On a South Pacific island during World War II, love blooms between a young nurse and a secretive Frenchman who's being courted for a dangerous military mission.
I'm 90 year old Brit. and grew up able to watch all the American and British Musical films during the 50s. This one that I hadn't watched since. It brought back all the words and music. A great film.
I love the intro with a blank screen and the full orchestra teasing us with the South Pacific music in full theater sound. Listening with my earphones on reminds me of the day in 1956 when I first attended the showing. I miss great musicals!
The world was such a better place to live in when this magnificent movie was filmed. No computer generated garbage that's prevalent with most films today. Wish I could be magically taken back to this period of time.
Where there was prejudice against different races, women were considered subservient & were expected to aspire to find a man and to be barefoot & pregnant in the kitchen. If they did work they basically had the choice of nurse, secretary or teacher. They received minimum wage & stayed way below the salery of a male in a comparable job. Yep, those were the "good times."
A better place? No. This is a wonderful film but 1950s apartide, Jim Crow, no loans/ credit for women, unregulated use of the environment and on and on……. I’ll happily watch this from 2024😊
@@lynette6085 To each their own lynette. In the 1950's money was real and still backed by gold. Today the dollar is not money but legal tender and inflation (which is a hidden tax) is killing the middle class. Loans weren't needed as much in the 50's to live as they are today. Today the world is controlled by the elites whose rules andr egulations only benefit them and its a far more dangerous place to live in. But enjoy the movie. It's a gem.
I'm 66 and all my life I've heard of this movie. Now, I've seen it for the first time. What a spectacular picture. And the scenery is so lush and rich. A masterpiece. Thank you for enabling me to see this at last.
Met Juanita Hall when I was a little girl. The stage play came to Boston. She joined my parents & me at our table saying, “Is your name Juanita Hall, too” to my mother as her name was Juanita also. When the movie came out, I went many times to see it & sang along with every lovely song. Had a huge crush on John Kerr/Lt. Cable. Happy memories.
@@maestroclassico5801 Eclipsed? _South Pacific_ was the highest-grossing film of 1958. The soundtrack was also a massive bestseller, topping the charts for 7 months..
@@user-rh2io7gm1l Was it really the highest grosser? I'm not doubting you I'm just impressed if that's true. I really thought Gigi cleaned up. And I had the soundtrack album since I was 10 you don't have to convince me (it was frustrating though as the album was abridged a bit).
@davidh9638 We had 2 fantastic Drama teachers.They actually had been involved in doing script writing etc back in there day.I am a Thespian.You had to earn that back in the day.In my first year in college to get my fine arts done,I actually played Mary Queen of Scots however this was fun,but I knew my calling very early in life.I am a Retired RN.
This is the PERFECT musical. Rodgers & Hammerstein's best score ever, as played by Alfred Newman's 20th Century-Fox orchestra with a riveting important story which attacked the racism which, sadly, we are still fighting today.
@@shabbymaverick7975 Alfred Newman trivia: he reused his "Hallelujah" theme from the end of "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" twice. In "Song of Bernadette" and "The Robe" . The Robe is currently on here for free. Whether he wrote the score or adapted the score like here in South Pacific, it always sounds so authoritative.
It was the #1 box office film in America in 1958. It had not only Rodgers & Hammerstein's best score ever, but R&H's personal attack on the racism of the America of that time which we still fight seven decades later. Yet, the film not only did not even get a nomination for Best Picture, but had to watch from the sidelines as another musical (''Gigi''), a questionable film which has a storyline about a man falling in love with an underage girl won the Best Picture Oscar. Tragic.
Says an awful lot about the mainstream values of the time doesn't it. My fifteen year old daughter has always absolutely loved these old musicals, looking forward to sitting with her later and watching this as she's never seen it and I was probably her age when I last did! 😂
Oh lord… all the biddy-curmudgeons in the comment section pretending that times were better back then. I must have lived on a different planet at that time, because I remember things being absolutely horrendous. 😂 Nice musical though.
I'm curious what the audience thought of it. It seems like it deals with such 1940s American provincial attitudes. Not that the Japanese don't have their own provincial attitudes. I'm just wondering how it translated.
I don't know which musical my Pa loved more, South Pacific or My Fair Lady but I suspect it was which ever one he was playing on his Hi-Fi at that moment. This is a sentimental gem.
Thank you, sharing. I'd say that about both my mother and dad, who were lucky to share their love of music with the three of us children... ❤️ 💜 let's forward this minus the adds with friends and family
@@infonut I've read many criticisms of the color photography, but after living in Thailand for 18 months, the so-called weird colors perfectly captured the feel of the heat and humidity and even the smell. I know it isn't possible to smell colors, but the photography in this movie is very evocative for me.
A school friend of mine said he was going to watch South Pacific . This was late 50s early sixties . This must have been magical all those years ago on the silver screen in Liverpool. I really got into this . Thank you so much.🙏
What a joy to see this great musical again. I am now 81 and am still enjoying it as if it were for the first time. Some of these older musicals are the best, in my opinion. 🏴🇬🇧
"The men are men" shows your intelligence. Most of those sailors were plucked from Muscle Beach in LA. Most of them posed for gay "muscle" mags. Director of the stage and screen Joshua Logan was a nasty queen. Educate yourself. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-1RjUgB39fmk.html
@@user-yp2mw2ko9kUnfortunately it appears you are viewing this movie through your generational? prejudices. Consider what life was like during WW11. This is a great movie.
@@metea8271 Firstly, your english is bad. Secondly, what is my "generational" (you mean "my generation"? How old am I - you got second sight? Thirdly, did I miss my history lesson - when did WW "11" take place, I have heard only about WW I and WW II so far. No wonder you like this shitty movie....
It did make it feel a little more magical but it would have been interesting to know how the film would have been received without them. Personally it doesn't bother me much either way, the story sucks you in and you shouldn't notice the background.
It was ,my parents saw it in 1958/9 at the Dominion in London, in fact my father saw it 4 times at this theatre in London alone once on his own, was so impressed by it, took my mother, then took her and her parents to see and finally took my mother and his parents so impressed by it he was, but this wasn't the version they saw, they saw the European cut, which they say is now lost, it doesn't start like in this version on the beach, but like on the stage opening after the plane ride, on Emile's plantation terrace, they also tell me it contained a lot that has been cut from this version, for example the reprise of 'Some Enchanted Evening', which is hideously cut before the 'Wonderful Guy' sequence. I don't think it contained the longer version of 'I'm Gonna Wash That Man' as per the Soundtrack album but I can be sure about that, but it was a much longer version.
I remember holidaying in Kauai and got very sunburnt. So decided to spend the day indoors. Ended up watching South Pacific while gazing out at the jetty that was built specifically for South Pacific. The irony was not lost on me.❤️
This has always been my favorite musical. The score is wonderfully memorable and the story devoid of schmaltz, based on gritty reality in put in a magical setting. The South Seas setting is always a winner and the story is completely compelling. I first saw it a s a boy in my local Odeon cinema and many years later I became a Horn player who enjoyed doing this in pit orchestra a couple of times. very happy memories of a thoroughly enjoyable experience.
Same here, I was in my early teens, “in love” with the “wrong” guy ‘til I “grew up” 5 yrs later?! So this film was just so romantic with fantastic music & the new colour effects it made my 💓pitter-patter more. Thinking back on issues in the story it must have also then been a wee bit controversial?! I must have seen the film at least 20 times but still see something new in it each time😊. Fantastic treat from RU-vid, thank you. J C
The colour filters used in south pacific were very controversial the critics hated them, however the public at large loved the movie regardless, it became a box office hit ,in its day
Some Enchanted Evening is one of the most romantic songs ever sung. I watched this with my grandmother and mother several times as a young boy. We all loved the film and especially this song. Years ago, my wife didn't believe me when I told her realistic the lyrics seem to me. It can happen. Strangers meet and fall in love in a variety of ways; some at first sight.
Am a FILIPINO and I've seen this fantasic movie broadway musical when 5:27 I was in my high school days. I was indeed enthralled and rewatched it in movie theaters in all its reruns after I graduated in college!!!
Do not think of old films as dated. Think of them as a period piece. A slice of life from way back when. Also why I think removing books like To Kill a Mockingbird and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn should not be removed from children's libraries. They portray life as it was. And how far we've come. Peace to all.
This is the very 1st time I watch this wonderful movie. I remember most of these beautiful songs. In fact, in between this comment I’m singing 🎵Younger Than Springtime Are You🎵, in my head. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This is the first movie I was able to rent when I bought my very first VCR in the early 80s, I was born in 55’ and I couldn’t watch until modern technology caught up,,,,one of my favorite movies…….
Mom and dad got back from a trip to Reno and dad was over the moon. He had rested his arm on the stage while Mitzi Gaynor was performing. He was a WWII vet and a small town boy. Movies were a big deal in his young life. He could (and did) fill me in on every old movie actress we saw on series TV guest roles. He spent his Navy time in the Phillipines.
@@waldolydecker8118 I seriously doubt that a modern chorus of gay chorus boys (or any other kind for that matter) would be capable of pulling off those vocals. Body mics and overamplification notwithstanding. Yet another reason I cherish the movie musicals of the post war period.
this type of musical marked an era gone by, when actors songs were dubbed by professional singers, and cinema was experimenting with colour , music never ceases and that is joyful.
It is one musical of a whole set offered by Reader's Digest many years ago. It is a reminder that one ought to listen to beautiful music a lot more than watching so many time wasting, low quality flicks.
what a film, but it must be mentioned that the music was by that wonderful alfred newman with vocals by ken darby which set the atmosphere just right to evoke the momentum of the movie. never been surpassed.
@@spikespa5208Newman and Darby Adapted the music and supervised the orchestrations and Newman conducted the amazing 20th Century Fox Orchestra while Darby directed the Chorus.
What memories! I sang Emile DeBeque at university of Maryland in , I think, 1960, and later did the role of the lieutenant in summer stock in Beverly and Cohasset, Mass. From Rogers and HMmerstein to gangsta rap, what a devolution in our American musical culture.
Beverly and Cohasset? You must have been at the North Shore Music Theatre and the South Shore Music Circus, both theaters in the round. And both are still operating.
What a wonderful movie ❤. I absolutely loved it ❤. If ONLY these types of movies would come back again, the world would be a better place!! Thank you so much for sharing this 💕🙏🙏
I have never seen this musical even though I've known about it as far back as I can remember. It ALSO reminds me of way back when only the BEST of movies had an intermission. Refill your drink and popcorn or whatever.. and get back when you heard the theme music. Great memories of movie theaters past.
What a great movie I haven’t seen it for years, but it is still so enchanting and wonderful. They don’t make musicals anymore, this won would be hard to not enjoy still. It’s nice to see something that isn’t full of sex, swearing and all the rest. This film takes you into a world of innocents and joy which we all now need. I love it still after all these years. 😊
Youngsters probably wouldn’t recognise the structure of old musicals like these. You’d sit in your seats, lights would dim, you’d shut up chatting and the musical overture would play giving sound bites of the songs to come. Similar with the half time. Miss those times.
This is a great restoration of the original film in sound and picture. I am not a fan of the colour filters, they’re not subtle but the score, the lyrics, the book, the production values, the casting, all are amazing.
Thank you for sharing this Wonderful Movie. Hollywood does not make these types of movies The Movies that are made now are filled with. Violence Sex Anger Dirty language and Hate. No good values taught to the young generation. Movies suppose to entertain and Relax. We Do Not See That In The Movies These days All the Movie directors are Concerned with Making a Fast Buck and Make movies full of Violence
And the cast is commendable esp. the leads ROSSANNO BRAZZI AND MITZI GAYNOR. I love the voice of dame MITZI GAYNOR. The soundtrack is worth listening to esp. the lovetunes "SOME ENCHANTED EVENING" and "YOUNGER THAN SPRINGTIME"!!!
I have seen this film many many times before thru my various Iife stages a senior now but hope springs eternal, meeting the right guy and feeling younger than springtime in my ❤️ thank you
@@laureliechapman1267 It’s the truth, though. As soon as you accept that, you can work on changing it. Until then, it is futile to try. You’ll just be kicking at air.
This has always had a sentimental place in my heart. My mom saw it live on Broadway when it came out (as she did all the shows in the 40s and early 50s, being an Italian-American in da Bronx... all she had to do was take the subway downtown to Times Square. She saw Sinatra at the Paramount and was in Times Square on VJ Day.). Meanwhile, my dad was serving in the South Pacific very much like the fellows in this movie. (They met after the war.) Of course this is a great movie BUT... seeing it live on Broadway starring Kelly O'Hara... that's just a whole other experience. I can't imagine how mom must have felt seeing it live on Broadway with the original cast.
This movie was one of the main reasons I joined the US Navy and was in the medical field during the Vietnam War. I watched every movie about the US Navy I could!! I love this movie and was extremely happy when I found it. 👩🏼✈️⚓🏥💉💊🩹🩺🇺🇸
Spent the 60s watching these classics on a 9" black and white with rabbit ears antenna. Only one clear broadcast channel(NBC) and one with fuzzy reception (ABC).
I do like the classic 1958 film version of Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific and I have got it on DVD & Blu-Ray complete with 0:01 Overture 1:36:41 Intermission 1:36:52 Entr'Acte and 2:35:42 Exit Music Thanks for preserving this film here for all to enjoy again and again
this film is about love and yearning, I wish people would not say its about racism as this is overcome by love in the film, it is so emotional, sad, happy, fun and wonder.