South Pacific (1958)

Plot:  During WW 2 in the South Pacific,  a French Planter, an American Nurse, a native girl, and young 2nd Lieutenant,  find romance.
Stars: Mitzi Gaynor, John Kerr,  Rossano Brazzi

Over the years, I don't think any musical has suffered such a drop in reputation as South Pacific.  Based on the Pulitzer-prize winning Broadway musical, the movie was a  critical and box office smash.  Today, it has an IMDB rating of 6.9 and the top "1000 voters" give it an astoundingly low 6.0.  Even those who like the movie, think its a flawed adaption.  So what went wrong?

The most common answer is "Color Filters" - but  I think the book is the main problem.  The characters are bland and the plot is paper thin.  Drama is conflict, but the conflict in South Pacific is minimal and mainly revolves around Gaynor overcoming her dislike of  Brazzi having incredibly cute, half-Polynesian kids   Really. Oh, and there's a hokey spy mission and Kerr falling in love with Frances Nguyen.  Its not much plot to stretch out for 171 minutes.

What's makes it even worse is the casting. Gaynor and Brazzi are both mediocre actors, and John Kerr is charisma free and frankly unlikable.  Given that he's dubbed in the movie, his casting is inexplicable. As for Ray Walston, he's completely unbelievable as a 44 year old Sailor and not very funny (of course, R&H were never known for their humor).

And the Direction? Well that's a mixed bag.  I give Josh Logan credit for some beautiful location shots (Hawaii) but he negates that with some fake, corny, stage-bound military action scenes.  In fact, despite the realistic uniforms and equipment, *everything* military in the movie seems fake. And Logan makes no effort, to make a film. Instead,  its a filmed play.  Almost every song/dance is filmed with a static camera focused directly on the singer/dancer.  There's no camera movement.  And everyone talks very slowly and there are a lot of non-essential scenes.  I guess people didn't mind that back in the 1950s, but the ponderous pace makes a dull book even duller.

So what's good? Well there's always Hawaii -  and "Some Enchanted Evening" and "Bali Hai"

Summary:  Probably the dullest of the R&H movies.  A good musical needs more than a few good songs and some anti-racism.  **