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18 out of 19 people found the following review useful: A clever framework for Jane Russell's spectacular physique!, 26 November 2000 Author: ironside (robertfrangie@hotmail.com) from Mexico
The fifties provided its share of World War II films... The super classics being David Lean's "The Bridge on the River Kwai" and Fred Zinnemann's "From Here to Eternity." Although Raoul Walsh's "The Revolt of Mamie Stover," a closely related minor film, also bears some consideration...The story, set in 1941, has Jane being escorted by the San Francisco Police to the entrance galley of a ship leaving town... She is advised not to return--ever!Aboard the Hawaii-bound vessel, she meets science fiction novelist Richard Egan who proves to be the first man in her versatile lifetime who respects her as a person... Naturally she is, at the proper time, impressed...Once they dock, she lands a job at the Bungalow Club, presided over by a domineering madam Agnes Moorehead...According to the movie, servicemen were lining up just for the opportunity to dance and talk (but definitely nothing more) with Moorehead's "hostesses," specially the ever popular Jane who makes a memorable impression as a cynical sleazy dance-hall hostess...Jane is seen avoided by the better element in town, who do not appreciate her patriotic contribution... Her conscience forces her to tell Egan: "No, Jimmy, I can't let you ruin your life... You can't lick the whole island-I've got a number on my back and they all know it."Egan was positive that some compromise can be worked out, but in the meantime he goes off to war... The aerial Pearl Harbor Attack, on December 7, 1941, by the Japanese is also seen...While he is away Jane is determined to make all the social abuse worth enduring and becomes the queen of the town's nightlife... Jane sees this as her only way to acquire wealth...When Egan returns on leave to Honolulu, he was filled with consternation to discover that Jane is the star attraction of the Bungalow Club... The shock of it all pushes him back into the refined arms of his society fiancée, Joan Leslie, who has that nice home high on the hill... And Jane? Well, definitely you have to see the picture to know what she does...Jane Russell wears a bright-red dress as the self-satisfied, eye-catching woman of "The Revolt of Mamie Stover," but she is definitely no screen substitute of Sadie Thompson as had been intended...In the middle of the ludicrous plot Jane sang "Keep Your Eyes on the Hands" and "If You Wanna See Mamie Tonight." The latter tune apt to call up memories of Rita Hayworth's "Put the Blame on Mame" from Charles Vidor's "Gilda."The CinemaScope format provides a clever framework for Jane Russell's spectacular physique...
8 out of 11 people found the following review useful: Typical mid-Fifties 20th-Century Fox product., 18 April 2003 Author: Greg Couture from Portland, Oregon
This one came out when my cinema-going was pretty well supervised by my parents who, had they known the subject matter, would not have approved of my going to see it. So it wasn't until years later that I caught it on a TV broadcast. I'd missed the credit titles but it wasn't long before I recognized the distinctive style of the musical scorer, the incredibly prolific Hugo Friedhofer. Check out his credits on the IMDb site dedicated to him and you'll be amazed at the number of projects on which he worked, both credited and uncredited. This movie focussed on a love story with a fairly heavy emphasis on its sexual aspect, discreetly cleaned up for the presumably conservative audiences of the mid-Fifties. But Hugo's music leaves no doubt as to what's going on but isn't being graphically depicted. Twentieth produced and released a lot of product around that time that took full advantage of CinemaScope and color, as well as their own system of multi-track stereophonic sound. With the locations used for this one, it would be a treat to see a theatrical presentation of this film, despite its flaws. It's a genuine artifact of what the movie moguls foisted on the adult audiences of the day. And besides Jane Russell in a role especially tailored to her, ahem!, talents, it's got Agnes Moorehead, who always added a special frisson to every role she played.
3 out of 3 people found the following review useful: Oh My, Who, on Oahu, 17 December 2006 Author: 5November from United States
I'm not revolting when it comes to enjoying Mamie Stover. The GIs in 1940s Hawaii enjoyed her and so do I. OK, it's not even close to a cinematic masterpiece, but it's worth a gander on a rainy Sunday afternoon when the hubby has on his football. It has stunning Hawaiian locations, a fun if melodramatic script and 20th Century Fox gave it gorgeous Technicolor. It must have had studio head Buddy Adler's blessing because he took producer's credit. If you're a Jane Russell fan, forget "The Outlaw" and "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" and "Underwater." The Russell you see here is smoldering...! She plays a down-on-her luck woman run out of San Francisco who lands on Oahu where she becomes a... a... a... dancehall hostess. (If they redid Mamie Stover today, it'd have a whole different look.) She makes lots of money and thumbs her pretty nose at her detractors. Maybe because she's called Flaming Mamie, Russell dyed her dark tresses to a shimmering red and natural redhead Agnes Moorehead, owner of the gin joint where Mamie works, has become a blonde. Aggie never made a film that she didn't elevate to a higher level. Michael Pate is wonderfully menacing as the gin joint bouncer/thug. Love interest Richard Egan is too bland and lovely Joan Leslie is wasted in a nothing supporting role. Tough-guy director Raoul Walsh, who had just finished directing tough-girl Russell in "The Tall Men," knew how to best display her acting chops and sultry good looks. Mmmmmm, whatever Mamie wants...
2 out of 2 people found the following review useful: Hooker w/o Heart of Gold, 14 January 2009 Author: ilprofessore-1 from United States
Shot partially on location in Hawaii and at the Twentieth Century Fox studios in Los Angeles in 1956, this film recreates the atmosphere of the islands before and during the Second World War. Because of her Amazonian good looks and the notorious publicity associated with "The Outlaw" few critics have given Jane Russell her due as a dramatic actress. In this film, directed expertly by the old-hand Raoul Walsh, she plays a no-nonsense out-on-her-luck prostitute –-here disguised in the usual Hollywood manner as a dance hall hostess—who falls for the rich guy on the hill. Unlike the other sex-goddesses of her time, foremost of all Marilyn Monroe who had been offered the part and turned it down, Jane shows none of that little-girl innocence and vulnerability of her sexy competitors; here she is as tough as nails, a big tomboy with a great body who knows exactly what she has and what it's worth. All business. Particularly memorable is a heated scene with Richard Egan in which she explains why she is obsessed with making money. It is probably one of the most convincing portrayals of a hooker without a heart of gold in film.
2 out of 2 people found the following review useful: It skirts the edges of a bolder, more passionate product, and may have benefited from the new permissiveness just four year later..., 10 November 2008 Author: moonspinner55 from redlands, ca
Raoul Walsh directs Jane Russell in an adaptation of William Bradford Huie's sexy novel about a brunette bombshell of ill-repute who leaves San Francisco for Honolulu in 1941 and falls into successful career as a dance-hall hostess. The heroine, mercenary and not above some cunning ruthlessness, is an interesting creation, and Russell does her justice. While her wisecracks and general air of condescension are unlikely ingredients for a woman who makes her fortune as a quasi-prostitute, Russell has the hard, salty armor for a role like this. Playing star-crossed lovers with wealthy novelist Richard Egan, Jane is nearly all business, and her witticisms are a hoot. Unfortunately, 1956 was too early for Hollywood to begin revealing the layers of the wanton female mind, and the picture seems too timid, too clean and luxurious as a result. Strictly as a big studio soaper, it has its pleasures. **1/2 from ****
4 out of 6 people found the following review useful: Russell is fine but the film goes nowhere., 2 July 1999 Author: David Atfield (bits@alphalink.com.au) from Canberra, Australia
Good Hawaiian locations, a strong performance by the gorgeous Jane Russell and a very sexy Agnes Moorehead - how could you want more? But there is also glorious colour and cinemascope, a pretty good recreation of the attack on Pearl Harbour, and Michael Pate as the baddie.Sadly Richard Egan is dull as Russell's love interest and the whole film is ruined by a rushed and meaningless ending. I guess no-one really believed the film's feminist ideas.
0 out of 1 people found the following review useful: not bad, for the time..although, 15 September 2009 Author: MarieGabrielle from United States
The double standard is still rampant, the character of Mamie Stover makes an attempt to achieve material success in a man's world.Richard Egan is believable as the writer with a house on a hilltop, and all the accoutrement Mamie Stover will beg borrow or steal to get. She does make a point when she says when he discusses money he ..."is only slumming, while I'm just plain scared"...The problem in these days is women were not encouraged to use their minds, and her pronounced figure is blatantly used in many scenes to underline this point.Some good scenes with Agnes Moorehead as brothel owner, and lush sets on the beaches and mountains of Oahu. Worth a viewing as a commentary on women's issues at the time, a curiosity in that one wonders how close the Stover character was to Russel's own life, and what she had to do to get ahead in Hollywood of the 1940's-1950's.
4 out of 9 people found the following review useful: Not much of a movie but see Hawaii in it's golden age, 5 March 2001 Author: rodan_g from Vancouver, Canada
Pretty much a throw away movie that has no real pace, a contrived plot and some wooden acting. That said, I found myself glued to the overall look and feel of the film. It depicts Hawaii in the mid-50's in all it's charm. The clothes, locations, dialogue and style give a highly romantic view of Hawaii and America in it's golden age.Fun if you want to see Hawaii as many dreamed it was actually like in the 50's (or wish it still was), but not much of a movie.
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