title: Song of the Islands
text: # Song of the Islands
  
  Song of the Islands is a 1942 musical comedy film starring Betty Grable and Victor Mature. It was directed by Walter Lang and released through 20th Century Fox.
  
  ## Plot
  
  Jeff Harper sails to the tropical paradise Ahmi-Oni with his sidekick Rusty. He is there on behalf of his father, to bargain for land with Dennis O'Brien. Jeff, however, falls in love with O'Brien's daughter Eileen, and it is then up to Jeff's father to go to the island and try to break them up. This proves to be a task easier said than done, because Jeff's father also falls under the spell of the beautiful splendor of the islands.
  
  ## Cast
  
  * Betty Grable as Eileen O'Brien
  * Victor Mature as Jeff Harper
  * Jack Oakie as Rusty Smith
  * Thomas Mitchell as Dennis O'Brien
  * George Barbier as Jefferson Harper Sr.
  * Hilo Hattie as Palola
  * Billy Gilbert as Palola's father
  * Lillian Porter as Paulani
  * Uncredited actors include Filipino Hollywood actor Rudy Robles as "Akomi", the native boy.
  
  ## Background
  
  Betty Grable had recently scored major hits with her leading roles for Fox. Films such as Down Argentine Way and Tin Pan Alley both in 1940 as well as Moon Over Miami, A Yank in the RAF and I Wake Up Screaming all in 1941. After the success of Song of the Islands, Fox realized they had a gold mine on their hands and kept lavishing Grable with Technicolor musicals and an increasing salary.
  
  Her co star was meant to be John Payne but he dropped out so he could make To the Shores of Tripoli and was replaced by Victor Mature. Mature had to drop out of Highway to Hell and was replaced by Cesar Romero. Filming began on 20 October 1941.
  
  In the 1979 film Yanks, set during World War II, there is a larger poster of the film on the wall.
  
  