South Pacific

Seldom does one get a chance to see a musical in which EVERYONE'S VOICE SHOULD HAVE BEEN DUBBED--and most of the charm has been so diluted as to be invisible.

And that's just one of the shortcomings of this awful, uninspired remake of 'South Pacific' with some hopelessly miscast performers trying hard to look convincing in singing roles beyond their scope. Once again, the great original score of Rodgers and Hammerstein is rendered by such inept orchestrations and weak voices that it makes you wish there was a Society for the Protection and Integrity of Original Broadway Musicals.

Glen Close is not only physically miscast, her voice lacks the rich quality the song numbers deserve. Likewise for her male co-star, utterly lacking the continental charm of either Ezio Pinza or Rossano Brazzi. I have never seen a worse Bloody Mary than the actress who does her own singing (as opposed to Juanita Hall in the '58 movie) but to no avail whatsoever, throwing away the beautiful 'Bali Hai' in a shameful manner. It's hard to work up any enthusiasm for Harry Connick, Jr.'s rendition of 'Younger Than Springtime', another beautiful song that deserves to be sung in full-bodied fashion by a singer-type like Vic Damone in his prime.

Absolutely the worst movie musical remake in memory, with nobody up to the demands of either the script or the vocals. Mercifully, Rodgers & Hammerstein are not around to watch this travesty.

And I thought the 1958 movie was bad enough...

I found the DVD of this version of South Pacific at my local public library. Glenn Close has never been one of my favorites, she has hard, pointy looks that made her perfect for roles where she plays a hard, mean woman. She doesn't really fit my image of what Nelly Forbush should look like. Still, she has a good stage singing voice and she does a credible job here. I especially like the job Harry Connick Jr did. He is the most believable actor.

This film looks like a film, not a stage production, and there is relatively little singing. Near the end, there is some legitimate war action with the Japanese on an adjacent island. Overall a very enjoyable film version of South Pacific. I rate it "7" of 10.

Without a doubt Glenn Close an exceptional actress with many brilliant performances throughout her career is horribly miscast as "Young" Ensign Nellie Forbush. This more than anything sent this made for TV production of this classic musical and James A. Michener story right into the bilges. She resembled nothing less than a female Naval Officer who is in her mid 50's and would be more interested in romantically pursuing the other nurses than the Emile de Becque character. If you want to watch this story then the 1958 version with Mitzi Gaynor and Ray Walston is the one to go with because this one gets the Deep Six.

Some Last words, and I will silence myself forever on this subject.

First regarding Mary Martin. Rodgers and Hammerstein pretty much wrote the thing with Martin in mind for the Nellie character. (In fact, as she states in her autobiography, she had some input over the development of the show.) Mary Martin had a knack for playing young, innocent, and idealistic and with the illusions that one can create on stage (no close ups, more lights and makeup) it was possible to see her as being that way. It was also, especially after Peter Pan, the type of role that audiences expected to see her in. I mean, hey, she won a TONY Award for playing Peter.

On the other piece of this, the age thing, take a look at the book of the play (which the movie version is based on). There are references in the thing to "older men and younger woman" relationships, such as the classic line, "Mother thinks that older men are better for girls". OR the crack about Captain Bracket's age and virility, and his angry comeback on how a younger woman could possibly find him attractive.

There is also the lyrics to Emile's Soliloquy "This is what I've longed for someone YOUNG and smiling climbing up my hill...YOUNGER men than I am, officers and doctors, probably pursue her. She could have her pick." Why would he refer to her and his competition as younger if they weren't, at least in comparison to him?

While it's true that naivete and narrow mindedness are not just the province of the young, I would think that the words of the playwright and the lyricist would speak for themselves. And the words of Michener himself who says that Emile is a "man in his forties" and Ensign Forbush is a "young girl".

I think my favorite part was the severed heads on sticks...

There's been a lot of hoo-hah about Ms. Close's superannuated Nellie Forbush, but I think this is a relatively minor issue -- really a matter of cranky foiled expectations. Nothing demands that Nellie be 22; narrow-minded provincialism was and is not unknown in people over 40. And making Nellie and Emile a more evenly mature match adds a nice counterpoint to the youthful Cable/Liat romance.

I think the real problem lies in the decision to pour on the blood and guts.

Presented just a few years after the end of World War II, the original "South Pacific" was a far cry (most would say huge step forward) from 1920's frivolities like "No, No, Nanette" and even more immediate folksy precursors like "Oklahoma." The American theatre seemed primed for a new kind of musical realism, and "South Pacific" bravely served up real people confronting life-and-death issues, with nary a tap-dancing ingenue in sight. Nevertheless, it didn't completely abandon the old, sentimental/comical musical traditions (which, after all, had been brought to their greatest glory by Richard Rodgers and his pals), and there was -- and is -- a limit to how much gritty realism the aesthetic could sustain.

I haven't read the original Michener stories on which "South Pacific" was based, and they may very well have featured severed heads. But in the context of "Some Enchanted Evening," such imagery was anathema to Rodgers & Hammerstein, and it remains alarmingly discordant today.