Search - Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific on DVD

Donna T. from APO, AE
Reviewed on 8/4/2011...

A fun update on the original. I liked seeing starts like Glenn Close and Harry Connick Jr. performing in classic musical roles.

Interesting, different take on SOUTH PACIFIC

Mark Andrew Lawrence | Toronto | 02/08/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Though the stage show was one of Rodgers and Hammerstein's biggest hits, the script has not aged well. It is overlong and lacking in subtleness. The 1958 film, despite the beautiful scenery, is played woodenly. Even Rodgers and Hammerstein expressed disappointment with the finished film.So, in 2000, ABC TV and Glen Close produced a new TB film with a new script that weaves in most of the songs and situations of the original play while at the same time fleshing out the characters and making them more realistic.Is the film a complete success? Well, no. For starters Glen Close is too old for the role of Nellie. She does act it well, however, and she sings with a characterful chest voice though I do detect some of her high notes might be dubbed. I have just re-watched the movie and don't find her all that objectionable. She sounds like she is having fun cutting loose in "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair" and "A Wonderful guy." Remember too that Mary Marin and Mitzi Gaynor were both too old for the role originally. What Glen Close does play very effectively is Nellie's warring emotions. Aided by the camera work, we see her confusion and unhappiness when confronted with her own prejudices.Rade Sherbedgia certainly looks the part of DeBecque but since we are so used to hearing robust Bass singers in the role, his softly sung arias take a good deal of getting used to. Instead of an outpouring of emotion in "this Nearly Was Mine" he offers a more introspective take on the role. It's actually a good idea and might work better with a stronger singer. His acting is quite good but the script does tend to shortchange Emile in favour of Nellie.Harry Connick Jr acts the part of Cable quite well and shades the characters different emotions. True he is more of New Orleans than Philadelphia, and like the others he tends to pull the big musical moments inward. It is most effective in the scene after he first makes love to Liat and croons a tender "Younger Than Springtime." This is everything that the sung ought to be... passionate, sexy and filled with wonder. This is a young man caught off guard by true love for the first time and Connick communicates that brilliantly. His "crooning" is not wildly out-of-place and certainly in keeping with the types of singers he would have heard at home. Some scenes later he performs a remarkably understated "Carefully Taught" having played the intense anger in the dialogue scene that precedes the song. The result is more a case of Cable realizing what he is saying than just spitting out an angry indictment. It may not be the way it was originally done, but you can't argue with its effectiveness. Lori Tan Chin as Bloody Mary is much closer to the description provided by James Michener in his original novel than Juanita Hall. Hall indeed made the part her own, but that is not to say that hers was definitive.

In re-writing the screenplay, the scenes and songs were re-arranged from their traditional order. In this new version we see the first meeting of Nellie and Emile at an officers club dance, and the song "A Cockeyed Optimist" is used in this sequence to establish Nellie's outlook. It's part of her charm and clearly attracts DeBecque. The structure also allows the first two scenes of the musical to unfold simultaneously. Anyone considering a Broadway revival of SOUTH PACIFIC might do well to examine the TV film for its style and construction. There might indeed be a way to make the story work for modern audiences, clearing away some of the hoary old jokes and developing character instead."

Disappointing

dbw2cats | Illinois | 06/17/2001

(1 out of 5 stars)

""South Pacific" is one of my favorite musicals, but this version stinks like a week-old fish. I know Glenn Close produced this as a starring vehicle for herself, but somebody should have warned her that casting herself as the naive, small-town nurse Nellie Forbush was ludricous. And the whole Lt. Cable subplot gave me the creeps. Bloody Mary introduces him to her teenage daughter and stands there beaming while the kid strips off her robe 5 seconds later. Having him sing "Younger than Springtime" while they're in bed together just killed the romance for me.The '50's version with Mitzi Gaynor might not be a masterpiece, but it's a lot better than this piece of trash."

Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacifice 2001

Mark Andrew Lawrence | 06/12/2001

(1 out of 5 stars)

"This has got to be the worst remake of a classic motion picture in history. Most of the characters are not believable and most cannot sing. For a 50+ year old woman to try and play a 20 year old is a stretch and Glen Close did not come close. The picture dragged and seemed out of step with the original play and movie. There were only two bright spots in the whole movie, Billis and Ensign Cable. I would not place this picture in my collection if it was given to me."