Tamahine

Tamahine
1963 theatrical poster
Directed by	Philip Leacock
Written by	Denis Cannan
Produced by	John Bryan
Starring	Nancy Kwan John Fraser Dennis Price
Cinematography	Geoffrey Unsworth
Edited by	Peter Tanner
Music by	Malcolm Arnold
Production company	Associated British Picture Corporation & Seven Arts
Distributed by	Warner-Pathé Distributors (UK) Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (U.S.)
Release date	18 July 1963 (1963-07-18) (London)
Running time	96 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

Tamahine is a 1963 British comedy film directed by Philip Leacock and starring Nancy Kwan, Dennis Price and John Fraser. It is a film about a Polynesian woman who believes she can change the culture of Hallow School, a British boys' boarding school. The story was filmed at Wellington College in county Berkshire.

The film had its World Premiere on 18 July 1963 at the Empire, Leicester Square in London's West End.

Plot

When her father dies, orphan teenager Tamahine is sent from her South Pacific island home to live with Charles Poole, her father's cousin and the headmaster of Hallow, a prestigious all-male school in England. Richard, Charles' son and school student, falls in love with her, but she considers him tabu because of the closeness of their family relationship. Another suitor is the art master, Clove, after he breaks up with Charles' daughter Diana.

Meanwhile, Tamahine has trouble adjusting to the puzzling social mores of her new home, exasperating Charles, but making him start to question his own joyless existence. In the end, Richard convinces Tamahine that their connection is distant enough that marrying him does not violate English tabus, while Clove resigns to go paint in a foreign land, accompanied by Diana. The film leaps ahead several years, showing a scruffily bearded Charles enjoying life on Tamahine's island, while Richard takes his place as headmaster, watched by Tamahine and their children.

Theme

For comparison, A French Mistress, three years earlier, (1960), used the same theme of a visiting foreign teacher at a British school causing a cultural clash.

Cast

• Nancy Kwan as Tamahine
• John Fraser as Richard Poole
• Dennis Price as Charles Poole
• Coral Browne as Mme. Becque, a former lover of Tamahine's father whom Tamahine visits on her way to England
• Dick Bentley as Storekeeper
• Derek Nimmo as Clove
• Justine Lord as Diana
• James Fox as Oliver, a schoolmate of Charles
• Michael Gough as Cartwright
• Allan Cuthbertson as Housemaster
• Howard Marion-Crawford as Housemaster
• William Mervyn as Lord Birchester
• Robin Stewart as Fiend
• Bee Duffell as Nun

External links

• Tamahine at IMDb