02 CRICKET BLAKE & COLE PORTER

[PLEASE READ] Actress/blonde bombshell Connie Stevens chirps some Cole Porter numbers as "Cricket Blake," her most beloved television role. Essential clips from the classic American detective series HAWAIIAN EYE (1959-1963).

Featured Songs:
--"Let's Do It" (excerpt)
--"You Do Something To Me"
--"Night and Day"
--"Just One of Those Things"
--"You've Got That Thing"

Cricket's regular episodic "Shell Bar" singing engagements were like rays of sunlight piercing through the heavily-clouded drama that surrounded them. Her voice—earnest, young, and appealing; her presence—warm, poised, and dynamic. Plucky Cricket Blake was a woman of many grace notes.

Longtime HAWAIIAN EYE and Cricket Blake fan Anne Scrivner submits the following:

"HAWAIIAN EYE aired before episodic TV show characters had "back stories" or much continuity, so Cricket had little of either. Chryseis Blake was a flippant, pony-tailed wearer of silly hats, but she was nobody's fool. She snapped and sold (from her own shop next to the H.E. office in the Hilton Hawaiian Village Hotel) photographs of tourists by day and sang in the hotel's Shell Bar by night. In early episodes she mentioned that she was 20 years old and also worked for an airline but that her primary occupation was "sun-worshipper."

"She had crushes on the detectives but they, who were perhaps 5-10 years her senior, viewed her as a pal and sometimes a charming nuisance--only occasionally as a light romantic interest (esp. Tom Lopaka). Only when she is singing do they appear totally rapt and enchanted by her.

"Cricket was always hoping for inside information about cases and a chance to do some detective work. She was very tolerant of the guys' romances with clients and tourists and often befriended those same young women. And she was wise and supportive beyond her years whenever one of the detectives needed a friend.

"By Cricket's last dozen episodes, Troy Donahue had joined the cast as the hotel's social director and, presumably, as Cricket's love interest. There was little reason for his character's involvement in the detectives' work and the pair seemed to be reminiscent of a junior-high-school couple - squabbling and swapping chaste kisses - so I think most fans would agree that it didn't work well."--Anne Scrivner

IMPORTANT: This is a video of goodwill and great admiration. Questions or comments are sincerely welcome—but only if they are nice, clean, and comprehendible. If you are a professional and want credit I've neglected to give OR prefer that I delete this video, please contact me and it will promptly be done.

Connie's "Forever Spring" website: http://www.foreverspring.com/index.htm

Watch this channel for probable sequels to this video.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Connie Stevens
• Cricket Blake
• Hawaiian Eye
• Cole Porter
• Great American Songbook
• Female Singer
• Blondes
• Exotica
• Hilton Hawaiian Village
• Robert Conrad
• Anthony Eisley
• Poncie Ponce
• Troy Donahue
• 1950s
• 1960s
• Classic Television
• Hawaii
• Honolulu
• Shell Bar
• Cabaret
• Lounge
• Surfing
• Sixteen Reasons
• Edd Byrnes
• Eddie Fisher
• Ann-Margret
• bullseye1a
• northbreed1
• northbreed1a