
French Polynesia, December 1963
Film: Donovan’s Reef
Release Date: June 12, 1963
Director: John Ford
Costume Designer: Edith Head
Background
Who better than John Wayne to feature on the day before that most American of holidays, the fourth of July?
Donovan’s Reef takes John Wayne from his familiar settings of the wild west or a world war and places him in French Polynesia (though actually filmed in Hawaii) as the grizzled manager of the titular island tavern.
John Wayne is hardly a name that comes to mind when thinking of classic beachgoers, but photographs like this from Duke’s Acapulco resort in the 1940s taken by Phil Stern prove that Wayne (and fellow macho pal Gary Cooper) could be quite natty when the time came to relaxing under the sun. Continue reading
Don Draper’s Hawaiian Vacation
Jon Hamm as Don Draper in “The Doorway”, Episode 6.01 of Mad Men.
Vitals
Jon Hamm as Don Draper, vacationing Madison Avenue ad man
Hawaii, December 1967
Series: Mad Men
Episode: “The Doorway” (Episode 6.01)
Air Date: April 7, 2013
Director: Scott Hornbacher
Costume Designer: Janie Bryant
Background
As June progresses, I hope many of you are starting to think about summer vacations.
Season six of Mad Men premiered on April 7, 2013 with “The Doorway”, a two-hour episode (technically two episodes aired consecutively, but whatever) set just after Christmas 1967.
When we first catch up with Don Draper again after the ten-month interseason hiatus, he is in Hawaii on a business vacation, sticking his feet in the sand with his bikini-clad wife Megan. Continue reading
