Project KULEANA │ Kaulana Nā Pua

In this edition of Movies Hawaii, I am featuring an incredible music video called "Kaulana Nā Pua (Famous Are The Flowers)", that was produced by Project KULEANA.  "Kaulana Nā Pua" is a Hawaiian patriotic song written by Eleanor Kekoaohiwaikalani Wright Prendergast in 1893, as a form of protest for the violent overthrow of Queen Liliʻuokalani and the Hawaiian Kingdom.  She wrote it specifically for the Royal Hawaiian Band, which is still in existence today.  "Kaulana Nā Pua" can be understood to be an act of subterfuge, since to the non-Hawaiian speaking listener, the lively melody gives no hint of the political intensity and implied sedition of its lyrics.  It was the only way that the Hawaiians living in 1893 could safely show their support for the Hawaiian Monarchy.  "Kaulana Nā Pua" is a statement of rebellion against the Provisional Government of Hawaii, that demanded,among other things, that the government workers sign a loyalty agreement in order for them to continue employment.  Many people resisted doing this, including the members of the Royal Hawaiian Band who went on strike.  Needles to say, the subtle nuances of the Hawaiian language, coupled with the hidden meanings, and double entendres of the lyrics, escaped the notice of the usurpers of the Royal House of Kamehameha.  "Kaulana Nā Pua" indeed captures the anguish and dismay of the Hawaiian people perfectly.  Queen Liliʻuokalan  was deposed on January 17, 1893.  Project KULEANA has created an awe inspiring version of "Kaulana Na Pua" that features some of Hawaii's best singers and musicians.  By-the-way, this video gives me a chance to showcase the unearthly beauty of my home state of Hawaii.  Safe journeys to all the fans of Movies Hawaii, wherever you may be.

Kaulana Nâ Pua
by  Ellen Keho`ohiwaokalani Wright Prendergast

 Kaulana nâ pua a`o Hawai`i
Kûpa`a ma hope o ka `âina
Hiki mai ka `elele o ka loko `ino
Palapala `ânunu me ka pâkaha
  
Pane mai Hawai`i moku o Keawe
Kôkua nâ Hono a`o Pi`ilani
Kâko`o mai Kaua`i o Mano
Pa`apû me ke one Kâkuhihewa
  
`A`ole a`e kau i ka pûlima
Ma luna o ka pepa o ka `ênemi
Ho`ohui `âina kû`ai hewa
I ka pono sivila a`o ke kanaka
  
`A`ole mâkou a`e minamina
I ka pu`u kâlâ o ke aupuni
Ua lawa mâkou i ka pôhaku
I ka `ai kamaha`o o ka `âina
  
Ma hope mâkou o Lili`ulani
A loa`a ê ka pono o ka `âina
*(A kau hou `ia e ke kalaunu)
Ha`ina `ia mai ana ka puana
Ka po`e i aloha i ka `âina


Famous are the children of Hawai`i
Ever loyal to the land
When the evil-hearted messenger comes
With his greedy document of extortion
   
Hawai`i, land of Keawe answers
Pi`ilani's bays help
Mano's Kaua`i lends support
And so do the sands of Kakuhihewa
   
No one will fix a signature
To the paper of the enemy
With its sin of annexation
And sale of native civil rights
   
We do not value
The government's sums of money
We are satisfied with the stones
Astonishing food of the land

We back Lili`ulani
Who has won the rights of the land
*(She will be crowned again)
Tell the story
Of the people who love their land

Hawaii Calls │ Bobby Breen

  

Bobby Breen, who was born on November 24, 1927 in Canada, was the finest treble voice of the late 1930s.   It is astonishing, but he started to perform in night clubs at the age of four.  Bobby then went on to become a leading child actor in Hollywood, and he appeared in many movie musicals in the 1930s, and 1940s.  Bobby's vast repertoire included not only popular standards, but also classical music, including opera.  He was an eclectic child star, and was the first to create a certain mystique in the eyes of the movie going public.  It is not widely known, but Bobby is one of the people that The Beatles admired, and he is pictured on the "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" album cover.  Bobby is in the front row, right in-between George Harrison and Marlene Dietrich.  Now that was quite an honor, and goes to show you just how highly esteemed the music of Bobby Breen was.  In 1938, Bobby starred in the movie "Hawaii Calls", which was also the name of a very popular radio show, featuring authentic Hawaiian music that was hosted by the legendary Webly Edwards. The show was broadcast live every week from Waikiki Beach by KGMB, a radio station in Honolulu, and later distributed by "electrical transcription (an early type of  recording device that used acetate/aluminum disks)" throughout the continental United States.  Please remember that at that time Hawaii was still a Territory Of The United States, and there was no technically reliable way to transmit a radio show "live" to the mainland.  Bobby's co-star was a Hawaiian boy who went by the name of Pua Lani, which means "Heavenly Flower" in the Hawaiian language.  Not only that, but scores of Hawaiian, and hapa haole (half Hawaiian) children, were used as extras in the film.  In "Hawaii Calls", Bobby sings a beautiful operatic piece called "Macushla", accompanied by a full symphony orchestra, but instead of using that song, in this edition of Movies Hawaii I am featuring a novelty number from the movie called "That's The Hawaiian In Me", that was composed by Hawaiian entertainers, Johnny Noble and Margarita Lake.  It is a really cool song, and beach scene.  Click on the upper video widget to watch this clip.  I find it interesting though, that on the side wall of the now defunct Waikiki Theatre (it opened on August 20, 1936 and closed in November of 2002), located in Waikiki of course, there is a huge full-color movie poster of "Hawaii Calls".  It makes me smile whenever I see it.  "Hawaii Calls" is in the public domain, and the complete movie can be watched for free by clicking on the lower video widget.  Bobby Breen passed away on September 19, 2016 at the age of 88, in Pompano Beach, Florida, three days after the death of his wife.  Safe journeys to all the fans of Movies Hawaii, wherever you may be.

Hawaii's First Action Hero │ Detective Chang Apana, The Real Charlie Chan

 

Detective Chang Apana and Warner Oland, as Charlie Chan, during the filming of "The Black Camel" in Honolulu in 1931

It is not well known that Detective Chang Apana, who lived in Hawaii, was the prototype for the fictional detective Charlie Chan, created by author Earl Derr Biggers.  There a a number of items that appear in the Charlie Chan novels that can be linked directly, or indirectly with Detective Chang Apana.  In “The Black Camel” (1929), it is mentioned that Chan’s oldest daughter is named Rose. Chang Apana’s youngest daughter was named Rose.  In the “House Without A Key” (1925), the captain of detectives is named Hallet. From 1923 to 1927, a man named Kellett was the Captain of Detectives of the Honolulu Police Department.  In “The Black Camel” Charlie Chan laments “…there has been upheaval in local police department…”, as a result Chan gets promoted to the rank of inspector.  On February 20, 1928, Chang Apana is promoted to Detective First Grade, after a major police scandal.  Before becoming a policeman, Chan worked for a wealthy white family, the Jordans.  The same can be said of Apana who worked for the Wilder family as a hostler.  Both Chan and Apana were excellent cooks.  Apana was chef in charge of a big luau that was given for the Prince of Wales when he visited Honolulu.  Chan lived on Punchbowl hill, while in 1908, Apana lived on Punchbowl near Hotel Street.  Chan worked very slowly and meticulously on cases…”I have never been demon for speed…” (“The Black Camel”).  The same can be said of Apana.  In their respective modus operandi on cases, both Chan and Apana worked alone.  Chan spent most of his time running down gamblers; that was also Apana’s major job.  In “The Black Camel”, it is mentioned that Chan has 27 years of service on the job; Apana by the time of the writing of “The Black Camel”, would have served approximately the same length of time.

Chan’s method of inquiry on a case was to investigate the human heart.  Apana, too, was a keen student of the human heart and character.  Neither Chan nor Apana drank alcoholic beverages. Both Chan and Apana resisted many and all attempts of bribery; as Chan says “All those years on the force, beset with temptations, but always honest, always irreproachable,” (“Keeper Of The Keys”).

In two Chan novels there appears an Inspector Duff: For many years Apana worked under a Chief of Detectives named McDuffie.  In “The Keeper Of The Keys”, there is a Chinese servant named Ah Sing, who spoke in a high shrill voice and used broken English.  Interestingly, Apana’s given first name was “Ah Ping”, and he too spoke broken English in a high shrill voice.  In appearance, Chan was fat, but Apana was slim. The device of polarity is often used by authors to disguise the original that a character is based on (see above, Rose being Chan’s oldest daughter and in actuality Rose was Apana’s youngest daughter)

It is easy to see from the items mentioned above that the similarities between Chan and Apana are more than just cursory.

Detective Chang Apana was really Hawaii's first action hero.  He once arrested forty suspects all by himself in Chinatown, with absolutely no backup at all.  That is an accomplishment that has never been equaled in the historical records of the Honolulu Police Department.  Here are some of Detective Chang Apana's exploits as described in a soon to be released book about his life called "Charlie Chan's Hawaii":

"Fred Kramer, retired Captain of the Guards at Oahu Prison and Halawa Jail, had some interesting reminiscences about Detective Chang Apana.  Kramer actually saw Apana in action leaping from roof to roof in Chinatown, like a human fly. In appearance, Kramer recalls, 'Apana looked so frail that one slap could break him apart.' "

"Apana, though fragile in appearance, was in reality a very tough guy.  Once while Apana was attempting to raid a gambling game, he was hurled from a second story window, but like the proverbial cat, he landed miraculously, on his feet unhurt.  Another time when arresting a dangerous Filipino suspect, he was slashed across the stomach with a knife. Again he emerged unscathed as the knife landed on a broad belt that he was wearing."

"Apana had another close brush with death during the arrest of a prison escapee. He was assigned with Chief of Detectives Arthur McDuffie, and Assistant Chief John Kellett to capture a Korean, who had broken out of jail, and who was known to be a desperate character when cornered.

They finally located their quarry, hiding under a house. When he was ordered to come out the suspect replied with a fusillade of shots, one of the shots boring the palm of Kellett's hand.  More shots followed that narrowly missed hitting McDuffie and Apana.  In a lull between the shots being exchanged between the escaped felon and the officers, Apana sneaked around to the back of the house, while the other two officers held the fugitive at bay.  In the twinkling of an eye, Apana pounced on the escaped prisoner.  He was in the midst of a life and death struggle when the other two officers came to his rescue.  At the end of this ordeal, Apana was in such bad shape, that he had to be taken to the hospital for a week to recuperate."

In this edition of Movies Hawaii I am featuring two cool videos.  Please click on video widget right below this post to watch "The Legend Of Chang Apana" that was produced by Jon Brekke, for Oceanic Creative Services in Honolulu.  It is the pilot for a proposed TV series that hopefully will be in production soon.  Unfortunately, though,  they got Detective Chang Apana's badge number wrong.  It's supposed to be badge number 100, not badge number 352.  That badge number however was retired after the death of Apana.  When the series finally gets going they should have technical advisers on hand to catch mistakes of this kind.  The creators of "The Legend Of Chang Apana", have put together incredible graphics, along with a script that has a smooth contemporary feel to it, to tell the exciting story of Detective Chang Apana.  It stars Cary Hiroyuki Tagawa as Chang Apana.  This movie is hip, slick, intelligent, and very now.  My congratulations go out to the makers of "The Legend Of Chang Apana", for doing such an outstanding job.  The bottom video is a short clip from a Charlie Chan movie called"The Black Camel" that was filmed on location in Honolulu in 1931, starring Warner Oland as Charlie Chan, and Bela Lugosi as Tarneverro.  Safe journeys to all the fans of Movies Hawaii, wherever you may be.

"The Legend Of Chang Apana"

"The Black Camel"