Python Hyena South Pacific (1958): Dir: Joshua Logan / Cast: Rossano Brazzi, Mitzi Gaynor, John Kerr, Ray Walston, Juanita Hall: Colorful scenery highlights this musical about the distractions life can issue when turmoil looms. The war against Japan is in full but one island off the Pacific holds a private paradise. Rossano Brazzi plays Emile de Becque, a good man who fled from France after accidentally killing a man. He is sought after for his military background for a mission. Mitzi Gaynor plays Ensign Nellie Forbush, a nurse who has a romantic fling with Emile but is troubled when she is asked to seek out information on him. John Kerr plays Lieutenant Joseph Cable who has just arrived on the island and ready for service but is sighted for a romance. Ray Walston provides comic relief as Luthor Billis, who ends up in dangerous situations while he only desires to quest to another island to enjoy the paradise offered there. Juanita Hall plays Bloody Mary who provides a welcome entertainment to the soldiers while suiting Joseph Cable up with her daughter. The scenery is stunning but the musical numbers are hardly memorable and are mostly dubbed. Director Joshua Logan paints the scene with luscious colors that highlight a theme that reminds viewers that while life presents its share of trauma, there is always the calm after the storm that momentarily distracts us. Score: 9 / 10

Lee Eisenberg "South Pacific" would have us believe that it's indicting racism, but it pushes other kinds of racist beliefs. While it condemns bigotry, it still says that the people of the Pacific islands were a bunch of naive, backwards types who needed white people to civilize them. In other words, it was what white people wanted to think that anti-racism was. A real look at the south Pacific would look at how the US army forced the natives off the islands, carried out nuclear tests, and often returned the people to the islands, resulting in high incidences of birth defects and cancers among the Pacific islanders. It's no accident that in 1979, Palau passed the world's first anti-nuclear constitution.Among the cast, the only people who caught my eye were Ray Walston and the recently deceased Tom Laughlin. Ray Walston is known to recent generations as Mr. Hand in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High". As a result of Jeff Spicoli's (Sean Penn) repeatedly coming to class stoned, Mr. Hand thinks that EVERYONE is high!* Tom Laughlin is best known as Billy Jack, the half-Indian Vietnam vet is forced to take the law into his own hands to defend the Indians from the ranchers.Point is, "South Pacific" is NOT a realistic representation of that region's history.*The best scene remains the one guy's fantasizing about Phoebe Cates.

bilejo I'm sorry but I found this movie 'corny', not entertaining and the vocal performances were not what I call good. Some of the songs performed in the show, themselves, are good tunes when performed by more talented vocalists. One such song is "Some Enchanted Evening". I guess I'm just not a very big fan of any of the 'stars' either. There would have been other picks for the castings in this show that would have probably made it much better. Why this show got such a high rating of 7 stars is beyond me. Maybe I'm at fault here but I just don't credit it as a good musical either in script or performances. Of course that was a different era!

williwaw Rodgers and Hammersetein created a masterpiece on Broadway in South Pacific. After WW2 these two cerebral men got into the hearts and minds of the returning veterans of the Pacific War and created magic. Mary Martin immortalized the role of Nellie on Broadway but Ms. Martin a super star on Broadway never made the transition to films, a point that even mystified the Queen of Hollywood Bette Davis.Josh Logan who brilliantly directed the film versions of Picnic at Columbia with Kim Novak and Bill Holden and in the process created one of the more erotic moments on film in the dance sequence between Holden and Novak and Bus Stop at 20th with a celebrated performance by Marilym Monroe that should have resulted in an Oscar nomination for MM, was assigned the job of bringing South Pacific to the screen.Beautiful movie, literally with great scenery of the South Pacific and a wonderful performance by Mitzi Gaynor who like Ms. Martin never made it as a great movie star, a point that baffles this reviewer. Mitzi had it all: Sexy great looks and could sing, dance and act but the mysterious factor of what makes a star is never truly understood. Susan Hayward a box office powerhouse and a star at 20th wanted to play Nellie but refused to test for the role. Susan Hayward would have brought her intense and unforgettable presence to this movie. Doris Day was also mentioned for the role.I never like to see great films of the past remade but South Pacific should be remade. In the meantime, enjoy this film for the Songs alone. Some Enchanted Evening