Pagan Love Song

Goodbye, Polynesia: Half-Tahitian beauty Mimi Bennett is eager to leave the easygoing life of Tahiti for the excitement and bustle of the U.S.A. Hello, romance: Ohioan Hazard Endicott arrives to begin life anew on the island, sparking events that may turn Mimi's travel plans into wedding plans. Esther Williams and Howard Keel share the bliss of this eye-filling musical excursion whose assets include the rhapsodic title tune and a charming Rita Moreno (in her third movie role as a spunky islander). Pristine Hawaiian locations fill in for the story's Tahitian setting. Of course, where there's an island, there's water, and Esther's just got to be in it. But in one fanciful sequence she also swims among the clouds, sending viewers' spirits aloft with her.

• musical