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:

G

Did You Know?

Trivia

Capt. Brackett takes great umbrage over an implied slight from Lt. Cable over the virility of older men, claim that "I, in fact, am over 50". Russ Brown, the actor playing Capt. Brackett was, in fact, 66 at the time.

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Goofs

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'.

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Quotes

Nellie: You know what I mean, Emile?
Emile de Becque: Yes. We're both knuckleheads - cockeyed optimists.

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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

Spoofed in Honeymoon in Vegas (1992)

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Soundtracks

Act I Finale
(1949) (uncredited)
Performed by Rossano Brazzi (dubbed by Giorgio Tozzi) and Mitzi Gaynor

User Reviews

Flawed but entertaining!

The most obvious flaw is its running time, it's very long. I think it's longer than Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Unfortunately there were other flaws with the movie, so I can't overlook what I've just said. Another flaw was the colour filtering;the orange and yellow picture did get a bit distracting after a while, although the Pacific does look beautiful. Rossano Brazzi, whose singing voice was dubbed, looked wooden, but was he ever not wooden? I must say though, the dubbed singer did a marvellous job.

However, there were a lot of truly excellent things about this movie. Mitsi Gaynor was a lovely lead, and she was wonderful in the musical numbers. She does get a little tiresome toward the end, but most musicals do have the same problem. But Juanita Hall was just perfect as Bloody Mary, I had absolutely no problem with her. The songs were absolutely outstanding. Rodgers and Hammerstein have given us some truly fantastic music scores, and South Pacific is among them. Ray Walston gives comic relief as Luther, I think, and the focus on the war was very endearing. The real star was the stunning choreography, that made the musical numbers so energetic.

All in all, an entertaining, but flawed film, that is underrated in my opinion. 7/10 Bethany Cox

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