Nancy Kwan was at the height of her American fame when this film came out. However it was a distinct step down in most regards from her previous films. Very little acting ability and even less plot development was required. If you are a fan of the "veddy" British "Carry On" type films you will enjoy this cute romp with Nancy carrying the film on her lovely and perfectly shaped shoulders. You will see Nancy swimming underwater, posing nude for a campus painter (for his eyes only, not ours!), climbing campus towers in her knickers, drenched to the skin in a formal gown and sailing above a track and field obstacle course. Surely the camera crew for this film was a very happy lot. Nancy Kwan, Tamahine, is as perfect a physical specimen as God has ever created.
The plot of the film is simple enough: Polynesian girl Nancy is sent away from her simple, primitive island life to live with her deceased
father's brother who runs a "veddy" proper British men's academy in England. Being the free-spirited soul that she is, Nancy-Tamahine, finds the restrictions placed on her innocent actions confusing. Her naivete infatuates the entire student body and causes her 40-something guardian, John Fraser, to vacillate between righteous indignation and succumbing to the waif's warm and childish charms. Some wonderful closeups of Mr. Fraser's dilemma are the dramatic highlight of the film.
Overall if you enjoy comedy based upon the old-fashioned morality which caused young men to cover their eyes when in the presence of nude females -- standard reaction in the "Carry On" films -- you will enjoy this film. It combines that sort of humor with the very vigorous, physical activities of Tamahine which predominate almost every scene.
If however you are are of the current school which recognizes nothing save anatomy as the difference between the sexes, if you are not comfortable with the idea that men instinctively want to protect as well as possess women, then avoid this film. It is a throwback to an earlier era when the roles of men and women were better defined if somewhat less democratic. Whether it's Hamlet, Peter Pan or some other tale, this reviewer is able to empathize with the characters and enjoy their situations without fear of destroying social values.
