South Pacific

Those who thought Mitzi Gaynor was mis-cast and a tad charmless are probably Doris Day fans. I thought Gaynor held the whole movie together brilliantly. Fizzy and sexy but with subtlety.... even though she does look a bit like a young woman who has stepped away for a couple of minutes from the beauty counter in a large department store. I don't like musicals, as a rule, but the wonderful location and big screen effect counterbalanced that. Great supporting cast including John Kerr (Lt Joseph Cable) and Ray Walston (Luther Bliss) but here's a question- why on earth was Rossano Brazzi cast as a Frenchman?? Born in Rome, every letter, word and syllable he uttered was as Italian as ......Italian could be. I guess he couldn't have played an Italian as they were against us in WW2 but at least try and sound like a French man talking in English! I guess Brazzi was hired because he was a handy tenor? But didn't anyone think to ask the emerging Sacha Distel at the time??? Maybe Brazzi's had told the director, Josh Logan, "I-m-a-gonna-make-a-you an offer you cannot-a refuse! Capiche!! Sorry...groan.

A beautifully shot film with stunning scenery, though its visual appeal is often dulled by an overuse of primary Crayola-colored tints in key scenes. The soundtrack has its moments, but the actors do little more than belt out their songs, making it visually dull. As for the plot—yet another tedious love story wrapped in a lesson about prejudice. At its center is a romance between a wealthy Frenchman with a penchant for secrets and a naïve, bubble-headed army nurse. Meanwhile, a bizarre subplot follows a lieutenant, a mysterious island, and the island girl who lives there. The tragic conclusion feels more like a forced morality tale, meant to enlighten the nurse about her narrow-minded views—because, apparently, only white Americans ever struggled with prejudice. Yawn.

The 1958 cinematic production of ‘South Pacific’ remarkably aligns with the year of my birth. The narrative’s ethos, addressing the intricate issue of racial discrimination, remains strikingly relevant in contemporary society. Despite its extended duration, the film is meritorious of viewing for its enduring thematic significance.

I have seen this movie five times now, and it gets better with each viewing! An amazing musical with clever catchy songs, two parallel love stories and breathtaking scenery. Try it, you may love it too!

One of the better musicals of that time. Handsomely shot, and the songs are snappy. Happy Talk being one of the most amusing that will keep you smiling. It still felt like 2 movies in one that are clashing (a musical and a war film), but somehow in the end it did work.

Although not a lot for the songs worked as well for me as maybe they should have done it makes up with an really well told story tackling some big themes making it a fantastic watch.

"Most people live on a lonely island Lost in the middle of a foggy sea..." So begins the song "Bali Ha'i" as sung by Bloody Mary in "South Pacific". I'm assuming when Mary says "most people" she means most people that she knows. For me, most people I know live smack dab in the middle of a huge continent where winter snow can drive you indoors for months at a time. We often wish we lived on an island in the middle of a sea. "South Pacific" is the film version of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical set in some islands in the middle of a sea. The movies stars Rossano Brazzi (singing voice dubbed by the outstanding Giorgio Tozzi) as Emile de Becque and Mitzi Gaynor as Nellie Forbush. The Italian Brazzi does a decent job as the "cultured Frenchman", but it is the beautiful and talented Gaynor who steals the show as the "little hick" from Little Rock. Her singing, dancing, and acting are all first rate. The supporting cast does not fare so well, with the exception being Ray Walston. He does a great job as the conniving "businessman" Luther Billis. Lieutenant Cable is played by John Kerr. Why the producers chose this guy to play one of the heroes of the story is beyond comprehension. Kerr tries to make his character seem like a no-nonsense admirable tough guy, but he comes across as just a snarky joyless jerk. The producers certainly didn't hire Kerr for his singing prowess. His voice is as tinny and squeaky as Mr. Peepers. So, when he goes from spoken dialog to a singing voice (which is dubbed by the quite capable baritone Bill Lee), it's as jarring as if Bloody Mary had gone into a dance and demonstrated leaps, pirouettes, and pointe technique to rival Anna Pavlova. Director Joshua Logan decided for, some reason, to shoot several scenes with colored filters. Apparently the final resulting look was harsher that what he had hoped for, but he never had time to correct it before the film's release. The resulting scenes do have a kind of dreamy quality, assuming your dream is that you're viewing the world from the inside of a giant lemon Jell-O mold. Besides Gaynor, the main attractions of the film are the superb songs. They don't write 'em like that anymore, right Lin-Manuel? I will grant though that the lyrics are quite dated. "There is nothin' like a dame". Indeed. Remember however that this was written in 1949. Because of its few flaws, there have been a number of people who have suggested that it might be a good idea to do a remake. Well, I disagree. No one, I mean no one ever, can better Mitzi Gaynor as Nurse Forbush. Besides, there was a remake; a TV movie from 2001 which I had the displeasure of seeing. Holy Bloody Mary! I'd rather swab the entire deck of an aircraft carrier with a toothbrush than to subject myself to another viewing of that flotsam.

This is a epic musical in all the best way

I my opinion it is better than West Side Story, the setting and beautiful background of the island through the film is stunning and there is somewhat of a story. The biggest issue for me is the lack of good songs. "I'm gonna wash that man right out of my hair", "happy talk", "there is nothing like a dame" are the songs I am familiar with and are good - all the other s in my opinion are poor. 2 stars because of this.

"(singing) I'm going to wash that money right out of my hair!!!!" rich and original!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!