Rating: 
Summary: Terrible! Gaynor gives her worst performance ever as Nellie!
Review: The show was wonderful, but the movie was plain old bad. It was good in some ways, but bad in most. You'll be dissapointed if you watch this movie.
Rating: 
Summary: Probably the Most Famous Score Ever
Review: Most musicals are lucky if there's one hit song, but Rodgers and Hammerstein's "South Pacific" has more deservedly well-known songs than almost any other show I can think of: Some Enchanted Evening, I'm in Love with a Wonderful Guy, Younger than Springtime, Bali Hai, I Gotta Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair, You've Got to be Taught, This Nearly Was Mine, Honey Bun, There is Nothing Like a Dame, Happy Talk. I suppose only Irving Berlin's "Annie Get Your Gun" can come close on that point. I like this movie very much, in spite of two big flaws, and I must admit those are pretty big flaws, and keep my rating down from the five stars it otherwise would have gotten. Flaw #1: This movie was filmed on location in Hawaii, which of course offers beautiful landscape and views. Why then were so many shots overlaid with these dreadful filters which turn everything bizarre colors? This was like gilding a lily--who can improve upon Hawaii? The ONLY time it makes sense to use surreal color changes is in "Bali Hai", because it is a siren song about the promise of fulfilling fantastical longings, so the pinks and oranges underscore magic and passion. That makes sense. But why is "Some Enchanted Evening" yellow? Romance is not yellow for me--is it for you? Flaw #2: Actor John Kerr has the important tenor role of the young lieutenant caught up in an interracial romance and sings the sweeping romantic piece "Younger than Springtime". This should be played by a hunk, a man every woman wishes would make love to her. But this guy Kerr isn't it at all. He's scrawny and has zero screen presence. His eyes have no apparant color and actually seem reptilian--cold blooded for sure. Any one of the CBs hanging out on the beach would have been a better choice. All that aside, Rosanno Brazzi and Mitzi Gaynor do a marvelous job. Both performers are appealing and bring enthusiasm and joy to their roles. I especially like to see Brazzi do "Some Enchanted Evening" because of the passion he conveys in his lip synching--the part was being sung by another, but Brazzi delivers a creditable enough impression to make you think it's his voice. The parts of the island commander and his assistant are very well done, and Ray Walston as Luther Billis is highly entertaining in his penny ante schemes. I look at "South Pacific" at least once a month--it's that good a romance, in spite of Kerr and Color. Treat yourself to an enchanted evening or afternoon with this movie.
Rating: 
Summary: Another Let Down
Review: The first time I watched this I was hitting the sauce pretty hard with the result that I thought it was one of the greatest movies ever made. In the next few days I tried to re-watch it and there were some things I wasn't going for. (The interesting thing is I was drinking just as much, if not more.) Actually, there were a lot of things I wasn't going for, but I'll only mention a few of them: (1) There's some saying that the French plantation owner keeps spouting to the nurse as if it were their "little phrase" - something like "Fools never argue, wise men never agree", that's not it, but it was something that sounds profound but is actually a piece of garbage. Even if it were profound, I don't need to hear it. (2) This movie starts out making some pretense to being a realistic war movie, but the combat scenes toward the end are asinine in the extreme. (3) The nurse and the marine are both supposed to be racists who need to be straightened out, with the implication that YOU are if you're white. I'm sorry but I watch musicals to be entertained, not to get a course of "sensitivity training." -- If I ever watch this again, I'm going to cut it down to watching 2 or 3 of Mitzi Gaynor's numbers.
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.
Rating:
Summary: Mitzi Gaynor is perfect as Nellie...
Review: I'm surprised at much of the negative criticism, especially Leonard Matlin's commentary reproduced above. Contrary to some reviewers I thought Mitzi Gaynor performance and "looks" were perfect for the role of Ensign Nellie Forbush. Her romantic interest, Rossano Brazzi, is sophisticated and handsome, but their age difference is a bit wide. Ray Walston (Luther Billis)steals each of his many scenes. I agree with those who view John Kerr (Lt. Joe Cable) as the weakest member of the cast. It's a shame color filters were used during some of the musical's major songs. The blurring-off color effect takes away from the performances. Early in the 21st century, the musical theme, interracial romance/marriage, doesn't carry the impact it undoubtedly had back 1949 when the show opened on Broadway. "South Pacific," released to theaters some 43 years ago, remains an excellent adaptation of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Broadway hit. It belongs in any collection of the American musical theater.
Rating: 
Summary: ALL THIS AND WORLD WAR II
Review: I'm gonna wash this film right out of my mind. It is long and it is dull. Deadly so. There is a scene in the beginning that introduces the character of Bloody Mary that defies all logic of reshooting. Mitzi Gaynor in the lead is a pixie in search of a Gidget movie although her sexy "Wonderful Guy" bit on the beach is one of the film's few redeeming moments. But it just never clicks, like a tired wave lapping against a shore, it goes on and on. When it ended, I felt like I passed an endurance test.
Rating:
Summary: WARNING: Great film - BUT NOT ANAMORPHIC!
Review: This DVD has THX and DOLBY. I just figured it would be anamorphic... NOPE. IT SHOULD SAY LETTERBOX.. but it doesn't.
I hate being tricked!
This has nothing to do with film.. it is awesome!
Rating:
Summary: It's no mystery to me why so many people love this film.
Review: I give this film 5 stars not because it's without fault, but because it manages to convey to the audience things they appreciate, and in fact justify in their minds why they watch movies in the first place. Sounds simple, but it is simply incredible how this recipe for success seems to be forgotten, or maybe it is just disdained as tripe for bumpkins. Well, hooray for us bumpkins.
This film shares a very important trait with "Sayonara" (with Marlon Brando and Red Buttons [two Oscars]); that is, it is an adaptation of a novel by James Michener where the screenplay is superior to the novel. This is not a slam against Michener. I avidly read "Tales of the South Pacific" and its sequel, the underappreciated "Return to Paradise." I enjoy both of these books very much -- they are very well crafted.
However, I would have to agree with those, including Michener himself, who describe him as a narrator, not a master of drama or romance. The way in which these screenplays amend his stories for film is very intelligently done.
Some points made by the detractors of this film are valid (but I disagree with the complaints about casting -- I think everyone, including John Kerr is just fine); but forget about the filters, and just enjoy the film. This film gives viewers some things to connect with. The love stories of this film are more interesting because of the theme of interracial romance. While youngsters seeing this film will probably wonder what's the big deal, this subject was still sensitive enough in 1957 to justify some not-too-subtle messages that open-mindedness is good and bigotry is bad. Anyway, the audience is clearly induced to be rooting for Nellie and Emile, and Joe Cable and Liat to end up together, and it's exactly this kind of prompting that tends to make viewers connect with and enjoy a movie.
Of course the main point of any musical is to entertain, and that it does with its songs and scenes. I would rate this R & H score in the top five of all musicals. And in case the reader would like a clue as to this writer's subjective perspectives, in my judgement "My Fair Lady" is hands-down the greatest musical ever made. Most of the songs, words and music, in "South Pacific" are truly cleverly wrought -- the kind of stuff you like to have bouncing around in your head.
Each and every time I watch this film I am left charmed and delighted.
Rating:
Summary: It's simply the best...
Review: What a classic, wow! Don't believe one negative word you hear about this film. Everyone knows that the songs are the best Rogers & Hammerstein produced for one show. The singing in the film and the renditions are fabulous. The first time I saw this film I was 10 years old and, yes, it was in 1958 in an old, classic of a movie theater where the ushers were wearing suits. I was totally entranced by this great film at that time and still am today. Mitzi Gaynor and Rossano Brazzi were excellent selections-- I don't think Mary Martin would have been any better. John Kerr looked exactly like a young Marine lieutenant circa 1942. Sure, ladies, it could have been someone who was known for having knockout looks, but they would not have been as effective. And France Nuyen captures the essence of a native girl like no one else and that was good casting opposite Kerr. To me, the greatest achievement of this film is that Joshua Logan absolutely captured everything about the early 1940s in that cast of characters. Mitzi Gaynor has a 1940s face and style, and looked exactly like a Navy nurse. The same is true for the other characters but especially so for Kerr. If you look at war footage from the Pacific theater, you'll see hundreds of Marines with frames exactly like Kerr's. No one lifted weights back then so no one had the "body cuts" of a weight lifter. He looked just like a Marine Lt from WWII should have looked-- tall, very lean, serious but a kid at the same time. He was intense in the combat scene and very light during the scenes with Nuyen. And Juanita Hall couldn't have been better; she will always be everyone's vision of Bloody Mary. Logan manages to take you back to that time over and over again even though it was filmed 15 years later. When I watch it today I know that the smells were different, the mindset was different, the clothes were different, the cultures were different, the people were different, and life was different; perhaps simpler. Logan capture all of that for us to see over and over again. Plus, he did it in a way that makes the racial point but does it without being vulgar. South Pacific captures the World War II era in the same way that Gone with the Wind captures the Civil War era. We can never go back to those times, but Logan helps make time stand still. Best of all was his casting. This version of South Pacific is one of my all time favorite films and no classic film library should be without it. Buy it. Watch it. Love it!
Rating:
Summary: A simple classic
Review: With the world a little shaky now, it's a real pleasure to be able to put on a DVD and take a trip down memory lane to 1958 when South Pacific was released in movie theaters. The Rogers and Hammerstein score sets the tone for this musical adaptation of the Broadway show that was based on Tales of the South Pacific" by James Mitchener. The story is set on an island in the South Pacific during WW2. The Japanese are entrenched in a nearby island and are bombing American forces that go near, but life is sweet for the G.I.s at the naval base. Mitzi Gaynor, cast as a nurse, is beginning a romance with an older distinguished French planter played by Rossano Brazzi. John Kerr is a young lieutenant who comes to the island to convince the planter to risk his life to spy for the Americans. And Juanita hall is the older native woman who pushes her daughter, the lovely France Nuyen, at John Kerr. The music is excellent and the words of the songs really do move the story along. The theme however, is more than a love story. It deals with racism and the tragedy of war too. And these themes are what held it all together for me. It's a great human statement surrounded by wonderful familiar melodies that I'm still humming this morning. I loved it. And I didn't even care that, with the exception of Rossano Brazzi and Ray Walston, whose role as a sailor who always has a scheme and adds some really funny comic relief to this tale of love and war, the acting in general was mediocre. Everyone else gave rather stilted performances, and Mitzi Gaynor might be pretty, but she can't quite show a wide range of emotion. Also, the songs were all dubbed and obviously so. But that was the way Hollywood did things in those days. It's also interesting to note what the standard for beauty was in 1958. With the exception of the dancers, it was youth alone and not workouts in the gym that shaped the actors' bodies. Narrow waists were in style for the women, but hips were allowed to flare naturally. I loved South Pacific in spite of its few faults. It was great entertainment even though it didn't make me forget the prospect of war. If you've never seen this film, don't miss it. And if you've seen it before, it's certainly worth a revisit. Highly recommended.
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