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Richard Boone wanted to bring a movie operation to Hawaii
The Western actor became a permanent resident of the island and wanted to create a tropical Hollywood.
It's common for movies and television shows to be filmed in various areas. Some scenes need to be on location, and some are shot in a production studio. Hawaii has been used as a vacation setting in many scripts, but back in the 1960s, only a few episodes or film scenes were actually filmed there.
Richard Boone, the star of Have Gun - Will Travel, dreamed of bringing a full-scale movie operation to the island.
The actor had a lot of trouble convincing networks that it was possible, though. In an interview with The Record in 1964, Boone talked about the process of making his dream a reality.
"It's the hardest thing in the world to convince the networks that a television series can be made entirely in Hawaii," he began. What was his selling point to networks? A television series in color with a major star. That star was Richard Boone himself.
"Naturally, I'd have to be in it, so I can sell it to the networks. I don't mind. I spent a lot of years building up this name. I might as well cash in on it."
According to the article in the newspaper, the series would've been the start of a tropical version of Hollywood. Boone once met with contractors to talk about his proposed two-stage studio. He even had them inspect facilities at CBS Television's station center that served as prototypes.
The actor already had an outline for his plan. "After we get the series rolling, we'll go after feature production(s)," he added. "This year, there were seven features shot in Hawaii — four Americans and three Japanese. Our stages would be mighty attractive to producers."
Boone loved Hawaii so much that he became a permanent resident of the island. His wife and son adjusted to the move, even making friends in their new neighborhood.
With his skills, Boone persuaded some people to film their productions there, including the film Hawaii Five-O.
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