South Pacific (1958)

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.

Director:

Joshua Logan

Writers:

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

Stars:

Rossano Brazzi, Mitzi Gaynor, John Kerr

Won 1 Oscar. Another 10 nominations.

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
Jack Mullaney	...	The Professor
Ken Clark	...	Stewpot
Floyd Simmons	...	Commander Harbison, USN
Candace Lee	...	Ngana - Emile's Child
Warren Hsieh	...	Jerome - Emile's Child
Tom Laughlin	...	Lt. Buzz Adams
Giorgio Tozzi	...	Emile De Becque (singing voice)
Archie Savage	...	Chief - Boar's Tooth Ceremonial Dancer / Ceremonial Dance Chief

Storyline

Can a girl from Little Rock find happiness with a mature French planter she got to know one enchanted evening away from the military hospital where she is a nurse? Or should she just wash that man out of her hair? Bloody Mary is the philosopher of the island and it's hard to believe she could be the mother of Liat who has captured the heart of Lt. Joseph Cable USMC. While waiting for action in the war in the South Pacific, sailors and nurses put on a musical comedy show. The war gets closer and the saga of Nellie Forbush and Emile de Becque becomes serious drama.

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Plot Keywords:

u.s. navy | singing | based on stage musical | tony award source | polynesia | 

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Taglines:

The entertainment world's most wonderful entertainment!

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Genres:

Musical | Romance | War

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Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

The only member of the original Broadway production to repeat their performance onscreen was Juanita Hall.

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Goofs

All of Mitzi Gaynor's hair styles, as well as the style and cut of her uniforms, when worn, and, especially the party dress in the last sequence before the mid-way intermission, are strictly 1958 and nothing like what was being worn during the time of the story, i.e. the mid-1940s.

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Quotes

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

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Crazy Credits

There are probably more dubbed singing voices in this film than in any other screen version of a Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, but the only one which actually receives screen credit is that of Giorgio Tozzi, who dubs the singing voice of Emile de Becque (Rosanno Brazzi). This is because Tozzi was a renowned bass-baritone with the Metropolitan Opera.

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Alternate Versions

In the book published in 1958 'The Tale of South Pacific' it shows the full cut of the film which shows the children singing 'Dites Moi' are per the soundtrack album the full version of I'm gonna Wash That Man' as per the soundtrack album. Cable speaking with DeBeque wearing bomber jacket while sneaking out of the hospital before he is spotted by Nellie and before Emile leave flowers for Nellie while singing 'Honey Bun' Loneliness of Evening was filmed as a complete song , not just the words of the notes that Nellie is reading. all this was deleted before the film before the Roadshow print was assembled to be shown in the Roadshow showings of the film.

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Connections

Referenced in Fantastic Four: The Animated Series: Inhumans Saga: Part 2: The Inhumans Among Us (1995)

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Soundtracks

Bloody Mary
(1949) (uncredited)
Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II
Music by Richard Rodgers
Performed by Men's Chorus

User Reviews

Josh Logan's colour-filter paradise

This slush-fest version of Rodgers and Hammerstein's famous musical suffers on the small screen because of its constant use of colour filters during the songs. On a big screen, this looks great, but just looks odd on TV.

This aside, though, this film of 'South Pacific' has much to enjoy. Mitzi Gaynor is a bubbly personality and is clearly enjoying herself as Nellie Forbush, 'washing that man out of her hair' and so on. Rossano Brazzi is charming as Emile (the singing is expertly done by Giorgio Tozzi); we can have a pang of regret that Ezio Pinza was seen to be too old to play the role by the time the film appeared - his work with Mary Martin in the original cast survives in cast recordings - but Brazzi looks the part.

John Kerr is a bit of a wet fish as Lt. Cable, while Juanita Hall as Bloody Mary is excellent, and Ray Walston as Luther, and France Nuyen as Liat, make an impression in smaller roles. The musical numbers are done extremely well - 'Bali Ha'i', 'I'm in Love With a Wonderful Guy', 'Some Enchanted Evening', 'Younger Than Springtime', and 'Happy Talk' and the rest.

Where the film does flag is in the sequences where Emile and Cable go to the island to report on the Japanese invaders. This was handled rather better in the 1990s remake, and also moves along better in the stage version. Here, it clashes a bit with the romantic overtones of the rest of the production.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

14 April 1958 (Brazil)

Also Known As:

South Pacific

Filming Locations:

Moorea, French Polynesia

Box Office

Budget:

$6,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$258,350, 26 August 2018

Gross USA:

$458,000

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$458,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Rodgers & Hammerstein Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

157 min 171 min (roadshow)

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)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1