Aloma of the South Seas (1926 film)

Aloma of the South Seas
Aloma of the South Seas
	1926 advertisement
Directed by	Maurice Tourneur
Written by	James Ashmore Creelman
Based on	Aloma of the South Seas; by John B. Hymer and LeRoy Clemens
Produced by	E. Lloyd Sheldon; Maurice Tourneur; Adolph Zukor; Jesse L. Lasky
Starring	Gilda Gray; Percy Marmont; Warner Baxter
Cinematography	Harry Fischbeck
Edited by	E. Lloyd Sheldon
Music by	Robert Hood Bowers
Production; company	Famous Players–Lasky
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date	May 16, 1926;
Running time	90 minutes
Country	United States
Language	Silent (English intertitles)
Budget	$225,000
Box office	US$ 3 million

Aloma of the South Seas is a lost 1926 American silent comedy drama film starring Gilda Gray as an erotic dancer, filmed in Puerto Rico and Bermuda, and based on a 1925 play of the same title by John B. Hymer and LeRoy Clemens.^[4]^[5]

The film was spoofed by a 1926 Mutt and Jeff animated cartoon, Aroma of the South Seas.^[6]

Plot

Bob Holden (Percy Marmont), an embittered war veteran, has gone to the South Seas to drown in drink the memory of his old girlfriend, Sylvia (Julanne Johnston) who has married his best friend, Van Templeton (William Powell) in his absence. This happened only because Templeton withheld word from Sylvia that Holden had survived the war. In the South Seas, Holden becomes the object of Aloma’s (Gilda Gray) loving and ministering attentions and eventually promises to marry her. Naturally, Nuitane (Warner Baxter), Aloma’s abandoned Polynesian boyfriend is jealous. The plot gets thicker when Templeton and Sylvia arrive on the island rather inexplicably. Templeton tries to force himself upon Aloma but is foiled by Holden. The jilted Nuitane decides to feed Holden to the sharks, but suddenly realizes that Templeton is the extra man in the love pentagon. As Templeton is devoured, Nuitane calmly observes: “Sharks not eat Nuitane—sharks like white meat.” Minus the evil interloper, the two couples fall happily into a race-appropriate (for that era) clinch.

Cast

Gilda Gray as Aloma
Percy Marmont as Bob Holden
Warner Baxter as Nuitane
William Powell as Van Templeton
Harry T. Morey as Red Malloy
Julanne Johnston as Sylvia
Joseph W. Smiley as Andrew Taylor
Frank Montgomery as Hongi
Michelette Burani as Hina (credited as Madame Burani)
Ernestine Gaines as Taula
Aurelio Ciccia as Sailor

Release

The film premiered at Paramount's Rialto Theatre in New York City on May 16, 1926.^[7] Grossing $3 million in the U.S. alone, this was the most successful film of 1926 and the fourth most successful film of the 1920s.^[8]

Preservation

The film is now considered to be a lost film, although some footage has resurfaced.^[9]^[10]^[11]

Remake

The film was remade as Aloma of the South Seas (1941), starring Dorothy Lamour and Jon Hall. The plot was completely reworked, leaving only the setting in common with the earlier film.

References

^ "Robert Hood Bowers". Billboard. January 10, 1942. p. 31. Retrieved December 15, 2009.
^ "Inside Stuff". Variety. December 9, 1925. p. 21.
^ Box Office Information for "Aloma of the South Seas"
^ Progressive Silent Film List: Aloma of the South Seas at silentera.com
^ "Theatre: New Plays: May 4, 1925". Time. May 4, 1925. Archived from the original on February 19, 2012. Retrieved December 15, 2009.
^ Sampson, Henry T. (1998). That's Enough, Folks: Black Images in Animated Cartoons, 1900-1960. Scarecrow Press. pp. 84–85. ISBN 978-0810832503.
^ "Film Reviews: Aloma of the South Seas", Variety, 83 (1): 16, May 19, 1926, retrieved April 27, 2022
^ Christensen, Terry; Haas, Peter J. (2005). Projecting Politics: Political Messages in American Film. M. E. Sharpe. pp. 326. ISBN 978-0-7656-1443-8. Retrieved December 15, 2009. aloma of the south seas.
^ Bryant, Roger (2006). William Powell: the life and films. McFarland. p. 30. ISBN 978-0-7864-2602-7. Retrieved December 15, 2009.
^ Aloma of the South Seas at Arne Andersen's Lost Film Files: Paramount Pictures 1926 Archived August 22, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
^ Aloma of the South Seas (1926) - Youtube, retrieved November 12, 2023

External links

Aloma of the South Seas at IMDb
Swedish poster featuring Gilda Gray
Synopsis at AllMovie
Lobby card at silenthollywood.com
The song "Aloma" written for the film presented with stills on YouTube

This article about a silent drama film from the 1920s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[1] "Robert Hood Bowers". Billboard. January 10, 1942. p. 31. Retrieved December 15, 2009.

[2] "Inside Stuff". Variety. December 9, 1925. p. 21.

[3] Box Office Information for "Aloma of the South Seas"

[4] Progressive Silent Film List: Aloma of the South Seas at silentera.com

[5] "Theatre: New Plays: May 4, 1925". Time. May 4, 1925. Archived from the original on February 19, 2012. Retrieved December 15, 2009.

[Enough-6] Sampson, Henry T. (1998). That's Enough, Folks: Black Images in Animated Cartoons, 1900-1960. Scarecrow Press. pp. 84–85. ISBN 978-0810832503.

[7] "Film Reviews: Aloma of the South Seas", Variety, 83 (1): 16, May 19, 1926, retrieved April 27, 2022

[8] Christensen, Terry; Haas, Peter J. (2005). Projecting Politics: Political Messages in American Film. M. E. Sharpe. pp. 326. ISBN 978-0-7656-1443-8. Retrieved December 15, 2009. aloma of the south seas.

[9] Bryant, Roger (2006). William Powell: the life and films. McFarland. p. 30. ISBN 978-0-7864-2602-7. Retrieved December 15, 2009.

[10] Aloma of the South Seas at Arne Andersen's Lost Film Files: Paramount Pictures 1926 Archived August 22, 2015, at the Wayback Machine

[11] Aloma of the South Seas (1926) - Youtube, retrieved November 12, 2023

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