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South Pacific Overview:

South Pacific (1958) was a Musical - Romance Film directed by Joshua Logan and produced by Buddy Adler and George P. Skouras.

SYNOPSIS

The Rodgers and Hammerstein songs from this musical classic rank with the best of their prodigious careers. The film adaptation of the unprecedented Broadway smash, directed by its stage director, Logan, may not have the boisterous energy found on recordings of the renowned stage production starring Mary Martin, but it substitutes lush Hawaiian locations and sumptuous photography. The story builds two love affairs, one between a midwestern nurse (Gaynor) and an older planter (Brazzi) with children and an ambivalence to the war that encroaches on his paradise, and one between a native girl (Nuyen) and a young American sailor (Kerr). Songs include "Some Enchanted Evening," "I'm in Love with a Wonderful Guy," and "Bali H'ai."

(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).

Academy Awards 1958 --- Ceremony Number 31 (source: AMPAS)

AwardRecipientResult
Best CinematographyLeon ShamroyNominated
Best Music - ScoringAlfred Newman, Ken DarbyNominated
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South Pacific BlogHub Articles:

Win Tickets to see “TCM Big Screen Classics: South Pacific” (60th Anniversary) (Giveaway runs through August 11)

By Annmarie Gatti on Jul 20, 2018 From Classic Movie Hub Blog

Win tickets to see “South Pacific” on the big screen!  In Select Cinemas Nationwide Sun Aug 26 and Wed Aug 29! “When all you care about is here, this is a good place to be.” CMH continues into our 3rd year of our partnership with Fathom Events - with the 9th of our 13 mo... Read full article

Musical Monday: South Pacific (1958)

on May 28, 2018 From Comet Over Hollywood

It’s no secret that the Hollywood Comet loves musicals. In 2010, I revealed I had seen 400 movie musicals over the course of eight years. Now that number is over 500. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals. This week’s musical: “South Pacific&#82... Read full article

South Pacific (1958)

By Beatrice on Oct 5, 2016 From Flickers in Time

South Pacific Directed by Joshua Logan Written by Paul Osborn based on the play by Oscar Hammerstein III and the novel by James Michener 1958/USA Magna Carta Theatre Corporation/South Pacific Enterprises/Rodgers & Hammerstein Productions/Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation Repeat viewing/A... Read full article

Rodgers and Hammerstein Blu-ray Collection: South Pacific (1958)

on May 27, 2014 From Journeys in Classic Film

You know you’re in for a wild ride when you decide to listen to the audio commentary about a movie to hear nothing but rationalizations and acknowledgments of the film’s flaws for near-three hours.  I’ll discuss the bonus content when I present my final wrap-up of the box set, but... Read full article

France Nuyen and Mitzi Gaynor at the Screening of South Pacific (1958)

By Raquel Stecher on May 13, 2013 From Out of the Past - A Classic Film Blog

My photo On Thursday April 25th, 2013, I attended a special screening of South Pacific (1958) at the pool of the historial Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood. It began right after the opening night party and I got to hang out with Jessica of Comet Over Hollywood and Kaci. There were drinks and hors d'o... Read full article

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South Pacific Quotes:

Emile de Becque: What makes her talk like that - you and she? I do not believe it is born in you! I do not believe it!
Lt. Cable: It's not born in you - it happens after you're born!
Nellie: (singing) I'm gonna wash that man right outa my hair / I'm gonna wash that man right outa my hair / I'm gonna wash that man right outa my hair / And send him on his way.
Capt. George Brackett: [fuming] Cable, it is a common mistake for boys of your age and athletic ability to underestimate men who have reached their maturity. Young women frequently find older men attractive, strange as it may seem. I myself am over fifty. I am a bachelor. And Cable, I do not, by any means, consider myself th-r-rough.
Bloody Mary: [the ancient Mary is looking him up and down] Lieu-tellen, you sexy man.
Lt. Cable: Thanks... You're looking pretty... er, fit yourself.
Nellie: What a pinhead I was!
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South Pacific Facts
South Pacific won the Pulitzer Prize in Drama in 1950 - it premiered on Broadway in April of 1949. Only eight musicals have won the Pulitzer Prize in drama - one per decade from the 1930s to the 1990s. They are as follows: "Of Thee I Sing" (1931), "South Pacific" (1949), "Fiorello" (1959), "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" (1961), "A Chorus Line" (1975), "Sunday in the Park with George" (1984), "Rent" (1996) and "Next to Normal" (2009).
The soundtrack album for the film was the first Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II film soundtrack to be issued in stereo the same year that the mono version was issued. (Because stereo LP's were not possible until 1958, the movie soundtrack albums of Oklahoma!, Carousel and The King and I were issued in mono between 1955 and 1956, the stereo versions in 1958.)
Rossano Brazzi's singing voice was dubbed by Giorgio Tozzi, Ken Clark's by Thurl Ravenscroft, and John Kerr's by Bill Lee.
Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II were also pressured to eliminate the song "You've Got To Be Carefully Taught", but they resisted.
According to some sources,Mary Martin did not play Nellie Forbush in the movie because Ezio Pinza, who had portrayed Emile de Becque on the stage, had already died and the producers considered it to be a hopeless task to find anybody who could match her in the movie. Other sources say that, at 45 years of age, Martin was too old for the role by the time the film was made. Mitzi Gaynor was eventually cast in the role.
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