IMDb >
South Pacific (1958)
Watch It
Buy it at Amazon
Rent it at Blockbuster.com
Discuss in Boards More at IMDb Pro Add to My Movies Update Data
BETA
Discuss in Boards More at IMDb Pro Add to My Movies Update Data
Quicklinks
Top Links
trailers and videosfull cast and crewtriviaofficial sitesmemorable quotesOverview
main detailscombined detailsfull cast and crewcompany creditstv scheduleAwards & Reviews
user commentsexternal reviewsnewsgroup reviewsawardsuser ratingsparents guiderecommendationsmessage boardPlot & Quotes
plot summarysynopsisplot keywordsAmazon.com summarymemorable quotesFun Stuff
triviagoofssoundtrack listingcrazy creditsalternate versionsmovie connectionsFAQOther Info
merchandising linksbox office/businessrelease datesfilming locationstechnical specslaserdisc detailsDVD detailsliterature listingsNewsDeskPromotional
taglines trailers and videos posters photo galleryExternal Links
showtimesofficial sitesmiscellaneousphotographssound clipsvideo clipsSouth Pacific (1958) More at IMDbPro »
| Videos |
|
Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writers:
Release Date:
19 March 1958 (USA)
more
Tagline:
In the thrilling tradition of "Around The World In 80 Days"... more
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. full summary | add synopsis
Awards:
Won Oscar.
Another 7 nominations
more
NewsDesk:
(3 articles)
BBC Wants To Televise Classic Musicals
(From Studio Briefing - Film News. 19 February 2002)
Should White Actors Be Allowed To Play Characters Of Other Races?
(From Studio Briefing - Film News. 14 December 2000)
(From Studio Briefing - Film News. 19 February 2002)
Should White Actors Be Allowed To Play Characters Of Other Races?
(From Studio Briefing - Film News. 14 December 2000)
User Comments:
In Love With A Wonderful Guy
more (91 total)
Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only) | 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 |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
157 min | 171 min (roadshow version)
Country:
Language:
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:
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
This is the only theatrical film adaptation of a Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II stage show to have all the songs intact, with the addition of the song "My Girl Back Home," which was cut from the play before it opened.
more
Goofs:
Audio/visual unsynchronized: When Nellie asks Captain Brackett if the "Frenchman" on the island she's heard about from all the pilots in the hospital is "her Frenchman," there's a complete mismatch between what she says and the movement of her lips.
more
Quotes:
Bloody Mary:
[the ancient Mary is looking him up and down] Lieu-tellen, you sexy man.
Lt. Cable: Thanks... You're looking pretty... er, fit yourself.
more
Lt. Cable: Thanks... You're looking pretty... er, fit yourself.
more
Movie Connections:
Featured in AFI's 100 Years... 100 Songs (2004) (TV)
more
Soundtrack:
Dites Moi
more
FAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (91 total)
Message Boards
Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for South Pacific (1958) moreRecommendations
If you enjoyed this title, our database also recommends:
Show more recommendations
|
|
|
|
|
| Gone with the Wind | The Notebook | Snow Falling on Cedars | Across the Universe | Come See the Paradise |
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
Related Links
| Full cast and crew | Company credits | External reviews |
| News articles | IMDb Musical section | IMDb USA section |
| Add this title to MyMovies |
Though it is only the second longest running of Rodgers&Hammerstein's musical shows, South Pacific I believe contains the best score with The King and I running a close second. On Broadway it opened in 1949 and closed 1925 shows later in 1954. It gave Mary Martin her career role on Broadway and made a pop star out of Metropolitan Opera basso Ezio Pinza.
Opening on Broadway only four years after VE Day, South Pacific found a ready made audience with the American public who believed in the rightness of the cause just fought for. The show is based on two short stories from an anthology of stories entitled Tales of the South Pacific by James Michener. The success of South Pacific boosted Michener's reputation as a novelist in no small way.
It's only too bad that South Pacific was not made with the original Broadway leads because it took so long to come to the screen. Ezio Pinza had died in 1956. He had done a couple of films in Hollywood that didn't do that good, but Pinza scored another great success on Broadway in Fanny. Too bad he didn't get to do that film either.
Mary Martin was also getting a bit long in the tooth by 1958 to be playing young Ensign Nellie Forbush. Also in a previous sojourn in Hollywood she hadn't done that good for some inexplicable reason. Mitzi Gaynor stepped very nicely into Mary's shoes and being more of a dancer than Martin, Gaynor's part had more dancing than on Broadway. Check the routine she has when she sings and dances about that wonderful guy she's just fell in love with. It's a shame that Mitzi Gaynor did not come along when musicals were at their height. How great she would have been in some Busby Berkeley epics.
Pinch hitting for Pinza is Rossano Brazzi and for Pinza's voice, Giorgio Tozzi. The big hit of South Pacific, probably the greatest hit from Rodgers&Hammerstein is Some Enchanted Evening. The popularity of that song made the South Pacific original cast album a big seller. And a whole slew of singers recorded it. Bing Crosby and Perry Como had big selling records in 1949 and Al Jolson as well.
The comedy is supplied by Ray Walston who was fresh from Broadway and Hollywood playing Mr. Applegate in Damn Yankees. He plays Luther Billis, sailor and conman extraordinaire. On Broadway the part was done by Myron McCormick.
In fact Walston's big scene is a reminder of how film can do things that on stage you can only imagine. He accidentally falls out of a plane with a parachute fortunately just off a Japanese held island. He's thrown a rubber life raft and has to paddle like mad to get out of range of the enemy weapons. And then sits back and enjoys the show as a whole slew of fighters pound the Japanese on that island. It's described on stage, but here you can enjoy it first hand.
The primary story is the romance between nurse Nellie Forbush from Little Rock, Arkansas and French expatriate planter Emile DeBecque, Brazzi's character. The secondary story line concerns marine lieutenant Joseph Cable, nicely played by John Kerr with dubbed singing voice. Juanita Hall who is from the original cast is Bloody Mary is trying to match Cable with her daughter Liat played by France Nuyen in one of her first screen roles. She's quite the operator herself, Bloody Mary and more than a match for Walston.
Three young players who made it big later and had bit parts in South Pacific were James Stacy, Doug McClure and featured prominently is Tom Laughlin, the future Billy Jack.
It's too bad that we don't have a nice technicolor version of Mary Martin and Ezio Pinza, but this is a pretty good group of players who worked hard and made a wonderful movie.