Kona Coast

Kona Coast (1968)

IT'S WHERE IT'S AT... The action, the adventure, the excitement of a turned-on world that can't turn itself off!

Sam Moran is a Honolulu charter-boat captain who leads fishing expeditions in the tropical paradise. When his daughter is found murdered at the party of a wealthy young playboy, he seeks the truth about the murder. Convinced the playboy is guilty, he enlists the help of his friend Kittibelle, who runs an alcohol abuse treatment center. Sam runs into a wall of silence obviously built by hush money and islanders fearful of reprisals from the rich and powerful family. The determined dad fights to uncover the information that will land the murderer in jail as he avenges the death of his daughter.

Date of release
1968-05-01
TMDB
3.3 / 10 (9)
Runtime
1h 33m
Genres
Drama, Crime
Director
Lamont Johnson

Casting

Interesting facts

Kona Coast is a 1968 American drama film directed by Lamont Johnson, starring Richard Boone and Vera Miles.

Production

Producers at Seven Arts Productions approached John D. MacDonald to see if he had any ideas for a TV series. He did a treatment for a show set in the Bahamas called Bimini Gal, which he wrote for Robert Mitchum. Eventually this became Kona Coast.

Richard Boone had moved to Hawaii and was keen to help establish film production in the state. He did a deal with CBS who agreed to put up most of the budget for Kona Coast. It was produced by Boone's Pioneer Productions and was distributed by Seven Arts. CBS were hoping it would lead to a TV series, but the film was shot as a theatrical feature rather than a pilot.

The film was produced and directed by Lamont Johnson, who was friends with Boone and had worked with him several times in television. Harlan Ellison was hired to write the script, but he clashed with Boone, and Gil Ralston replaced Ellison.

In July 1967, Vera Miles signed to co star.

Boone said "my role in the movie - and, hopefully, in a series - is so much like me that it's ridiculous. The guy's got a large fishing boat - I own a 42 footer - he'll do anything for a price, he's easy going and loves kids, intelligent enough to deal sympathetically with all the varied groups in the islands, but a hard guy when he's turned on."

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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