08/15/98- Updated 07:10 PM ET

The Nation's Homepage


Hawaii, the movie studio tour

KAPAA, Kauai - It isn't until after you've run your toes through the
sand on the beach where the boys from South Pacific declared, ''There
is nothing like a dame!'' or gazed at the lagoon where Elvis crooned his
wedding vows in Blue Hawaii, that you feel the first twinge of
foolishness.

Here you are in one of the most gorgeous spots on Earth, and what are
you doing? Watching videos in a van, that's what.

Occasionally, you glance up to see the blue-green blur of paradise
whizzing by. But mostly you're diverted by the loathsome George of the
Jungle playing on the van's VCR, as your Hawaii Movie Tours sojourn
cruises to its conclusion.

As its name indicates, Hawaii Movie Tours shows off Hawaii's Garden
Island through Hollywood's eyes.

It's a couch potato's dream excursion. More than 60 movies and
television shows have been filmed on Kauai, beginning with the obscure
White Heat in 1934 to the yet-to-be released Mighty Joe Young.

Some films, including Raiders of the Lost Ark and Jurassic Park, get
plenty of replay on video. Others, such as She Gods of Shark Reef
and Seven Women From Hell, are probably best forgotten.

Interest in visiting film sites is so great, says Kauai film commissioner
Judy Drosd, that the state notes some locations on tourist maps.

Bob Jasper and Jerri Wassink, enthusiastic Hawaiiphiles who once
worked in the time-share industry, did the state one better by putting
together a five-hour tour of movie sites. Visits to the real thing are
complemented by video footage of the Hollywood version.

Wassink is at the wheel; Jasper sits in back, one hand on the
microphone, the other on the VCR. And as you head into the golden
light of the tropics, the velvet voice of Elvis fills the van. ''Kauaaaaai ...
island of loooove ...''

There's a stop on the crescent sands of Hanamaulu Bay, which doubled
as Voodoo Island in 1957 and Donovan's Reef six years later.

Back in the van, you watch a 1961-era Elvis (when he still looked good
in a jumpsuit) balancing in a canoe for the nuptials in Blue Hawaii.
Then you walk the grounds of the decrepit Coco Palms, closed since
Hurricane Iniki in 1992, straining for a glimpse of a similar canoe at the
far end of the lagoon.

There's a jaunt to a cliff overlooking Papaa Bay, where Harrison Ford
crash-lands his plane in the upcoming 6 Days, 7 Nights, and a trip to
Moloaa Bay, the original Gilligan's Island in the pilot episode.

The van winds down from the green bluffs of Princeville into the little
north coast town of Hanalei. Jasper cues the tape, and folkies Peter,
Paul and Mary flash onto the screen harmonizing Puff the Magic
Dragon.

Tour-goers are strongly urged to sing along. Drosd says Kauai is
popular with filmmakers because ''it's hard to find a place where you
can find an expanse of undisturbed beauty. Plus, you can drink the
water, and you don't have to worry about snakes.''

The island has doubled for Laos (Uncommon Valor), Africa
(Outbreak) and Costa Rica (Jurassic Park), among other locales.
Seeing it on the screen, Kauai could be almost anywhere.

Back in the van with George of the Jungle, so could you.

The five-hour Hawaii Movie Tours depart at 9 a.m. Monday-Saturday.
The $85 fee includes pickup at major hotels and a picnic lunch. Call
800-628-8432.


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