NATIVE FEAST SEQUENCE

Evening Star, Issue 23699, 5 October 1940, Page 5

NATIVE FEAST SEQUENCE

For the loan, or native feast, scenes in ‘ South of Pago Pago.’ it was necessary to match the tropical limits and fish plates known only to the islanders. Three Hawaiiaus who make a living by staging genuine loans for Hollywood parties, were engaged as technical experts. For three days, during the filming of long, medium, and close shots, it was necessary for the principals to oat the native dishes continually. There was onlv one substitution. On the first day of “shooting of the loan sequence, the property man ordered 20 gallons of genuine poi prepared, since this is an essential ipart of any island feast. However. from the very start the principals in the cast were unable to eat this with relish, and Director Alfred E. Green complained that every scene registered this dislike, whereas the script required the actors to be quite delighted with the creamy substance. At this point the ingenuity of the property man again came to the fore, as it had

in many past instances, and he ordered several gallons of vanilla ice cream. This looked exactly like the poi on the screen, and everybody was delighted with the change. But happiest of all were the 200 native extras, because the real poi was distributed amongst them. They ate it with relish.