South Pacific

Rating:
Summary: A pleasant tropical getaway.
Review: Although it pales in comparison to the original stage version, the film of South Pacific still retains much of the show's lustre and World War II sentimentality. The score is intact, which is unusual for an R&H film adaptation (in fact, one additional song was added for the film). The use of tinted filters, perhaps considered avant-garde at the time, detracts from the beautiful tropical scenery and robs some of the musical numbers of their grandeur, but nevertheless the score remains superb. Mitzi Gaynor is certainly perky, but does not quite capture Mary Martin's girl-back-home naivete. Overall not quite as good a film version as this classic musical deserves, but pleasant enough for an afternoon excursion to Bali H'ai.

Rating:
Summary: Vastly superior to the 2001 remake
Review: If you've studied Shakespeare, you know that for the most part, films of the Bard's plays just sit there. The same can be said of the brilliant play by Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein and Joshua Logan. It just doesn't translate to film very well. That being said, if you're looking for a film version of "South Pacific" this is the one you need. As uneven as it may at time seem, and as jarring as the color filters may be (though not quite as bad as you may have been led to believe), this version still captures the message and spirit of the 1949 play in so many ways that the 2001 remake does not. Mitzi Gaynor plays Nellie Forbush more convincingly than anyone. Plus, she looks great in her short shorts. Rossano Brazzi (whose singing is handled by Giorgio Tozzi) gives DeBecque that charm that makes us understand what on earth a woman in her 20s would see in him. This film leaves to your imagination exactly what happened when these two characters met. The 2001 remake makes the mistake of showing us how they met. The problem is, we can't understand why the 2001 Nellie is interested in DeBecque. Here it's very clear what the messages are. This is a story about racism, yes, but also what it is that fosters those prejudices, and almost as importantly, freedom. This film, unlike the 2001 version, explains in terms of symbolism why DeBecque murdered the town bully in his past. Here (as in the play), it's because this bully (meaning fascists) was terrorizing people into submission. In the 2001 version, he killed the man because he cheated at cards! Also, John Kerr's Lt. Cable at least seems charming, which Harry Connick, Jr's version does not. The subplot between Cable and Liat is also presented in a more faithful adaptation from the play. Their relationship is doomed because booksmart Cable, no matter what he feels about Liat, can't bring himself to accept the fact that he's falling in love with someone he was raised to see as his inferior. In the 2001 remake, Cable is almost portrayed as a civil rights leader, complete with a newly created fight with a newly created character who makes fun of him for seeing an island girl. The peripheral characters here are also much more likeable and charming than those in the remake. Ray Walston plays Billis exactly as Michener described him in "Tales of the South Pacific," as a wheeler-dealer. In the 2001 remake, Robert Pastorelli tries to make us like him, but his performance is wooden and fails to give the character any charm whatsoever. Your best bet is to see a local performance of "South Pacific" on the stage. Then you'll see what a brilliant piece of work it is, comparable to anything Shakespeare ever did. Neither film really does it justice, but if you're looking for a movie version of "South Pacific," don't strain yourself as you reach for this 1958 original over the awful 2001 remake.

Rating:
Summary: Joshua Logan's Technicolor Fever Dream
Review: Although an enormous boxoffice success upon first release in nineteen fifty eight(highest grossing film of the year),South Pacific has always been overlooked as a fun,silly R &G musical. Mister Logan made no mistake in taking on the film version.His roots were in theater,and he had mastered that art in one full gulp of synchronization and moved on to filmmaking,broadening his horizons to some praise and guffaws, although his films were commercial successes. Most of his films are based on stageplays,yet are definitively CINEMATIC,tackling important issues for the times which remain achingly relevant(gender and racism),
South Pacific is masterful in the key of Logan's other early works(see Picnic,Bus Stop and Sayonara) in that cloaked beneath the undeniable nostalgic Hollywoodism and Americana are his views and his visions. You can feel him through his films, and SP remains his greatest achievement in the field of movie musicals(his later ones, Camelot and Paint Your Wagon are bloated but of interest) the familiar plot of tangled interracial love melodrama handled well enough, the songs lilting like blue smoke through the hallucinogenic technicolor islands.

Rating:
Summary: My high school play version was better
Review: I saw this play in high school and absolutely loved it. The girl in my high school did a better job of playing Nellie than Mitzi Gaynor did. I rented the movie a few years ago and watched about half of it and turned it off. Last week, I tried to watch it again, and I still didn't like it. The casting is all wrong and I always lose interest. It's a shame. With a good cast, this movie could have shined.

Rating:
Summary: An all-time classic
Review: I bought this DVD for my mother for Mother's Day and although she's watched it only once, she loved every minute of it. The graphics, as you might expect, are not on the same level as movies of today, but the singing, acting, and scenes are superb! Definitely a quality movie for family viewing, a date, or party. Americans today have forgotten about the great classics and this is definitely one of them.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful
Review: A dazzling musical. It's much better than the 2001 version. I adore John Kerr. It's a sweet romantic tale in the middle of a war. What a great film.

Rating:
Summary: Ken Clark...my hero
Review: This film gets 5 stars because of STEW POT!!! Ken Clark is GOD!!

Rating:
Summary: A Rare and Esoteric Film
Review: I always loved this strange and beautiful film. Has there ever been a film more misunderstood? I think the important quality about this film is that it asks the viewer not to understand it but just feel it and let that feeling linger with you forever. My hero of this film has always been John Kerr as Lieutenant Cable. He is essentially a good man but he finds himself out of place wherever he goes whether it is back home, the military or even the beautiful surroundings of the paradise of the Pacific Islands. Lieutenant Cable is such a tragic figure and John Kerr brilliantly portrays him. It is selfish of me but I always felt jealous of Rossano Brazzi as Emile De Becque. Brazzi gets the girl and the glory yet I can't get the final haunting screen image of the lifeless Lieutenant Cable out of my mind.

Rating:
Summary: ONLY ADEQUATE ADAPTATION
Review: Well let's be realistic this musical comedy is the least interesting of all the adaptations of RODGERS AND HAMMERSTEIN's classic shows.The fact that JOSHUA LOGAN had directed the original show makes you wonder if the guy knew how great the show was in 1949.If you remember, SOUTH PACIFIC had great singers to sing the songs.Where are the singers in the movie?What's the use of making a movie musical if anyone but one character gets dubbed;a complete aberration?RAY WALSTON fortunally manages to get you a few laughs as LUTHER.I suppose the film can be tolerable if you've never seen the musical on stage.It would be a great mistake to judge this wonderful show only by this movie.Young folks be warned and please buy the original cast album with MARY MARTIN and ENZIO PENZA

Rating:
Summary: A Hauntingly Beautiful Film
Review: Hauntingly beautiful motion picture of Rodgers & Hammerstein's play, based on James Michener's book 'Tales of the South Pacific' is full of atmosphere and has a strange mystical quality of far away places about it. The story is almost disturbing as the beautiful images of the South Pacific are juxtaposed against the background of W.W.II. The film moves at an enjoyable and leisurely pace but the viewer is always left with an underlying feeling of uneasiness pondering what the climax will bring to the main characters. This can be attributed to the dual love stories and the guilt, prejudices and insecurities felt by the two Americans toward their foreign love interests. Mitzi Gaynor as Nurse Nellie Forbush falls in love with the mysterious French plantation owner, Emile De Becque played by Rossano Brazzi. New arrival to the island, USMC Lt. Cable played by John Kerr meets and falls in love with the beautiful native girl Liat played by France Nuyen. The Americans, out of their environment are intoxicated by the almost unnatural beauty of the island thanks to Leon Shamroy's colorful and inventive location Cinematography. For me John Kerr's performance always stood out. He always seemed distant and truly disturbed by his own feelings. "You've Got to Be Taught" was a wonderful song expressing his feelings and Bloody Mary's outrage at his rejection of her daughter matched the ugliness of his own feelings. The images in this film are indelible and the overall effect evokes many moods and emotions. The movie has been critically misjudged and neglected for years. I think this has to do with the structure of the film. It is rather unconventional and does not follow a smooth narrative flow. I call it an emotional flow. The main character definitely appears to be Nellie Forbush given Mitzi Gaynor's energetic performance. Her concerns about Emile De Becque seem a little contrived, but that is intentional because in fact it should be. Rossano Brazzi is the mysterious Frenchman because we are simply told that he is mysterious. France Nuyen as Liat is very beautiful and desirable but even the viewer knows that a meaningful relationship with Lt. Cable is impossible. So all the emotions we feel as the viewer are pent up in just as they are in Lt. Cable. And John Kerr as Lt. Cable is really the odd man out. He is the tragic figure. He must either go back home or face his catharsis. The film has no strong main male character on the surface. Both men seem introverted and it is fitting that they both team together on the perilous mission. One man wanted to return and the other couldn't. "Bali H'ai" is a fitting song expressing all our feelings for what lies beyond the beautiful horizon of life and the examination of those feelings. "Some Enchanted Evening" beautifully expresses in song what can only be felt by the heart. This is a beautiful film. I never realized how good it was until I played it again just recently. Perhaps I am now a little older and a little wiser but the images in this film still hold a bit of mystery for me.