[ SUNDAY TRAVEL ]

Where movies
spun their magic
 

Follow paths of Elvis, Harrison
and others on a star-dusted
tour of film fans' Kauai

 

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By Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi
Special to the Star-Bulletin

 

HAWAII Movie Tours is a box-office smash! Since it made its debut in September 1996, it has enthralled over 50,000 visitors with stories about the 69 movies and television shows that have been filmed on Kauai since 1933 -- and taken them to the actual locations where scenes from many of these productions were shot.

What's the secret of its success? Says company president Bob Jasper, "We totally agree with Edyth Preet, a writer with the L.A. Times Syndicate, who called our tour 'the most unique tour on the planet.'

"This country has a love affair with the movies and the people who starred in them. To be at a location where a famous scene from a famous movie was made, actually seeing that scene while you're there and knowing the star who made that scene was in the exact spot you are, gives people a connection to that person and film."

 

The five-hour Land Tour is the company's most popular option. Stops include Hanamaulu Bay, where Harrison Ford spent "Six Days, Seven Nights" (1997); Hanalei Pier, where Mitzi Gaynor strolled in "South Pacific" (1958); a luxurious estate on Anini Beach, where James Caan wooed Sarah Jessica Parker in "Honeymoon in Vegas" (1992); and the Coco Palms resort, where Elvis Presley and his bride floated down a lagoon on a lei-bedecked canoe in "Blue Hawaii" (1961). Hawaii Movie Tours is the only company that has been allowed access to Coco Palms since extensive damage from Hurricane Iniki forced its closure in 1992.

Land Tour participants cruise to eight picturesque locations in brand-new minibuses that Jasper describes as "theaters on wheels," complete with comfortable, reclining seats with armrests, lots of legroom, huge viewing windows, a surround-sound system and large built-in TVs.

During the tour, more than 30 film clips are played, showing each locale as it actually appeared on the silver screen. Of these, Jasper feels the scenes featuring Elvis Presley touch people "in a more profound way than any other personality. We see so many tears at Coco Palms as ardent Elvis fans realize they are standing in a spot where he spent so much of his time. I think Elvis has this effect on people because of his untimely death."

Over the years, Jasper has garnered interesting little-known tidbits about the stars and the things they did while they were on Kauai, some of which have been woven into the narration for the Land Tour. He notes, "We are like a movie production ourselves, with the tour totally scripted and delivered by professionals with entertainment backgrounds.

"We teach the narrators the script, then ask them to apply what they have learned to their own personalities and acting styles. We are very fortunate to have a staff of 15 talented, dedicated people who love what they are doing and are themselves entertainment nuts."

In the beginning, Jasper and his wife, Jerri Wassink, ran the entire show. Wassink, now vice president of Hawaii Movie Tours, drove the van and took reservations on a cell phone while Jasper did the narration and played the video clips. "We did our first tour on Sept. 11, 1996, which just happened to be the fourth anniversary of Hurricane Iniki," recalls Jasper. "We felt something good had to be done on that particular date as something so terrible had happened to us and everybody else on Kauai four years earlier."

 

Hawaii Movie Tours Address: P.O. Box 659, Kapaa, HI 96746 Phone: (808) 822-1192 on Kauai, (800) 628-8432 from the other islands Price: The Land Tour costs $76 for children ages 11 and under, and $95 per person for all others; includes a picnic lunch. Other tour options are the Deluxe Tour, which features a land tour, helicopter ride, boat cruise to the Fern Grotto and a luau; the Internet Special, which includes a land tour and helicopter ride; and the brand-new 4x4 Offroad Tour, which ventures to backwoods film locations such as Keahua Arboretum and Rice Ranch, a working cattle ranch. Local residents receive 10 percent off the adult price of the Land Tour and 4x4 Offroad Tour. Hours for the Land Tour: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily. Pickups are made at most north-, east- and south-shore resorts within an hour of the tour's starting time. Or you can meet at 8:45 a.m. at Hawaii Movie Tours' office, 1384 Kuhio Hwy. in Kapaa. Web site: www.hawaiimovietour.com

 

Avid movie buffs, Jasper and Wassink watch at least 10 movies a week and maintain an impressive library of films made on Kauai. "I think there are only about 10 we haven't found," says Jasper. "It has taken us years to find and purchase many of them, and we have seen them all. The really elusive one is 'Cane Fire' (1933), the first movie filmed on Kauai."

Its name was changed to "White Heat" -- not to be confused with the 1949 Jimmy Cagney film.

The couple also has gathered what is probably the largest collection of memorabilia from made-on-Kauai movies in the state. Among their prized pieces are a prop Jeep from "Jurassic Park" (1993); a fragment of an airplane used in "None but the Brave" (1965), starring Frank Sinatra; and dozens of promotional movie posters, some bearing the signatures of prominent actors and directors such as Steven Spielberg, John Wayne and Boris Karloff.

"We have been collecting things over the years with the intention of displaying them in a movie museum setting some day," says Jasper. "We exhibit some of the items at our office, but we don't have nearly enough space to display them all."

He is excited about his newest treasure, a script of "Jurassic Park 3," which is scheduled to be released this summer.