Hawaii, Without the Grass Skirts

Is this worth your time?

If you like old newsreels or have a weird obsession with how cities looked before everything got paved over, sure. This isn't for the person looking for a beach vacation vibe. If you hate slow, narration-heavy documentaries, stay away. It’s definitely not going to entertain your kids for more than thirty seconds.

Lowell Thomas has that classic, booming voice that sounds like it’s announcing the end of the world even when he's just talking about a harbor. In this installment of Going Places, he decides to skip the hula dancers. It’s a bold choice, I guess. Instead of the usual romantic fluff, we get shots of Honolulu looking like a proper, bustling American city. It’s weirdly jarring to see 1930s Hawaii without a ukulele in the frame.

There’s a strange focus on the infrastructure here. You see power lines, warehouses, and men working. It’s all very... practical. It reminded me a bit of the mechanical focus in Grock, though much less whimsical. The film really wants you to know that these islands aren't just for lounging around.

Sometimes the camera just lingers on a street corner for a few seconds too long. You start counting the cars. Then you notice a guy in the background looking right at the lens, confused. It’s that kind of unpolished charm that keeps me watching these old things. It’s not trying to be a Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm style production with big stars and drama. It’s just footage.

There are these moments where the transition to the rural parts of the islands feels abrupt. One minute you're in a city square, the next you’re watching someone harvest crops. The pacing is a bit all over the place. Honestly, it feels like they just spliced together whatever they had in the canister.

• The sound of the narrator is louder than everything else.
• Lots of shots of docks. So many docks.
• The film stock has those little flickering scratches that look like tiny ghosts.
• Lowell Thomas makes everything sound like a major military operation.

It’s a short watch. If you go in expecting a travel brochure, you'll be bored to tears. But if you watch it like a time capsule? It’s kind of neat. It’s definitely more honest than those sugary travel films where everyone is perpetually happy. 🏝️