South Pacific (2001)

Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical drama masterpiece was given a rather bloated and unsatisfying film treatment in 1958, a badly shot film with a poor sense of pace; a cast that can best be described as uneven, and some wacky and inexplicable choices such as dubbing Juanita Hall's Bloody Mary when she was perfectly capable of singing her own songs, having created the role on Broadway. The two male leads could not do their own singing either, and Hollywood's practice of dubbing vocals has always irritated me.So in 2001, director Richard Pierce set out to do a remake. For television, of all things. And all things considered, with just two rather egregious missteps, the proceedings were much better this time around and I found this remake far more satisfying than the 1958 film despite its flaws.They start with a real winner: Glenn Close as Nellie Forbush. It is clear they were thinking more of Mary Martin here than of Mitzi Gaynor; Nellie is not yet middle-aged, but she is not a young girl, either. And Close's voice is more than equal to the task; she even manages to infuse it with the same "gee whiz" quality that Mary Martin did so well.Her Emile is Rade Sherbedgia; his baritone is lighter than previous Emiles, so his renditions of songs like "Some Enchanted Evening" and "This Nearly Was Mine" are persuasive rather than bravura. But his voice is lovely, and his chemistry with Close far better than that between Mitzi Gaynor and Rossano Brazzi in the first film.Also on hand are Lori Tan Chin as Bloody Mary and the late Robert Pastorelli as the comic-relief Luther Billis. I found Chan's speaking voice a bit unnerving at first: she speaks in a sharp, high-pitched whine that I found hard to believe was her natural speaking voice. But her singing is another story.Here comes the first egregious mistake: Bloody Mary's sweet little number "Happy Talk" was cut because the producers felt it was too "politically incorrect (?!?!?!?)." Yeah I know; don't ask me either. But thank heaven, they did NOT cut her signature tune, "Bali Ha'i;" her singing voice is lovely and she truly makes the song her own.Billis, of course, is the one character who does not need a great singing voice; in fact it is better if he doesn't have one, and Pastorelli certainly has the necessary comic chops to make his Billis a proud successor to that of Ray Walston.Now I come to the bit of casting that, if the rest of the picture were not so wonderfully done, would have sunk the proceedings completely: Harry Connick, Jr as Lieutenant Joe Cable. He looks way too old for the part, for starters; Connick was thirty-four when he made this but looks ten years older. And his voice is totally wrong for the part. It is a swell voice for a lot of things, but not for a Broadway musical. Cable is supposed to be a tenor; Connick, a baritone, could not possibly reach the notes in the original score so his songs were all transposed down a third. "You've Got to Be Taught" does not suffer too much from the transition; it is sung with a soft intensity that any vocal range can accommodate. But Cable's signature tune, "Younger than Springtime," is a disaster. For starters, having a man who looks like he is tottering on the edge of middle age sing a song called "Younger than Springtime" creates an irony that was not intended by the authors, and the climactic final notes of the song simply fail to land when the highest note is an E as opposed to the high G of the original. And Connick being a crooner, even if he had been able to sing the higher register, is not and never has been a belter. Power was what was needed here, and the song simply fails to land. It would have been better had they simply cut it.But all in all, there is more right than wrong with this mostly remarkable production, and the fact that it was done for TV and done successfully is all the more remarkable. At the end of the day, the evening really belongs to Glenn Close and Rade Sherbedgia, and they acquit themselves so beautifully that even with the flaws I have mentioned this is a joy to watch.

This version is terrible why on earth did they bother? If this is your first time watching "South Pacific" don't watch this version just go for the original. If you have seen the original don't watch this one or you'll spoil your image of "South Pacific".The casting is horrendous. Glenn Close is too ugly for what is a romantic lead role. She has no charm compared with Mitzi Gaynor. The new guy playing Emile is too scruffy and crude looking. He spoils one of the most romantic songs in musical history. In the original Brazzi was much more suited to the role - suave and romantic.Harry Connick's voice is not right for this type of singing - too Sinatra like. It has to be more Broadway verging on operatic. His love interest is played by a very common looking girl hardly worth falling in love with. Compared to the original France Nguyen was so much prettier. The Bloody Mary actress is hideous too.This must rank as one of the worst remakes of a musical ever. Even the scenery is uglier and not magical at all. Avoid at all costs.

Harry Connick Jr is great in South Pacific, this film contain's a lot of heart to heart moments which makes the viewers who see it fall in love with the on screen cast, its much better then the original at least in my opinion, it is a memorable movie and i believe anyone who likes movies about war and romance will be hooked on it, the cast and crew put together a masterpiece that will live on forever in the minds of all movie lovers, it is greatly put together and all the actors and actresses gave us a beautiful show that we will never forget, South Pacific will live on forever, it is truly a masterpiece and at least in my opinion the greatest romance movie ever.

Heresy. Unmitigated desecration of that which warrants more respect.Blessed Mary Martin, pray for us.Aside from quibbles arising from being local and recognising the locations this abomination has two central problems.1- Harry Connick Jnr. The man is about as charismatic as celery juice. Cable is not a role for his semi comatose croon. The way that he slaughters 'You Have to be Carefully Taught' is a good case for capital punishment. and2- That it is, as billed, very much a film of the Michener stories. R&H's SP picks up from the stories but the presence of the real war is all but totally removed. In the original libretto the only intrusion of the war into the world on stage is the sound of gunners overhead. My understanding is that this is a very conscious device to increase the drama of LaBeque's 'death' and reappearance, and to lend dramatic urgency to the evacuation. I suspect R&H meant that it should parallel American life during the war, there are disruptions but they are {unless you live in Pearl Harbor} in the outside world and largely filtered back as tales of exotic adventure.Glenn Close is a fine singer and actor but for Nellee she is simply too old. I can't find a case to age the character so dramatically other than adherence to the Michener stories or... Glenn's ego. Her age messes up the dramatic dynamics and various sexual tensions that serve to deliver the 'message'.Close's voice sounds unusually reedy here. Bad audio production or she's singing above her comfort zone.Some of Australia's finest musical theatre performers are confined to one line roles. A great pity, Simon Burke would have made a much better Cable. Angela Toohey did a superb turn as Sally Bowles recently.I don't think South Pacific will ever work on film- it's too finely balanced between beauty and horror for literal visual interpretation.Shelve this one with Bette Midler's assault on Gypsy- ideally in a lead box, locked and kept safely from children.