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South Pacific (film)
Encyclopedia
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.
, 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 Fiji
an 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
). Thus, Gaynor and Walston, were the only principal cast members whose own singing voices were used.
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.
Rodgers and Hammerstein
Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II were a well-known American songwriting duo, usually referred to as Rodgers and Hammerstein. They created a string of popular Broadway musicals in the 1940s and 1950s during what is considered the golden age of the medium...
musical South Pacific
South Pacific (musical)
South Pacific is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and book by Hammerstein and Joshua Logan. The story draws from James A. Michener's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1947 book Tales of the South Pacific, weaving together characters and elements from several of its...
, and based on James A. Michener
James A. Michener
James Albert Michener was an American author of more than 40 titles, the majority of which were sweeping sagas, covering the lives of many generations in particular geographic locales and incorporating historical facts into the stories...
's Tales of the South Pacific
Tales of the South Pacific
Tales of the South Pacific is a Pulitzer Prize-winning book, which is a collection of sequentially related short stories about World War II, written by James A. Michener in 1946 and published in 1947...
. The film was directed by Joshua Logan
Joshua Logan
Joshua Lockwood Logan III was an American stage and film director and writer.-Early years:Logan was born in Texarkana, Texas, the son of Susan and Joshua Lockwood Logan. When he was three years old his father committed suicide...
and starred Rossano Brazzi
Rossano Brazzi
-Biography:Brazzi was born in Bologna to Adelmo and Maria Brazzi. He attended San Marco University in Florence, Italy, where he was raised from the age of four...
, Mitzi Gaynor
Mitzi Gaynor
-Life and career:Gaynor was born as Francesca Marlene de Czanyi von Gerber in Chicago, Illinois to Pauline Fisher, a dancer, and Henry von Gerber, a violinist, cellist, and music director. The family first moved to Detroit and when she was eleven to Hollywood, California.She trained as a ballerina...
, John Kerr
John Kerr (actor)
John Kerr is an American actor from a family rooted in British and Broadway stage, and a lawyer.- Early life :Kerr's parents, Geoffrey Kerr and June Walker, were both stage and film actors, and his grandfather was Frederick Kerr, a famed British trans-Atlantic character actor in the period...
and Ray Walston
Ray Walston
Ray Walston was an American stage, television and film actor best known as the title character on the 1960s situation comedy My Favorite Martian. In addition, he is also remembered for his roles as Luther Billis in South Pacific , Mr. Applegate in Damn Yankees , J.J...
in the leading roles with Juanita Hall
Juanita Hall
Juanita Hall was an American musical theatre and film actress. She is remembered for her roles in the original stage and screen versions of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals South Pacific as Bloody Mary and Flower Drum Song as Auntie Liang.-Biography:Born in Keyport, New Jersey, Hall received...
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!Oklahoma!
Oklahoma! is the first musical written by composer Richard Rodgers and librettist Oscar Hammerstein II. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs' 1931 play, Green Grow the Lilacs. Set in Oklahoma Territory outside the town of Claremore in 1906, it tells the story of cowboy Curly McLain and his romance...
, 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
Todd-AO
Todd-AO is a post-production company founded in 1953, providing sound-related services to the motion picture and television industries. The company operates three facilities in the Los Angeles area.-History:...
widescreen process the film would be photographed in), and Leland Hayward
Leland Hayward
Leland Hayward was a Hollywood and Broadway agent and theatrical producer. He produced the original Broadway stage productions of Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific and The Sound of Music.-Early years:...
, producer of the original stage production. 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
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
Ezio Pinza
Ezio Pinza was an Italian basso opera singer with a rich, smooth and sonorous voice. He spent 22 seasons at New York's Metropolitan Opera, appearing in more than 750 performances of 50 operas...
, 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
Mary Martin
Mary Virginia Martin was an American actress and singer. She originated many roles over her career including Nellie Forbush in South Pacific and Maria in The Sound of Music. She was named a Kennedy Center Honoree in 1989...
, who played love interest Nellie Forbush on stage. Doris Day
Doris Day
Doris Day is an American actress, singer and, since her retirement from show business, an animal rights activist. With an entertainment career that spanned through almost 50 years, Day started her career as a big band singer in 1939, but only began to be noticed after her first hit recording,...
was offered the part of Nellie, but passed; Elizabeth Taylor
Elizabeth Taylor
Dame Elizabeth Rosemond "Liz" Taylor, DBE was a British-American actress. From her early years as a child star with MGM, she became one of the great screen actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age...
tested for the same role, but was rejected by Logan after listening to her singing voice. Mitzi Gaynor
Mitzi Gaynor
-Life and career:Gaynor was born as Francesca Marlene de Czanyi von Gerber in Chicago, Illinois to Pauline Fisher, a dancer, and Henry von Gerber, a violinist, cellist, and music director. The family first moved to Detroit and when she was eleven to Hollywood, California.She trained as a ballerina...
, who had prior work in musical films, tested twice for Nellie, and ultimately received the part. Rossano Brazzi
Rossano Brazzi
-Biography:Brazzi was born in Bologna to Adelmo and Maria Brazzi. He attended San Marco University in Florence, Italy, where he was raised from the age of four...
landed the part of Emile, a role that was also offered to established stars Charles Boyer
Charles Boyer
Charles Boyer was a French actor who appeared in more than 80 films between 1920 and 1976. After receiving an education in drama, Boyer started on the stage, but he found success in movies during the 1930s. His memorable performances were among the era's most highly praised romantic dramas,...
, Vittorio De Sica
Vittorio de Sica
Vittorio De Sica was an Italian director and actor, a leading figure in the neorealist movement....
, and Fernando Lamas
Fernando Lamas
Fernando Álvaro Lamas was an Argentine-born actor and director, and the father of actor Lorenzo Lamas.-Early life and career:...
. Walston, a noted Broadway musical actor, played the part of Seabee Luther Billis, which he previously played on stage in London.
Hanalei Bay
Hanalei Bay
Hanalei Bay is the largest bay on the north shore of Kauai island in Hawaii. The town of Hanalei is at the mid-point of the bay.Hanalei Bay consists of nearly two miles of beach, surrounded by mountains. In the summer, the bay offers excellent mooring for sailboats, stand up paddle boarding and...
on Kauai
Kauai
Kauai or Kauai, known as Tauai in the ancient Kaua'i dialect, is geologically the oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands. With an area of , it is the fourth largest of the main islands in the Hawaiian archipelago, and the 21st largest island in the United States. Known also as the "Garden Isle",...
, one of the Hawaiian Islands
Hawaiian Islands
The Hawaiian Islands are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, numerous smaller islets, and undersea seamounts in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some 1,500 miles from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll...
, together with Portinax Beach and the island of Es Vedrà
Es Vedra
Es Vedrà is a Balearic island approximately 2 km off the western coast of Ibiza, in the area of Cala d'Hort. The island is a nature reserve and is uninhabited. As the main island Ibiza, Es Vedrà consists predominantly of mesozoic limestone without any larger metal accumulations...
in Ibiza
Ibiza
Ibiza or Eivissa is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea 79 km off the coast of the city of Valencia in Spain. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, an autonomous community of Spain. With Formentera, it is one of the two Pine Islands or Pityuses. Its largest cities are 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 Fiji
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
an 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
Joshua Logan
Joshua Lockwood Logan III was an American stage and film director and writer.-Early years:Logan was born in Texarkana, Texas, the son of Susan and Joshua Lockwood Logan. When he was three years old his father committed suicide...
wanted it to be a subtle change, but 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
, 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
Roadshow theatrical release
A roadshow theatrical release was a term in the American motion picture industry for a practice in which a film opened in a limited number of theaters in large cities like Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Houston, Atlanta, Dallas, and San Francisco for a specific period of time before the...
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
Some Enchanted Evening (song)
"Some Enchanted Evening" is a show tune from the 1949 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific.In the musical, it is sung as a solo by Emile de Becque, the French plantation owner, who falls in love with the American navy nurse Nellie Forbush. In this song he sings of seizing the moment so...
, 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
Muriel Smith (singer)
Muriel Burrell Smith was an American singer. In the 1940s and 1950s, she was a star of musical theater and opera, and was also the off-film ghost singer in several hit movies...
, who played Bloody Mary in the London stage production. Metropolitan Opera star Giorgio Tozzi
Giorgio Tozzi
Giorgio Tozzi was for many years a leading bass with the Metropolitan Opera, as well as playing lead roles in nearly every major opera house worldwide.-Career:Tozzi was born George John Tozzi in Chicago, Illinois...
provided the singing voice for the role of Emile de Becque in the film. John Kerr
John Kerr (actor)
John Kerr is an American actor from a family rooted in British and Broadway stage, and a lawyer.- Early life :Kerr's parents, Geoffrey Kerr and June Walker, were both stage and film actors, and his grandfather was Frederick Kerr, a famed British trans-Atlantic character actor in the period...
starred as 2nd Lt. Joseph Cable, USMC and his voice was dubbed by Bill Lee
Bill Lee (singer)
Bill Lee was an American playback singer who provided a voice or singing voice in many films, for actors in musicals and for many Disney characters. He was born in Johnson, Nebraska and died in 1980 in Los Angeles, California, of a brain tumor.Lee was part of a popular singing quartet known as The...
. Ken Clark
Ken Clark (actor)
Kenneth Donovan "Ken" Clark was an American B-movie actor. He appeared in movies in America and Europe, including the Secret Agent 077 trilogy....
, who played Stewpot, was dubbed by Thurl Ravenscroft
Thurl Ravenscroft
Thurl Arthur Ravenscroft was an American voice actor and singer best known as the deep voice behind Tony the Tiger's "They're grrreat!" in Frosted Flakes television commercials for more than five decades. Ravenscroft was also known, however uncredited, as the vocalist for the song "You're a Mean...
(who sang "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch
You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch
"You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" is a Christmas song that was originally written and composed for the 1966 cartoon special How the Grinch Stole Christmas!. The lyrics were written by Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel, the music was composed by Albert Hague, and the song was performed by Thurl Ravenscroft...
" and was the voice of Tony the Tiger
Tony the Tiger
Tony the Tiger is the advertising cartoon mascot for Kellogg's Frosted Flakes breakfast cereal, appearing on its packaging and advertising. More recently, Tony has also become the mascot for Tony's Cinnamon Krunchers and Tiger Power...
). Thus, Gaynor and Walston, were the only principal cast members whose own singing voices were used.
Cast
- Rossano BrazziRossano Brazzi-Biography:Brazzi was born in Bologna to Adelmo and Maria Brazzi. He attended San Marco University in Florence, Italy, where he was raised from the age of four...
as Emile de Becque (singing voice provided by Giorgio TozziGiorgio TozziGiorgio Tozzi was for many years a leading bass with the Metropolitan Opera, as well as playing lead roles in nearly every major opera house worldwide.-Career:Tozzi was born George John Tozzi in Chicago, Illinois...
) - Mitzi GaynorMitzi Gaynor-Life and career:Gaynor was born as Francesca Marlene de Czanyi von Gerber in Chicago, Illinois to Pauline Fisher, a dancer, and Henry von Gerber, a violinist, cellist, and music director. The family first moved to Detroit and when she was eleven to Hollywood, California.She trained as a ballerina...
as Ens. Nellie Forbush - John KerrJohn Kerr (actor)John Kerr is an American actor from a family rooted in British and Broadway stage, and a lawyer.- Early life :Kerr's parents, Geoffrey Kerr and June Walker, were both stage and film actors, and his grandfather was Frederick Kerr, a famed British trans-Atlantic character actor in the period...
as Lt. Joseph Cable (singing voice provided by Bill Lee, uncredited) - Ray WalstonRay WalstonRay Walston was an American stage, television and film actor best known as the title character on the 1960s situation comedy My Favorite Martian. In addition, he is also remembered for his roles as Luther Billis in South Pacific , Mr. Applegate in Damn Yankees , J.J...
as Luther Billis - Juanita HallJuanita HallJuanita Hall was an American musical theatre and film actress. She is remembered for her roles in the original stage and screen versions of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals South Pacific as Bloody Mary and Flower Drum Song as Auntie Liang.-Biography:Born in Keyport, New Jersey, Hall received...
as Bloody Mary (singing voice provided by Muriel Smith, uncredited) - France NuyenFrance NuyenFrance Nuyen is a French actress.-Biography:Nuyen was born in Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France. Her mother was French, her father Vietnamese. During World War II, her mother and grandfather were persecuted by the Nazis for being Gypsies...
as Liat - Russ BrownRuss Brown (actor)Russell Brown was an American Tony Award winning actor of stage and film...
as Capt. George Brackett - Jack MullaneyJack MullaneyJack Mullaney was an American actor, born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Mullaney acted in several television series and films throughout his career....
as The Professor - Ken ClarkKen Clark (actor)Kenneth Donovan "Ken" Clark was an American B-movie actor. He appeared in movies in America and Europe, including the Secret Agent 077 trilogy....
as Stewpot (singing voice provided by Thurl RavenscroftThurl RavenscroftThurl Arthur Ravenscroft was an American voice actor and singer best known as the deep voice behind Tony the Tiger's "They're grrreat!" in Frosted Flakes television commercials for more than five decades. Ravenscroft was also known, however uncredited, as the vocalist for the song "You're a Mean...
) - Floyd Simmons as Cmdr. Bill Harbison
- Candace Lee as Ngana
- Warren Hsieh as Jerome
- Tom LaughlinTom LaughlinTom Laughlin is an American actor, director, screenwriter, author, educator and political activist. Laughlin is best known for his series of Billy Jack films. He has been married to Delores Taylor since 1954. Taylor has also co-produced and acted in all four of the Billy Jack films...
as Lt. Buzz Adams - Francis Kahele as Henry – Emile's Servant
- Robert Jacobs as 1st Communications Man
- John GabrielJohn Gabriel (actor)John Gabriel is an American actor who is best known for his role as Seneca Beaulac in Ryan's Hope , and for which he received an Emmy Award nomination in 1980. Gabriel, who played The Professor in the original, unaired Gilligan's Island pilot, is the father of Lost actress Andrea Gabriel...
as 2nd Communications Man - Richard HarrisonRichard Harrison (actor)Richard Harrison is an American B-movie actor and occasionally a writer/director/producer.Harrison was very prolific and worked with most of the better-known names in European B-movies during the 1960s and 1970s, branching out to exploitation films shot all over the world in the early 1970s...
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 MusicThe Sound of Music (film)
Rodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music is a 1965 American musical film directed by Robert Wise and starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer. The film is based on the Broadway musical The Sound of Music, with songs written by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, and with the musical...
was released seven years later.
The 65mm Todd-AO
Todd-AO
Todd-AO is a post-production company founded in 1953, providing sound-related services to the motion picture and television industries. The company operates three facilities in the Los Angeles area.-History:...
cinematography (by Leon Shamroy
Leon Shamroy
Leon Shamroy, A.S.C. was an American film cinematographer. Together with Charles Lang, he holds the record for most number of Academy Award nominations for Cinematography...
) 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
The Samuel Goldwyn Company
The Samuel Goldwyn Company was an independent film company founded by Samuel Goldwyn, Jr., the son of the famous Hollywood mogul, Samuel Goldwyn, in 1979.-Background:...
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
Bradford
Bradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, in Northern England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield. Bradford became a municipal borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897...
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
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...
'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
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
.
Today, the film is owned by the respective estates of Rodgers and Hammerstein. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. 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 MaryBloody Mary (South Pacific)Bloody Mary is a character in the book Tales of the South Pacific by James Michener, which was made into the musical South Pacific by Rodgers and Hammerstein, and later into a film in 1958....
" - "There Is Nothing Like a DameThere Is Nothing Like a Dame"There is Nothing Like a Dame" is one of the songs from the musical South Pacific. The song was written by Richard Rodgers with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It is widely popular in the musical arts, often sung by men's choirs....
" - "Bali Ha'iBali Ha'i"Bali Ha'i", also spelled "Bali Hai", is a show tune from the 1949 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific.-In musical South Pacific:...
" - "A Cock-Eyed Optimist"
- "Twin Soliloquies"
- "Some Enchanted EveningSome Enchanted Evening (song)"Some Enchanted Evening" is a show tune from the 1949 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific.In the musical, it is sung as a solo by Emile de Becque, the French plantation owner, who falls in love with the American navy nurse Nellie Forbush. In this song he sings of seizing the moment so...
" - "Dites-Moi"
- "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My HairI'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair"I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair" is a song from the musical South Pacific, sung by Nellie Forbush, the female lead, originally played by Mary Martin beginning in 1949. Her character, fed up with a man and singing in the shower, claims she will forget about him...
" - "I'm in Love with a Wonderful GuyI'm in Love with a Wonderful Guy" a Wonderful Guy" is a show tune from the 1949 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific. It was first introduced by Mary Martin in the original Broadway production and sung by Mitzi Gaynor in the 1958 film adaptation....
" - "Younger Than Springtime"
- "Happy TalkHappy Talk (song)In June 1982, The Damned's guitarist Captain Sensible scored an unlikely #1 single on the UK singles chart for two weeks with his version of the song, featuring backing vocals by the band Dolly Mixture.-Cover Version:...
" - "Honey Bun"
- "My Girl Back Home"
- "You've Got to Be Carefully TaughtYou've Got to Be Carefully Taught"You've Got to Be Carefully Taught" is a show tune from the 1949 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific....
" - "This Nearly Was Mine"
- "Finale"
Chart positions
| Chart | Year | Peak position |
|---|---|---|
| UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
1958 | 1 |
| 1959 | ||
| 1960 | ||
| 1961 | ||
Academy Awards (31st)
- Cinematography (Color)Academy Award for Best CinematographyThe Academy Award for Best Cinematography is an Academy Award awarded each year to a cinematographer for work in one particular motion picture.-History:...
(nominated) - Music (Scoring of a Musical Picture)Academy Award for Original Music ScoreThe Academy Award for Original Score is presented to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by the submitting composer.-Superlatives:...
(nominated) - Sound (Fred HynesFred HynesFred Hynes was an American sound engineer. He won five Academy Awards in the category Sound Recording and was nominated for two more in the same category.-Selected filmography:...
) (won)
Golden Globe Awards (16th)
- Best Motion Picture – Musical (nominated)
- Best Motion Picture Actress – Comedy/Musical (Mitzi Gaynor) (nominated)