AllMovie

For some reason, Hollywood movie musicals "discovered" Hawaii in the late 1930s. One of the lesser but still entertaining efforts in this realm was Universal's Hawaiian Nights, starring the personable Johnny Downs. The story centers on Ted Hartley (Downs), son of a wealthy hotelier. Rather than stick to the family business, Ted prefers to lead a band made up of hotel personnel. When his father (Thurston Hall) transfers Ted to his near-bankrupt Honolulu hotel, our hero takes the band along with them, and in so doing turns a losing operation into a winner. He also gets to romance heroine Lonnie Lane (Constance Moore), while band vocalist Millie (Mary Carlisle) settles for comedy-relief press agent Ray Peters (Eddie Quillan). Hawaiian Nights represents Universal's second successful teaming of Johnny Downs and Eddie Quillan, the first being Swing, Sister, Swing.