Pagan Love Song (1950)

An American schoolteacher (Howard Keel) comes to Tahiti after inheriting a plantation where he meets and falls for a beautiful Tahitian girl (a brown skinned Esther Williams). Based on the novel TAHITI LANDFALL by William S. Stone and directed by the choreographer Robert Alton (WHITE CHRISTMAS, ANNIE GET YOUR GUN), one of only two films he directed. The slight plot serves as a framework for some unmemorable songs sung by Keel and a couple of swimming production numbers for Ms. Williams. The stereotypical concept of the happy, brown natives singing and laughing in the sun all day grates a bit but otherwise, it's typical, harmless MGM Technicolor fluff. The highlight of the film is a splashy and colorful Tahitian percussive production number with native dancers. The island of Kauai stands in for Tahiti. Esther Williams' singing is dubbed by Betty Wand. With Rita Moreno, Minna Gombell and Charles Mauu.