The film Hawaii was a big-budget drama based on the best-selling novel of the same name by James A. Michener that tells the story of 19th-century white missionaries bringing Christianity to the island natives.

[4] As "Queen Malama Kanakoa,[5] Aliʻi Nui of Hawaii", LaGarde's personality and facial beauty, combined with a reported 300-pound (140 kg) frame, brought a commanding presence to the screen.

Surrounded by a cast of Hollywood all-stars, she stole the show not only with the audience but with the professional members of the film industry.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association voted her the winner of their Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress.

[8] In 1972, she traveled back to Honolulu to receive medical treatment for complications of diabetes which resulted in the amputation of one foot.