Chanson païenne

Seeing it with an American friend, who is also a fan of "classic-era" musicals and had an old VHS in not too bad condition, 'Pagan Love Song' is pleasant enough. It does not see the best of Howard Keel or Esther Williams, but they are the film's biggest attractions and don't disappoint.

Getting 'Pagan Love Song's' flaws out of the way, the thinness of the story makes paper thicker in comparison and it gets contrived and nonsensical in places, coming to life in the song/dance scenes and floundering often elsewhere. The script does lack wit and does come over as a bit leaden and heavy-handed in delivery.

Direction-wise, 'Pagan Love Song' did cry out for a more experienced director (i.e. Stanley Donen), because Robert Alton's direction does come over as indifferent and his inexperience does get in the way out of the storytelling.

The songs are certainly pleasant enough, beautifully sung and charmingly choreographed, but don't expect any classics, ones that stand the test of time in timeless fashion or anything unforgettable. "The House of Singing Bamboo" is the standout.

As said, the main attractions are Keel and Williams and neither disappoint. Keel is handsome, robust and charming, and his voice (one of the warmest and most beautiful male singing voices on film) is in golden condition. Williams also radiates charm and how she handles the water ballet stuff is mind-blowing. The rest of the cast don't stand out as much but are hardly a liability, look out for a pre-'The King and I' and 'West Side Story' Rita Moreno.

Chemistry-wise, Keel and Williams are easy-going and assured. While not exactly irresistible as such, the romantic elements were sweet and fared better than most of the rest of the film's storytelling.

Visually, 'Pagan Love Song' is just exquisite. The scenery is the very meaning of exotic and the whole film is gorgeously photographed, especially in regard to the water ballet sequences, which are some of the most visually beautiful scenes in any film featuring Williams and her water ballet, and the fantasy sequence.

Overall, don't expect much from the story and script but fans of Keel and Williams will be delighted, even if the film is seen just for them. 6/10 Bethany Cox

Someone seemed to have forgotten that a film needs a plot when they devised this piece of fluffy entertainment. Still the people are pretty, the setting even more pretty, and the fantasy sequence the prettiest of the lot. The songs are forgettable - but just turn the brain off and enjoy.

The other comment here is that this movie has no plot. Well, there is, but it's a thin one. But, consider the social context of this film, the beginning of the 50s, a time when musicals were king and the world was still optimistic. Things looked good: the horrible WW2 was over and the boys were home; the economy was so-so but people were hopeful: many ex-GIs had returned to school (a social feature which would bear fruits in the coming years); Rosie the Riveter had put up her tools and was now in maternity clothes waiting to socialize her daughters and make them aware that they could earn money just like the men and not have to stand for being deprived of the opportunity to do so; the Korean war was still a year away. Things looked good. So, why not have a bit of Hollywood costume mind pablum about a guy inheriting a small plantation in Tahiti, having a romance with swimarina Esther Williams in dark-skinned make-up and all of that. No plot? Sure, there is. It's just not very tension-fraught. Is that bad? To tell the truth, I don't think folks went to see this film for extensive intellectual challenges. It is full of memorable songs, lovely-to-look-at moments and some nice shots of Tahiti. Rosie and her back-from-the-war GI Joe likely held hands during the colorful dream sequences, unknowing that their daughters and granddaughters would be horrified at the chauvinist late 40s dialogue. I missed this film as a kid and saw it on video a few years ago. I loved Howard Keel and Esther Williams as a kid and would likely have loved it more then. But still, there were moments, e.g., during the confusing (and somewhat confused) dream sequence, when I could smile, losing myself in the same way that thousands who go to Las Vegas and see shows at the club do-- and it only cost me a few dollars! Check it out. I agree. The plot is scarce but, doggone it, it's sure fun to see.

When Pagan Love Song came out in 1950 it reflected the changing times and the fact that the movies were competing with television. Ten years earlier a film like this would have been done on MGM's backlot. But now in order to get the audiences to a film about the south seas, you had to show the real thing.

The film is lovely to look at without the plot getting too much in the way of the lovely Hawaiian scenery which substituted for Tahiti. My guess is that Tahiti probably was still recovering from the effects of World War II otherwise MGM might have shot the film there. In any event having been to Hawaii, I am of the firm opinion, further documented by Pagan Love Song that it is impossible to make an unattractive film in Hawaii.

The plot is real simple, Howard Keel is an American whose heard about the romantic south seas and wants to get away from it all. Esther Williams is a native Tahitian who'd just like to get to see some of the rest of the world. Howard has bought a copra plantation and he settles into the Tahitian ways very fast. Of course seeing Esther in a bathing suit swimming in the lagoon helped a lot.

One thing that should also be remembered is that at the time Pagan Love Song came out, the most popular musical on Broadway was South Pacific. That Rodgers&Hammerstein classic by itself created a market for a film like Pagan Love Song. I only wish the music were up to the standards of that show.

Arthur Freed did double duty in this film, serving as both producer and lyricist. He wrote original songs with Harry Warren, nothing terribly memorable and also it's his song with Nacio Herb Brown that serves as the title of the film. It was one of the earliest hits from the beginning of sound films.

Esther Williams as usual has some lovely water ballets. Of her it can truly be said, her like in Hollywood has not appeared again and is unlikely to.

Pagan Love Song is a pleasant piece of fluff entertainment, easy to look at with a plot not too taxing.

The most minor of Arthur Freed's minor MGM musicals, and one suspects he took it on because it showcased his (rather pedestrian) lyrics. It's a Tahitian treat, by present-day standards astonishingly racist, with the happy, stupid natives bowing and doing the bidding of Howard Keel, an Ohio teacher who has inherited a dilapidated tropical estate, and Esther Williams, who keeps saying she's through-and-through Tahitian and has dusky makeup to back it up, but comes equipped with a Nebraska accent and seems incapable of playing anything but American. About the most dramatic thing that happens is it rains, and Keel and Williams squabble and make up, while a very young Rita Moreno schemes to get them back together. The two stars look terrific, Keel runs around shirtless most of the time, the Harry Warren melodies are very easy to take, and Esther's one underwater ballet displays Technicolor hues that will probably never be seen again. The storytelling's lazy and condescending, Robert Alton is not a natural-born director, and inconsequential doesn't begin to describe it. For all that, it's fun and tuneful and unpretentious, and you may even enjoy the over-simplistic world view of 1950.