JohnHowardReid A Warner Bros Picture. New York opening at the Paramount: 4 February 1954. U.S. release: 16 January 1954. U.K. release: 26 July 1954. Australian release: 7 October 1954. 8,133 feet. 90 minutes. SYNOPSIS: An American adventurer in the South Seas in the 19th century tries to corner the copra trade on the island of Yap. He faces three problems: (1) The natives are unwilling to work; (2) The German government claims trading rights over the island; (3) A notorious pirate and blackbirder, Bully Hayes, has his marauders attack the island. Further complications for Captain O'Keefe are his inability to raise money to float the copra project and his involvement with a native girl whom he is forced (not unwillingly) to marry. NOTES: The picture was filmed entirely in the South Seas, with the co-operation of the then Secretary of Fijian Affairs. Most of the film was lensed on the Fijian island of Viti Lemu. VIEWERS' GUIDE: I thought it too violent for the kids, but both the contemporary British and Australian censors disagree. The film was granted a Universal or General Exhibition certificate in both England and Australia. COMMENT: Bit of a mystery here. My guess is that there are three versions of the movie: British, American and the current (2010) composite DVD version. Doubtless the British version opened at the Sydney Mayfair on 7 October 1954. The American version was shown on Sydney TV, thirty years later. This has different credit titles, including Roth and McWhorter, who are both omitted from the British prints, Scheid who replaces Sid Wiles, and, most importantly, Tiomkin replacing Farnon and Levy. Just to confuse matters, the current TV print has British credit titles, but uses some or all of Tiomkin's score! Fortunately the music is far from the movie's main attraction. In fact, few people will even notice it. The colorful scenery is far more attractive than the somewhat nondescript sound track. It's a tribute to Lancaster's skill and charisma that he manages to hold his own both against often routine situations and exotically distracting backgrounds. The other players fare less happily, though Miss Rice makes a moderately pleasant if somewhat innocuous heroine, while a solid contingent of Australian actors vie for attention underneath native make-up or "character" costumes. Alexander Archdale is at least readily recognizable as the heroine's dad, but it is the heavily disguised Guy Doleman who makes the most impression as the supercilious Herr Weber. Director Byron Haskin has staged it all with more than enough vigor to compensate for any shortcomings in the plot's familiarity or credibility.OTHER VIEWS: Although it has all the usual vices of its genre — white actors cheerfully impersonating natives; a Boys' Own Paper approach to history; a simplistic attitude to vice and virtue, heroes and villains; a coy yet patronizing depiction of indigenous people — this is an entertaining enough romp through the picturesque South Seas, produced on a grandly adventuresome scale. It's a tale in which the location scenery and exotic backgrounds tend to dwarf the actors. But the ever-smiling Lancaster manages to hold his own, even against all the vividly Technicolored splendors — not to mention the copious incidental action of combat, rebellion and mutiny — of Yap. Aside from Andre Morell, the other players — including the well-publicized contingent of Australians — make little impression. Haskin's direction is efficient, but all the honors go to his Technicolor cameraman and his open check-booked producer. — G.A.His Majesty O'Keefe has improved with age. Despite its exotic Fijian locations, we all thought it run-of-the-mill routine 55 years ago, even something of a bore or a chore to sit through. I was not looking forward to this re-appraisal. To my surprise, the photography not only still glows with all that remembered tropic lushness, but the film has pace, yes pace and action — lots of action. Talky-talky TV has made even what was regarded by all as a very routine actioner, now full of excitement. Beautifully photographed and colored, pleasantly and capably played, tensely scripted with an engrossing plot and believable characters and very capably directed, HMO'K is a well-mounted, handsome production that doesn't pinch any pennies but delivers a full quota of action and excitement (with Mr L doing his own fighting and stunting) in a romantic and exotic setting. Joan Rice looks quite attractive and never appeared to greater advantage. Lancaster is his usual smiling self, while the support players are led by Andre Morell (a convincing though kindly German). His confrontation scene is very effectively staged drama.

ma-cortes This is an amusing and fun movie , although heavily Hollywoodized, the film is based on real individuals and events . Here Burt Lancaster is the complete show , he played this adventure movie in the wake of his man-of-action epoch when he performed three magnificent movies that included ¨Crimson pirate¨ , ¨The Flame and the Arrow¨ and this one . Based on a real-life American adventurer , a Yankee sea captain who has adventures in paradise trying to become an entrepreneur in Micronesia. The entire picture was photographed in the South Pacific , where for years the basic economy and wealth revolved around the dried meat of coconut , known as Copra . And in the Island of Yap the natives worshipped an exotic sacred stone they called ¨Fei¨. It deals with Lancaster's attempts to make fame and fortune out of pearls or anything else he can lay his hands on , when he's not fighting gangs of pirates , he then became involved into the lucrative coconut-oil trade of the mid-1800s . There the disgruntled natives see him as a god and allow him to marry a charming maiden . When his kingdom is threatened by unscrupulous German traders , Burt springs into action to safeguard his kingdom .Agreeable as well as entertaining adventure movie , plenty of action , thrills , bright cinematography and exotic scenarios . Although the story has been told before , tight filmmaking and nice acting win out . The picture is fast-moving , exciting and thrilling ; however the scenic qualities of the movie are rather better than the disjointed screenplay by Borden Chase and James Hill , being suggested by a novel from Lawrence Klingman and Gerald Green . ¨His Majesty O'Keefe¨ results to be one of Lancaster's swashbuckling best and has achieved a good status along with ¨Crimson pirate¨(1952) and ¨The Flame and the Arrow¨(1950) , all of them made during star Burt Lancaster's athletic and swashbuckler period . Because of cost overruns on "The Crimson Pirate" and "His Majesty O'Keefe," Warner Brothers insisted that future films from Hecht/Lancaster be limited to $900,000 ; then Lancaster and Hecht's response was to strike a new deal with United Artists. The cast is frankly well such as Andre Morell as a friendly trader , Abraham Sofaer as a medicine man and a gorgeous young Joan Rice . The producers , the notorious team formed by Harold Hecht-James Hill-Lancaster wish to acknowledge their gratitude to the Secretary for Fijian Affairs , to Ratu Penaia La La Latiamara , Serua District Chief in Charge and to the wonderful people of the Fiji Islands . Colorful cinematography shot on location by Otto Heller , this was the first film ever filmed in the Fiji Islands . Lively and atmospheric musical score composed by the classic Dimitri Tiomkin , though the British print has a Robert Farnon score conducted by Louis Levy, re-scored in Hollywood by Dimitri . Lavishly produced and being professionally directed by Byron Haskin , though with no originality . Haskin was a good craftsman who worked in Warner Brothers Special Effects department . He returned to filmmaking , and was responsible for Walt Disney's first live-action film , the adventure cult-classic Treasure island (1950). In the mid-1950s Haskin began a rewarding association with producer George Pal, for whom he filmed what are probably his best-known films , the science fiction classic War of the worlds (1953) , Conquest of space (1955) and a catastrophe movie , The naked jungle (1954). Haskin was expert on Sci-Fi genre , as he would collaborate with Pal on other films , such as From the earth to moon , Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1964) and The power (1968). He also directed some Western as Denver Rio Grande and Silver City and especially adventure movie such as Treasure Island (1950) , Long John Silver (1954) , Captain Sinbad (1963) and this His Majesty O'Keefe (1954) .

James Hitchcock Captain David O'Keefe was a real-life person, a 19th century Irish-born adventurer from Savannah, Georgia, who made his fortune in the copra trade on the South Pacific island of Yap. This film is a fictionalised version of his life-story, and as one might expect takes a few liberties with history. In the film O'Keefe becomes king of Yap and defends his people against the incursions of aggressive German colonisers. In reality, when O'Keefe arrived on the island in 1871 it was a Spanish colony and the newly-united German Empire had no interest in acquiring colonies in the South Pacific or anywhere else. Yap did not become German until 1899, well after the date at which the film is set. This change was possibly made because in 1954, only nine years after the end of the war, American audiences would have been more accustomed to seeing Germans than Spaniards as cinematic villains. The film does, however, provide one "good German" in the shape of O'Keefe's friend Alfred Tetens, another real-life person. O'Keefe did indeed marry a local girl as shown here, but the film tactfully omits the fact that their marriage was invalid because he already had a wife in Savannah. The Production Code officially forbade the depiction of racially mixed marriages or romances, but by the fifties there seemed to be an unofficial relaxation of this rule in force. Relationships between white men and non-white women could be shown provided (a) the girl was described as being of mixed race and (b) she was played by a white actress. This rule was applied in "Showboat" and "Love is a Many-Splendoured Thing", and is also applied here. O'Keefe's sweetheart Dalabo, supposedly of mixed European and Micronesian descent, is played by the Derbyshire-born Joan Rice. Dalabo has a rival for O'Keefe's affections, but the said rival, being pure- blooded Yapese, has to lose out. Rice, although undoubtedly decorative to look at, is never really convincing as a native of the South Seas, or for that matter of any part of the world further south than Derbyshire. Burt Lancaster, however, makes an agreeable hero, and receives good support from André Morell as Tetens. Later in his career Lancaster could be a very intense actor, often appearing in dramas with a serious social, political or philosophical purpose, but in his action films of the early fifties his style of acting was generally much more relaxed, and so it is here. Many film-makers of the early days of the cinema were reluctant to venture too far away from a Hollywood studio, even when their films were ostensibly set in some exotic part of the globe. This attitude still prevailed in some quarters during the fifties; for example "Brigadoon", also made in 1954, had to be shot on MGM's sound stage, against a vast painted backdrop of Scottish-style scenery, because Dore Schary was reluctant to stump up the cost of transporting cast and crew all the way to Scotland, or even to some part of America that looked like Scotland. In other quarters, however, attitudes were changing as the studios began to realise that local colour and authentic scenery could be useful weapons in their battle against the new enemy, television. "His Majesty O'Keefe" is a case in point, as much of the film was actually shot on location in the South Pacific. This doubtless increased the budget, but I think that the decision was the right one, as the result was a colourful, visually attractive film. Byron Haskin is unlikely to feature very highly on any list of Hollywood's great auteurs, but he was capable of producing some very decent and enjoyable adventure films (his 1953 version of "The War of the Worlds" is probably the best known) and this is another in that category. 7/10

Dawnfrancis This film is not Lancaster's best but is enjoyable if you enjoy watching him in his athletic prime. Beautifully shot, it captures the exciting times of adventure on the high seas and island exploration. The plot is fairly insubstantial and there's nothing new here but at just over 90 minutes, the story never drags. Definitely worth a look if you're a fan of Burt's.