Watch His Majesty O'Keefe For Free

Too much of everything

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

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) .

What's funny about this is reading some of the reviews here which basically think the story is "silly". Apparently the writers didn't know that the film is based on a true story, albeit it sufficiently fictionalized for Hollywood.As to the movie itself, it's darned entertaining...quite a bit of swash to the buckle, although it's not actually a swashbuckling film. Burt Lancaster is in top form here, and I must say that as one who did not always appreciate Lancaster, I have to admit he's supremely engaging here. And, it appears that he did all (or most all) of his own stunts...which is not surprising considering his time spent working at a circus (yes, really).The rest of the cast does well. Benson Fong, a staple in American films that have to do with the Chinese, including being one of the sons of Charlie Chan) is entertaining, as always. While the role was not memorable, one of the leaders on the island was played by Abraham Sofaer, who, interestingly was of Burmese-Jewish descent, and was a frequent actor in films and television as he aged. The female lead here is Joan Rice, who was quite beautiful, but not a particularly great actress; her career lasted a decade.Another big plus to this movie is that much of it was filmed in the region, and the photography is often quite lush with beautiful color.This film reminds me a little of "Farewell To The King" with Nick Nolte, although they are different stories. Here, Lancaster becomes king of a South Pacific island (which is basically true) as he deals in the trade of copra (coconut meat). Of course, he doesn't remain king. Hence, the most interesting aspect of the story -- the rise and fall of a common man. Or does he "fall"? One problem with the script is that the good times turned bad -- including his marriage -- literally overnight. That didn't quite make sense. Entertaining! Recommended!

The last of Burt Lancaster's adventurous star vehicles is easily the weakest: bland, dreary and unmemorable yet contriving to be a colorful and pleasant diversion nevertheless; apparently, he plays an actual larger-than-life adventurer who became the ruler of a Fijian island. Andre' Morell and Abraham Sofaer round up a rather unremarkable cast as a German trading agent and the native (and benign for once) witch doctor.The film has an excessive quota of local color via a succession of tedious native ceremonies but only a handful of the expected action sequences – although, what little there is, is adequately enough staged (including a hand-to-hand combat between Lancaster and a rebellious native chieftain who eventually comes to accept O'Keefe as his sovereign). An unusual element to the narrative which is, however, never brought to fruition is the native's reverence for a local stone they call "Fei". Needless to say, the strapping (and frequently bare-chested) Lancaster turns the girls' heads wherever he goes – in particular that of an Afro-sporting native girl and his future wife, Asian Joan Rice.The film was released on DVD by Warners as part of a rather undistinguished "Burt Lancaster Signature Collection" but I still intend to get my hands on the rest of them in the future; for the record, I already have the best of this bunch i.e. Jacques Tourneur's THE FLAME AND THE ARROW (1950).

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.