Original subtitles

Look to the northward, stranger, just over the hillside there.

Have you and all your travel seen a land more passing fair?

Oh, isn't that beautiful?

Now that's about Tahiti.

Nice. For a poem.

I sure hope Uncle Bill decides to stay here.

Me too.

Would you miss New York, Buff?

No, because we could always go back and visit New York.

Yeah, then we could go to a New York hotel and... Eat out in restaurants and

all the movies.

And we could visit the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty.

Gee, I hope we live in Tahiti so we can visit New York.

Now, Mr. French, why don't you wear shorts and a flowered shirt like

else? Because when one is away from home, one must retain one's sense of

propriety. But what if Tahiti is our home?

That is a problem that is not likely to occur.

Oh, Mr. French, you can't seriously prefer New York with all its traffic and

noise and its crowds to this paradise.

An imperfect paradise.

Oh, a land more passing fair.

She's in love.

Sissy, what do we know about this young man? Other than that he, well, he

manages a travel agency.

He's an artist.

And he has a neat foreign car.

Only it's not foreign.

Everything's French, even the cars.

Oh, hi, Uncle Bill.

Here, Anna.

Here, Anna.

Here, Anna. Uncle Bill, have you decided yet?

Oh, still thinking.

Uncle Bill, if you think too slowly, it'll be time to go home again.

Yeah, but we really want to live here, Uncle Bill.

Well, I... to consider everything, see?

Dinner ready?

Oh, yes, sir. I managed to procure some excellent fresh fish at the local

market, and I prepared it with a wine and butter sauce, sir. Grand.

Why can't we have big breadfruit and coconut cream like everybody else?

I don't think Mr.

French has accepted the Tahitian cooking just yet.

Live here, I'll bet he'll accept it.

Hi. Oh, good evening, sir.

Sissy ready?

I believe so. I should inform her you're here.

All right.

I'm Sissy's uncle, Bill Davis. Oh, Mike West. Nice to meet you.

I hear you run a travel agency.

That's right.

Night tours?

Well, sure. Tahiti's open 24 hours a day.

Sissy and I are going to visit some of the clubs.

Good. She'll like that.

See, the big hotels provide traditional Tahitian entertainment, and that's not

for me. The clubs, you make your own fun.

Your own?

Yeah.

Get the tourists up and watch them try to Tomore.

What?

Dance. Tomore.

Ah.

Hello, Mike.

Hello, Susie.

We won't be late, Uncle Bill. You can enjoy yourself.

Okay. Nice to meet you, Mr. Davis. Nice to meet you.

Good night, Mr. French. Good night.

Good night, sir.

We may say so, sir. We're concerned about Sissy, sir.

Well, they're just going on one of those after -dark tours. The boy's a guy.

Yes, sir, but he's so different from her. Well, her better class escorts in

York, sir.

Well, we'll have to get used to it. I guess she's going to meet all kinds of

kids down here.

She's level -headed. We just have to trust her.

Yes, sir, but it's also necessary to trust him, sir.

Okay, I'll talk to her.

Thank you, son.

It was a fabulous evening, Mike. Good.

We missed some of the places.

We'll catch him next time. Right.

Mike. I wasn't going to tell you until I knew for absolute sure, but I can't

help it.

We may be staying in Tahiti. I mean, living here.

Is that so?

A lot of people come to visit and make it permanent.

Would you like it if I do?

I think you'd be a welcome addition to Tahiti Scenic Attractions.

Oh, do I want to stay?

Now, let me see.

I'm going to paint you just like this.

Good night.

Good night, Sissy.

Sissy!

Uncle Bill!

You're waiting up for me.

Well, I started out.

Lighten up when I wound up sleeping, I guess. Oh, I had a lovely time.

Would you believe I got up and did a hula? Sure, I believe it.

Mike's a marvelous guy.

And he knows all the little out -of -the -way places and all the local legends.

It's very personal service.

Mm -hmm.

Uncle Bill, I think I'm falling in love.

You haven't known him very long, have you?

Oh, well, you don't measure love by time.

Well, right now you haven't got any other kind of a yardstick.

Well, if you only knew how I feel.

I know exactly how you feel. You're very young, and you think you're in love,

and you feel wonderful.

And it's going to be forever and always.

Does Mike feel that way about it? Well, he hasn't said so exactly, but, well, he

must, or I wouldn't feel the way I do about it. Oh.

Well, you know, there's a coral reef right out there, and it's very

And it takes on all kinds of lovely shapes and colors, but if you cut your

on it, you get an infection, see?

Oh, well.

Thank you.

And I'll be careful of the coral.

You don't have to raise your hand to leave the room.

No, we just go.

Want to come with us? Help our father in store?

Sure, we'll ask Mr. French on the way home after school.

Not after school. Father needs help now.

But Mr. Tupia wouldn't like us to leave.

He would not mind.

Well, we better ask him and Mr. French, too.

Buffy, if the teacher says it's okay, then it'll be okay with Mr. French.

I guess so.

Mr. Tupia, can we go with Ling and Taru to help their father in his store?

Yes. Very good of children to help.

We'll learn twice as much tomorrow.

No need to hurry school.

Learning has no beginning and no end.

Boy, I like school in Tahiti.

Me too.

Now, the School of Marine Biology shouldn't be way up there on the slope.

think it's a lot more practical to have it right down there on the edge of the

lagoon, see?

Good idea.

See, we can cut blocks of coral and use them for bricks for the facing.

We've done that in Hawaii.

An extension of the reef. Right.

I like that.

You have a feel for the use of island resources.

Have you decided to make Tahiti your home?

You see, if you leave, I must find someone else and... I'll let you know at

end of the week, okay?

Good. Now, may I give you a lift into Papete?

Yeah, you can drop me off at the museum. I want to see Janine.

Oh, good afternoon, madam, but I regret I have no time to converse. You go to

market, I go to market. No, no, no. Buffy and Jody have not yet returned

school. I do not see them either.

Well, tell me, do you know where Ling and Taru live?

Not far.

Their papa has a souvenir shop.

Oh, well, would you be so kind as to show me where? I help, Mr. Fitz. Thank

thank you.

The shop of Ling and Taru's father.

Oh.

Hello. Have you seen Buffy and Jody? Hi, Mr. French.

What on earth are you doing, Jody?

We're helping Lee and Taru sell their father's souvenirs.

You were supposed to return to the hotel immediately after school.

Want to buy a ukulele, Yankee?

Yankee, indeed.

But it's made of real genuine coconut.

Now, you children come with me at once.

But we can't now, Mr. French.

We haven't sold anything.

Buffy?

Yes, sir.

I guess we made better tourists than salesmen.

Oh, thank you for your assistance, madam. We go home now.

Mr. French, you are man of force. I like man of force.

Is Mike here?

Uh, Mike here soon.

Oh, good. I'll wait.

Mike's going to paint me.

Good.

Mike painted me.

Oh, yes.

That's really pretty.

Wow.

That settles it. You're a natural -born Tahitian.

You should never wear anything else.

Well, I feel like I belong here.

Mike, are you going to paint me on black velvet like that, too?

Sure. Come on.

All right, sissy.

If you'll sit right here... Hey. ...so I can check the light.

That's good.

Ione, give me a hey.

Thank you.

It's nice.

It's real nice.

Does Yoni sell these?

Uh, yeah.

She doesn't get a fortune for them, but it kind of helps out our income.

Okay. Now, Sissy, I want you to just relax and smile and look happy. Okay?

Mike, are you and Yoni in business together?

In business, we're married.

Hey, come on. I said to look happy and smile. What's the matter?

Sissy?

Sissy!

Sissy! Ione, is that it?

It's my fault. I just dreamed up something that wasn't even there.

I really like you a lot, Sissy.

But I never made it out to be anything more.

I know.

You never did.

I mean, you believe in a forever kind of love.

You know, like marriage with a built -in guarantee, and that's just not my bag.

I've got to be free to pick up and go whenever I want.

What about Ione?

One day we'll just say so long.

Harahi. We'll each go our own road.

That's the Tahitian way.

The Tahitian way.

Now, Miss Nariana, you will kindly excuse me, but I must prepare dinner.

Nariana cooked for Mr. French.

I assure you, madam, I am quite capable of preparing the evening meal.

No, tonight, family and Mr. French have tomorrow a big feast.

My house.

And now, about selling souvenirs without permission.

But we didn't mean to do anything wrong, Mr. French. We were just following the

other kids.

Well, your uncle will go into this matter when he returns.

Mr. French, do we have an airline schedule?

I believe there's one in your uncle's desk. Why?

Because I want to go home.

May I ask if your uncle is aware of this?

Well, not yet, but I'm sure Uncle Bill wouldn't want me to stay anywhere where

I'm unhappy.

Boy, Uncle Bill sure is going to have a lot of problems when he walks in.

Mr. French, if it'll make it easier, you don't have to tell him about us.

Uncle Bill, this is such a happy place. How can such unhappy things happen?

Oh, unhappy things happen anywhere you go, honey. You can't blame it on Tahiti.

Well, I don't want to stay here another day.

I'm sorry about what happened. I know how hurt you feel, but running away from

it isn't the answer either.

He said it was the Tahitian way.

Well, you're kind of casual down here, but you can still be yourself no matter

where you go.

Okay.

Uncle Bill, if you decide to live here in Tahiti, don't worry about me.

I'll be fine.

The important thing is for all of us to stay together.

Okay.

Well.

You mad at us, Uncle Bill? No.

That's good.

Mr. French tells me you cut school and went out selling souvenirs.

Mr. Toupie doesn't mind if we stay in school or not.

And we only did it to help Ling and Tyro.

Their sister couldn't work today because she went to another island to get

married.

Well, now, I appreciate you wanting to help out your friends, but the next time

you check with Mr. French first, okay?

Okay. But nobody else around here has to ask permission.

Yeah, all the kids on the island get to do whatever they feel like.

I don't care what the other kids get to do. For the time being, we're going to

live our way, okay?

Go and get dressed. We're going to go to a tamara 'a.

I thought you shook real good.

I shook like that once before as Bellington.

Take a little walk. Is that part of a tamara?

It is an old custom, starting now.

Nariana prepared a real feast, didn't she, Mr. French?

Yes, indeed.

You know something, Susie? Yes? I think that one could very easily surrender to

this life of ease.

Something's troubling you, isn't it?

Well, I've just come to what might turn out to be an unpopular decision.

You're going back?

Yeah, I've got to take the kids back to New York.

Bill, why?

I can tell you love it here.

Sure, I love it here. I can't think of any other place I'd rather live.

I've got three kids to think about.

Why, children grow up here healthy and happy.

Yeah, but I'm not so sure about my kids.

If they want to come back here sometime later on, why, that's all right with me.

But right now, when they're growing up, I think maybe they ought to be someplace

where life is kind of tough.

for the world to come.

I might be wrong, but that's what I think.

Now, no dawdling, children. We must be ready to depart in ten minutes.

To go where?

To airport with you.

Well, I don't know where you acquired the notion that you were going to the

airport with us.

I don't understand. I go to airport.

Look, I am grateful for your friendship, but I cannot take you back to New York

with me.

All set?

Here's your honor.

Your honor, Mr. Davis.

Something wrong?

No, just a slight misunderstanding, sir.

Uh, Narayana seems to be under the impression that, uh, she's going to

us to New York. Uh, seems to be entertaining ideas of marriage.

No, no.

Marriage for Narayana is not entertaining.

Mr. French is one fish.

Many other fish in sea still to be speared.

Well, you said you were coming to the airport in a suitcase.

I go to airport to say parahi.

Goodbye to Davis family.

Suitcase for Mr. French to deliver to sister in New York City.

Address of her Polynesian restaurant on tag.

Please.

It's a school now. Oh, yes, sir. And now remember, school is out of three. No

earlier. You don't have to worry, Mr. French.

We're going to work really hard so we can have our own business.

We made a deal with Ling and Taru.

They're going to send us souvenirs so we can sell them to the tourists here.

I wonder if they can carve the Statue of Liberty out of a coconut.

Do I look all right, Uncle Bill? You look perfect.

Ah, good. I hope the boys in school haven't forgotten me. They'll remember

all over again.

Goodbye, Mr. French. Goodbye.

Goodbye. Bye -bye. Later.

I'll see you later, Mr. French.

Parahi. Oh, parahi.