South Pacific (film)

This article is about the 1958 film. For the Broadway musical, see South Pacific (musical). For the television film, see South Pacific (2001 film).

South Pacific
Directed by	Joshua Logan
Produced by	Buddy Adler
Screenplay by	Paul Osborn
Based on	South Pacific by Oscar Hammerstein II Joshua Logan Tales of the South Pacific by James A. Michener
Starring	Rossano Brazzi Mitzi Gaynor John Kerr Juanita Hall France Nuyen Ray Walston
Music by	Richard Rodgers
Cinematography	Leon Shamroy
Editing by	Robert L. Simpson
Studio	Copyrighted by South Pacific Enterprises Inc (but actually made by Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation, using its departments and department heads)
Distributed by	Magna Theatre Corporation (70mm "roadshow" exhibitions and overseas exhibitions); Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (35mm "domestic" exhibitions)
Release date(s)	March 19, 1958 (1958-03-19)
Running time	171 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$6 million
Box office	$36.8 million

South Pacific is a 1958 musical romance film adaptation of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific, and based on James A. Michener's Tales of the South Pacific. The film was directed by Joshua Logan and starred Rossano Brazzi, Mitzi Gaynor, John Kerr and Ray Walston in the leading roles with Juanita Hall as Bloody Mary, the part that she had played in the original stage production.

Production history

Following the success of the film version of Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma!, the producers decided to tackle a big-screen adaptation of South Pacific as their next project.

The film was produced by "South Pacific Enterprises," a company created specifically for the production, owned by Rodgers, Hammerstein, Logan, Magna Theatre Corporation (owners of the Todd-AO widescreen process the film would be photographed in), and Leland Hayward, producer of the original stage production. 20th Century Fox partially invested in the production in exchange for some distribution rights. Additionally, all the departments and department heads were Fox's.

The producers' original plan was to have the two leads of the original Broadway cast reprise their respective roles for the film. Ezio Pinza, the actor who originated the role of male lead Emile de Becque, had recently died. Had Pinza survived long enough to perform in the film, the producers would have cast Mary Martin, who played love interest Nellie Forbush on stage. Doris Day was offered the part of Nellie, but passed; Elizabeth Taylor tested for the same role, but was rejected by Logan after listening to her singing voice. Mitzi Gaynor, who had prior work in musical films, tested twice for Nellie, and ultimately received the part. Rossano Brazzi landed the part of Emile, a role that was also offered to established stars Charles Boyer, Vittorio De Sica, and Fernando Lamas. Walston, a noted Broadway musical actor, played the part of Seabee Luther Billis, which he previously played on stage in London.

Hanalei Bay on Kauai, one of the Hawaiian Islands, together with Portinax Beach and the island of Es Vedrà in Ibiza (Balearic Islands) served as the filming locations for the film, with special effects providing distant views of the fantastic island Bali Ha'i (Es Vedrà). A second-unit filmed aerial views of Fijian islands while some sources claim footage of Tioman Island, off Malaysia's south east coast, were also featured, though this seems unlikely given the logistics involved. Location filming provided sweeping shots of tropical island scenes, as well as a new sequence not in the stage version, in which Billis, having parachuted from a damaged plane, has a boat dropped on him, then comes under a series of attacks, following his fatalistic "Oh, it's going to be one of those days, huh?"

The film includes the use of colored filters during many of the song sequences, which has been a source of criticism for the film. Director Joshua Logan wanted it to be a subtle change, but 20th Century Fox, the company that would distribute the 35mm version, made it an extreme change and since tickets to the film were pre-sold (it was a roadshow attraction), they had no time to correct it.

All of the songs from the stage production were retained for the film. A song entitled My Girl Back Home, sung by Lt. Cable and Nellie, cut from the Broadway show, was added.

One of the differences between the film version and the Broadway version of the musical is that the first and second scenes of the play are switched around, together with all the songs contained in those two scenes. The stage version begins with Nellie and Emile's first scene together on the plantation, then proceeds to show Bloody Mary, Lieutenant Joe Cable, and the Seabees on the beach, while in the film version Lieutenant Cable is shown at the very beginning being flown by plane to the island, where the Seabees and Bloody Mary have their first musical numbers. (The first musical number in the film is Bloody Mary Is the Girl I Love, sung by the Seabees, while in the stage version it is Dites Moi, sung by Emile's children.) Emile is not shown in the film until about thirty minutes into it; in the film, Nellie first appears during the scene with the Seabees. Because of the switch, the show's most famous song, Some Enchanted Evening, is not heard until nearly forty-five minutes into the film, while in the show it is heard about fifteen minutes after Act I starts.

Juanita Hall sang in the stage production and took part in the recording of the stage production cast album. However, she had her singing dubbed for the film version by Muriel Smith, who played Bloody Mary in the London stage production. Metropolitan Opera star Giorgio Tozzi provided the singing voice for the role of Emile de Becque in the film. John Kerr starred as 2nd Lt. Joseph Cable, USMC and his voice was dubbed by Bill Lee. Ken Clark, who played Stewpot, was dubbed by Thurl Ravenscroft (who sang "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" and was the voice of Tony the Tiger). Gaynor and Walston were the only principal cast members whose own singing voices were used.

Cast

• Rossano Brazzi as Emile de Becque (singing voice provided by Giorgio Tozzi)
• Mitzi Gaynor as Ens. Nellie Forbush
• John Kerr as Lt. Joseph Cable (singing voice provided by Bill Lee, uncredited)
• Ray Walston as Luther Billis
• Juanita Hall as Bloody Mary (singing voice provided by Muriel Smith, uncredited)
• France Nuyen as Liat
• Russ Brown as Capt. George Brackett
• Jack Mullaney as The Professor
• Ken Clark as Stewpot (singing voice provided by Thurl Ravenscroft)
• Floyd Simmons as Cmdr. Bill Harbison
• Candace Lee as Ngana
• Warren Hsieh as Jerome
• Tom Laughlin as Lt. Buzz Adams
• Francis Kahele as Henry – Emile's Servant
• Robert Jacobs as 1st Communications Man
• John Gabriel as 2nd Communications Man
• Richard Harrison as Co-Pilot
• Ron Ely as Navigator
• Steve Wiland as Seabee Dancer
• Richard H. Cutting as Adm. Kester
• Joe Bailey as U.S. Commander
• Buck Class as Fighter Pilot
• Richard Kiser as Fighter Pilot

Release

Criticism of the color filters did not prevent the film from topping the box office of 1958. In London, the film played continuously at the Dominion Theatre for nearly four-and-a-half years. South Pacific had the honor of being the highest-grossing Rodgers and Hammerstein musical film until The Sound of Music was released seven years later.

The 65mm Todd-AO cinematography (by Leon Shamroy) was nominated for an Academy Award, as were the music adaptation and the sound. South Pacific won for Best Sound.

The soundtrack album has spent more weeks at #1 in the UK Album Chart than any other album, spending 115 weeks at the top in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It spent 70 consecutive weeks at the top of the chart and was #1 for the whole of 1959.

Magna Theatre Corporation, which originally owned a stake in the film, handled the distribution of the roadshow presentations, while Fox distributed the film for its general (wide) release. The film was re-released by The Samuel Goldwyn Company in 1983. Originally shown in a nearly three-hour roadshow version, later cut to two-and-a-half hours for general release. The three-hour version, long feared lost, was rediscovered in a 70mm print owned by a collector. This print was screened in Bradford, England at the National Museum of Photography, Film, and Television on March 14, 2005. When Fox (which by that time owned partial distribution rights to the film, including home video) learned of the print's existence, they took it to the United States to reinstate the fourteen missing minutes and attempt to restore as much of the color as possible. A 2-disc DVD set of both the longer and shorter versions was released in the USA on Region 1 on November 7, 2006 and earlier on UK region 2 on 20 March 2006.

"Some Enchanted Evening" was ranked #28 on the American Film Institute's 100 Years...100 Songs (2004).

On March 31, 2009, South Pacific became the first Rodgers and Hammerstein musical available on high definition Blu-ray Disc.

Today, the film is owned by the respective estates of Rodgers and Hammerstein. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (through their acquisition of Goldwyn), owns the U.S. domestic theatrical and television distribution rights, while Fox handles home video and all other underlying distribution rights.

Song list

Note: The film opens with a three-minute, thirty-second orchestral overture

• "Bloody Mary"
• "There Is Nothing Like a Dame"
• "Bali Ha'i"
• "A Cock-Eyed Optimist"
• "Twin Soliloquies"
• "Some Enchanted Evening"
• "Dites-Moi"
• "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair"
• "I'm in Love with a Wonderful Guy"
• "Younger Than Springtime"
• "Happy Talk"
• "Honey Bun"
• "My Girl Back Home"
• "You've Got to Be Carefully Taught"
• "This Nearly Was Mine"
• "Finale"

Soundtrack

Chart positions

Chart	Year	Peak position
UK Albums Chart	1958	1
	1959
	1960
	1961

Preceded by King Creole by Elvis Presley The Explosive Freddy Cannon by Freddy Cannon Elvis Is Back! by Elvis Presley Down Drury Lane to Memory Lane by 101 Strings G.I. Blues by Elvis Presley G.I. Blues by Elvis Presley G.I. Blues by Elvis Presley The Black and White Minstrel Show by George Mitchell Minstrels The Black and White Minstrel Show by George Mitchell Minstrels

UK Albums Chart number-one album 8 November 1958 - 12 March 1960 19 March 1960 - 30 July 1960 6 August 1960 - 10 September 1960 15 October 1960 - 14 January 1961 4 March 1961 - 11 March 1961 1 April 1961 - 8 April 1961 1 July 1961 - 29 July 1961 26 August 1961 - 2 September 1961 9 September 1961 - 16 September 1961

Succeeded by The Explosive Freddy Cannon by Freddy Cannon Elvis Is Back! by Elvis Presley Down Drury Lane to Memory Lane by 101 Strings G.I. Blues by Elvis Presley G.I. Blues by Elvis Presley G.I. Blues by Elvis Presley The Black and White Minstrel Show by George Mitchell Minstrels The Black and White Minstrel Show by George Mitchell Minstrels The Black and White Minstrel Show by George Mitchell Minstrels

Awards and nominations

Academy Awards (31st)

• Cinematography (Color) (nominated)
• Music (Scoring of a Musical Picture) (nominated)
• Sound (Fred Hynes) (won)

Golden Globe Awards (16th)

• Best Motion Picture – Musical (nominated)
• Best Motion Picture Actress – Comedy/Musical (Mitzi Gaynor) (nominated)

See also

• List of American films of 1958

External links

• South Pacific at the Internet Movie Database
• South Pacific at AllRovi
• South Pacific at the TCM Movie Database