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

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

Did You Know?

Trivia

Concerned that the film's lush tropical settings would appear unnatural in Technicolor, and partially to cover up the fluctuations in weather during the shoot, director Joshua Logan hoped to soften the effect by filming several scenes through the newly available colored filters. He later indicated he considered this to be the biggest mistake he had made in his filming career. He wanted the filters to be subtler, but he says that the film processing lab had made them more extreme than he liked. There was no time to re-shoot without them or replace them because the film was a roadshow and tickets had been booked months in advance. However, according to his son Tom, when the film first became available on VHS and Mr. Logan watched it, he liked the filtered scenes.

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Goofs

In the first scene between Nellie and Luther Billis (during the song "There is Nothing Like a Dame"), Luther's shirt unbuttons and rebuttons itself several times.

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Quotes

Emile de Becque: You must never return anything you stole. Then they'll know you stole it.

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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

Original roadshow version ran 171 minutes. 20 minutes were edited for general release, subsequently shown in theaters, television, and home video. These scenes were:

• A non-musical bridge during the song "Bloody Mary" in which Mary attempts to sell a shrunken head to a sea-bee. Mary calls him a "stingy stinker," and it resumes with the chorus of the song.
• As Luther explains to Cable what goes on on the island of Bali Ha'i, he sings a short reprise of the song of that name.
• Nellie and Emile repeat the chorus to "Some Enchanted Evening" before kissing. In the general release, the chorus was removed from this reprise.
• Much of the scene at Bali Ha'i, including shots of Cable and Billis's entry to the island, and much of the Boar's Tooth ceremony.
• After the party, Emile's surprise was that he put a towel on his head and sang a comic reprise of "I'm Gonna Wash That man Right Outta My Hair".

-Then* his children walked out to meet Nellie. As it stands in the edited version, it seems as if the children themselves were the surprise.

• Luther complains about the absence of gas for the generator during rehearsals
• Luther asks a nurse about Nellie as the ships go out.
• With overture, ent'racte, and exit music, this complete cut was approximately 175 minutes. Some people claim that the original full-length version shows Lt. Cable getting shot and falling dead, but others say that this is never shown. As shown in most prints, Emile merely reports Cable's death, just as he does in the play, and Cable is shown lying dead as the natives prepare to bury him.

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Connections

Referenced in Better Call Saul: Bali Ha'i (2016)

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Soundtracks

Younger Than Springtime
(1949) (uncredited)
Music by Richard Rodgers
Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II
Performed by John Kerr (dubbed by Bill Lee)

User Reviews

An enchanting musical

This movie doesn't disappoint if the watcher loves great songs. Although the film has flaws--the insipid use of filters to muddy the luscious scenery (what were they thinking?!); careless dubbing--the whole of the film is memorable and a tribute to the times in which it was made. After viewing it, if you don't walk around the house humming and singing some of these tunes, then you probably don't like musicals to begin with. My favorites are "Some Enchanted Evening", "Bali Ha'i" "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair" and "Younger Than Springtime" With an underlying theme of racism, it was a progressive movie for its era and the thoughtful song "Carefully Taught" is memorable for its tune, lyrics and relevance.

A musical that is romantic, makes you think and has a social theme--its hard to ask for more, unless its to wish those filters never were used.