Honolulu: The Paradise of the Pacific (1935) ** 1/2 (out of 4)Another entry in MGM's popular TravelTalk series with this one looking at Honolulu and needless to say there's a lot of outdoor activities being shown off. We visit various sites including the capital, floral wreaths making, coloring of coral, Waikiki Beach plus countless surfers and swimmers. I've said this several times but it's important to remember when a short like this was made. Sure, you can punch up Honolulu on your computer today and get a much better documentary on what to do there but in 1935 I'm sure this was a major delight and that's why this series lasted so long. The one interesting note while watching this movie is the fact that it shows the island six years before Pearl Harbor.

A picture postcard look at Hawaii is what we get in this James A. FitzPatrick short subject with Hawaiian chants in the background as he narrates in his usual dry style a brief history of the island.It begins with some landmark sights in Honolulu, the capitol, with a look at the imposing Tower of Aloha before switching to some natives wearing colorful capes that were worn by the Kings of Hawaii; then we see the coloring of coral; women making floral wreaths to greet visitors; a few glimpses of dances to demonstrate the various hulas of Polynesian life; and an interesting shot of Waikiki Beach with Diamond Head mountains looming in the background.The short closes with the narrator saying something about the crescent waves and the turquoise sea as the sun sets on the island paradise.Mention is made of the U.S. Naval Station which would later undergo attack at Pearl Harbor, but it is not shown at all.

This colorful James A. FitzPatrick taveltalk gives the viewer a glimpse of the paradise of the Pacific just a few years before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Oahu, just west of Honolulu. Although the traveltalk doesn't show Pearl Harbor, it does show such popular tourist attractions as Waikiki Beach and Diamond Head. Narrator FitzPatrick relates the history of Hawaii and how the Polynesians first came to the islands across the Pacific, concentrating mainly on the aboriginal population. Perhaps due to time since this is a one-reel short, only nine minutes in length, almost nothing is said about the later European and American interlopers. The Statue of King Kamehameha, the monarch who united all the Hawaiian islands under one government, is spotlighted. How the traditional Hawaiian lei is made is also featured.A highlight of "Honolulu: The Paradise of the Pacific" is the native music played throughout the film. The Hula dance made famous by the Hawaiians is presented by two cuties in grass skirts. The traveltalk appropriately ends with "Aloha Oe," written by the last queen of Hawaii, Queen Lydia Liliuokalani.