Romantic Comedies in Hawaii: "Aloha" and "Wings Over Honolulu"

“Sometimes you have to say goodbye before you can say hello.” Fortunately, Aloha means both on the islands. Here’s our first look at writer-director Cameron Crowe’s Hawaii-set romantic comedy with a few actors you might have heard of. a defense contractor (Cooper) who falls for an Air Force pilot (Stone) after he is assigned to oversee the launch of a weapons satellite from Hawaii. Bradley Cooper stars as a celebrated military contractor who falls from grace but gets a second chance. He returns to Honolulu and reconnects with an old flame (Rachel McAdams) while unexpectedly falling for the Air Force watchdog (Emma Stone) assigned to him. Bill Murray, John Krasinski, Danny McBride and Alec Baldwin co-star in the pic produced by Crowe and Scott Rudin. Columbia Pictures and Regency Enterprises originally had set a Christmas 2014 date for Aloha, but last summer it got pushed back to May 29. Source: deadline.com

Bradley Cooper, Oscar Nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role for "American Sniper" (2014)

Emma Stone, Oscar Nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role for "Birdman" (2014)

Cameron Crowe returns with a new film in his signature style: entirely uncool and old-fashioned, but often satisfying in its honeyed smoothness. He’s the director of irony-free romances such as Jerry Maguire, Almost Famous and Say Anything, and new film Aloha seems to be in very much the same vein. Bradley Cooper returns to the middle of the road as military contractor Brian Gilcrest, having his balls broken by his superior Alec Baldwin for messing up a space mission. He must return to Hawaii, where he made his name. Why? Because in Cameron Crowe’s world, life is one big second chance. Source: www.theguardian.com

Ray Milland and Wendy Barrie in "Wings Over Honolulu" (1937), which was Oscar Nominated for Best Cinematography by Joseph A. Valentine


A Navy pilot gets involved in a romantic triangle while stationed in Hawaii. Directed in 1937 by H.C. Potter, starring Ray Milland, Wendy Barrie and William Gargan, based on a story by Mildred Cram published in "Redbook Magazine" (1936)

In this wartime drama, a young woman nearly comes unhinged when her husband, a Navy pilot, is transferred to Pearl Harbor on their wedding day. She goes with him. Once in Hawaii she is surprised to see her ex-boyfriend sailing about in an expensive yacht. Her husband becomes totally engrossed in his work and begins neglecting her so it seems natural that she would go for a little sail with her ex-flame. When her husband learns about her philandering, he gets jealous and ends up crashing his plane in the harbor. As a result, he is court-martialed. His wife, sorry for her actions, defends him, gets him acquitted and never strays again. Marital bliss ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi