Diamond Head

Diamond Head (1962)

The Giant Story of Modern Hawaii!

Rich Hawaiian pineapple grower and US Senatorial candidate Richard Howland tries to control everything and everyone around him, including his headstrong sister, Slone.

Date of release
1962-12-27
TMDB
5.5 / 10 (11)
Runtime
1h 47m
Genres
Drama, Romance
Director
Guy Green

Casting

Interesting facts

Diamond Head is a 1962 Eastmancolor drama romance film starring Charlton Heston, Yvette Mimieux, George Chakiris, and James Darren, directed by Guy Green, and released by Columbia Pictures. The original music score was composed by John Williams, Hugo Winterhalter composed the theme, and Darren sang the title song. The soundtrack album was released by Colpix Records. It was released on compact disc in 2006 by Film Score Monthly paired with Lalo Schifrin's Gone with the Wave

Production

Clark Gable was originally slated for Heston's role but died before production began. "I suppose every studio in town had projects waiting for Gable," Heston wrote in his memoirs. "Had he lived to do the film, he would have been a widower and the kid sister his daughter, but the adjusted script worked just as well, though the King’s shoes were a loose fit for me."

Charlton Heston was sent the script and wrote about it in his diary on 12 December 1961 calling it a good part in an overwritten and melodramatic script. If it's treated with good care it might work out alright." Heston met with Guy Green, who he liked, and both men wanted Yvette Mimieux to play the female lead. It seemed she would not be available and Carroll Baker was discussed - Heston said "I don't think Carrol Baker is right".

Filming began on the island of Kauai in March 1962, with the unit moving to Honolulu in April for further work, then to the studio in Los Angeles. Filming finished in May. Heston wrote "It’s hard to tell what I think now, except that I’m still high on Green. He may have made a film that rises above the melodramatic qualities of the script.

Heston saw a cut of the film in October. He wrote it "looks very slick, smooth, not terribly real, and as though there might be some money in it. I have acted better. I must not indicate." In his memoirs, Heston wrote " I never have figured out why I feel that I fell short on that film. Looking back on what I've written about it here, I notice I had a lot to say about my family coming to visit and the quality of the horse.

Guy Green called it a "potboiler" but he enjoyed working with Heston.

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

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