Tamahine (1963)......was a another sparkling star vehicle for Nancy Kwan, who blazed a lonely trail as modern Hollywood's first Asian sex-symbol starlet......
If you check out our 11/12/18 post on her 1965 film "The Wild Affair", you'll know that we love us some Nancy Kwan. Like Marilyn Monroe, she could combine a sweet adorable innocence with a volcanic, off-the-charts sexuality......
And like Monroe (and Doris Day, for that matter), she possessed perfect comedic timing and could drive her male co-stars wild with lust, while still getting more laughs than they did......
"Tamahine" studiously follows the standard "noble savage" comedy tropes......that's where a blissfully niave raised-in-the-wilderness native comes to live in what passes for our modern civilization.......and culture clashes aplenty ensue (either for dramatic or comedic effect).
Kwan plays the titular role, a South Pacific islander who leaves her tropical paradise to become the ward of father's cousin (Dennis Price), the stuffy headmaster of an equally stuffy, very, very British boys' public school.
The exotic, strong willed (and powerfully athletic) Tamahine quickly turns the place upside down, simultaneously entrancing and confounding the student body, the professorial staff (including Price)and their assorted family members.
We probably don't need to describe the various hijinks, embarrassing incidents and misunderstandings that occur here........if you're familiar at all with British comedies of the 60's, like the 'Carry On' series, you can guess them ahead of time......
Yes, indeed, the males stutter, sputter and do double takes in Kwan's presence. And she powers her way through this movie with flashing eyes, a knowing smile, a goddess's figure and Olympian skills that leave the school's Parent's Day throngs in an uproar.
Given our new modern age, today's viewers might cringe at the film's abrupt epilogue depicting the fates of Tamahine and the men who adore her.........but if you're familiar with 1960's romantic comedies, the wrap-up here is hardly surprising, given how the filmmakers of that era regarded womanhood in general.
Taking into account the era and the particular background of this film (with severely repressed, sex-starved Brits literally melting down at the sight a luscious Kwan), we had a great time watching this one......
In beautiful color and Panavision, you get a full 95 minutes of Nancy Kwan, swimming, running, scampering, cavorting, somersaulting and even climbing a dangerously high tower in her underwear......
And that makes for a swell 3 star (***) experience for us any way you look at it.....or her.
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