Review of His Majesty O'Keefe

The cinematography is often quite beautiful and the dances and ceremonies of the Pacific Island natives are fascinating. The story moves along at a brisk pace with lots of surprises and Burt Lancaster gives a vibrant, relaxed and fun performance. The only problem is the overt racism toward the islanders in the film. O'Keefe (Lancaster) is the good guy because he only wants to exploit the natives, while the bad guys want to exploit and enslave the natives. There is a very interesting and sweet moment when O'Keefe reconsiders his exploitation of the natives and asks, "Where did I go wrong?" If the film didn't contain this reflective moment, I would have probably been more critical of the film's racism which reflects the prevalent ideology of 1950's Hollywood. But does a fairly progressive anti-exploitation message excuse the racism in the film? Burt Lancaster fans and adventure fans should enjoy the film. Those who see racist ideology as a sickness might have problems getting through the film