This big, old-fashioned historical epic is a bit of a surprise from helmer George Roy Hill (it comes between THE WORLD OF HENRY ORIENT/'64 and THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE/'67), yet of its type, it’s confidently made & uncommonly interesting. Adapted from a James Michener roadblock of a novel (there’s a lot of Edna Ferber ’s GIANT in the story construction), the characters are memorably uncompromising, especially Max Von Sydow’s impossibly principled Calvinist missionary and Jocelyne LaGarde’s Queen Malama (her one & only perf). As Sydow’s wife, Julie Andrews is unexpectedly lovely here while Richard Harris gets just the right amount of screen time to hold his faults in check. The early 1800s in Hawaii tell a dark tale of disease & traditions lost and the film doesn’t shy away until the very end.
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