South Pacific (1958)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Joshua Logan

Writers:

Paul Osborn (screenplay)
Richard Rodgers (adapted from the play "South Pacific") ...

Release Date:

19 March 1958 (USA)

Genre:

Musical | Romance | War

Tagline:

In the thrilling tradition of "Around The World In 80 Days"...

Plot:

On a South Pacific island during World War II, love blooms between a young nurse and a secretive Frenchman who's being courted for a dangerous military mission.

Plot Keywords:

Show | Hospital | Love | Pacific Island | US Navy

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 7 nominations

Cast

Rossano Brazzi	...	Emile De Becque
Mitzi Gaynor	...	Ensign Nellie Forbush, USN
John Kerr	...	Lt. Joseph Cable, USMC
Ray Walston	...	Luther Billis
Juanita Hall	...	Bloody Mary
France Nuyen	...	Liat
Russ Brown	...	Capt. Brackett, USN
Floyd Simmons	...	Commander Harbison, USN
Tom Laughlin	...	Lt. Buzz Adams
Jack Mullaney	...	The Professor
Ken Clark	...	Stewpot
Archie Savage	...	Chief - Boar's Tooth Ceremonial Dancer
Candace Lee	...	Ngana - Emile's Child
Warren Hsieh	...	Jerome - Emile's Child
Francis Kahele	...	Henry - Emile's Servant

Runtime:

157 min | 171 min (roadshow version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (35 mm mag-optical prints) | Mono (35 mm optical prints) | 70 mm 6-Track (Westrex Recording System) (70 mm prints)

Certification:

Australia:G | Iceland:L | New Zealand:G | USA:Approved (certificate #18688) | Canada:G | Finland:K-8 | Sweden:Btl | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Ibiza, Balearic Islands, Spain

Company:

Magna Corporation

Trivia:

Mary Martin did not play Nellie Forbush in the movie because the man who had portrayed Emil de Becque on the stage, Ezio Pinza, had already died and the producers considered it to be a hopeless task to find anybody who could match her in the movie. Mitzi Gaynor was eventually cast in the role.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: When Luther Billis is in the lifeboat being fired upon by Japanese troops, the rear of the lifeboat shows its manufacturing date as 'APR 1956'.

Quotes:

Nellie: [referring to racial prejudice] This is something that's born in me!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Muppet Show: (#1.2)" (1976)

Soundtrack:

Twin Soliloquies (Wonder How It Feels)

New 70MM Re-Release and Restored DVD!

This film is due to be re-released in 70MM for limited engagements next year. A new restored DVD is also being prepared by Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment which includes scenes that were cut back in 1958. Somebody commented recently about the fact that "lap-dissolves" were used between many scenes in this film and this person obviously felt that this was some kind of fault. This was a common editing technique utilized in the past and was used usually to signify the passage of time. It is rarely used these days and obviously that person has not encountered this technique before and has assumed that it is a fault, but this is not the case.

I am curious to know if the new transfer will feature the Broadway continuity(the Emile-Nellie Plantation scene before the "Bloody Mary" scene)? I hope it is an anamorphic transfer?