South Pacific (1958)

On an island in the South Pacific during World War II, pretty nurse Nellie (Mitzi Gaynor) falls in love with a rich French expatriate. He would be instrumental in a dangerous mission that could turn the tide of the war. I hope he agrees to help.

But this is a Rodgers and Hammerstein musical so there is a whole lot more going on, not limited to tedious musical numbers. There’s sexy lieu-tellen (John Kerr, no relation) who’s not on a mission, who says he is? And my favorite maritimer Billis (Ray Walston) who wants to visit the island Bali Ha’i for, you know, women. Jersey girl Juanita Hall reprised her role from the stage as Islander Bloody Mary. Figuring she was too old to sing, they dubbed her singing voice. In fact many of the actors had their singing voices dubbed, sounding comically different than their speaking voice.

The theme here is prejudice, highlighted by the song “You've Got To Be Carefully Taught”. The film features references to two interracial relationships, quite progressive for the fifties. Unfortunately, the depiction of south pacific natives was very 1950’s. You win some, you lose some.

Silly and dated, South Pacific is a somewhat amusing romp that holds your interest, particularly if you are a fan of musicals. It was as huge a success on the screen as it was on the stage. I found it a bit tedious at times, but it was nice to learn the origin of the songs my mom used to sing when she was being silly. AMRU 3.5.