''South Pacific'' (also known as ''Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific'') is a 2001 American romantic

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwo ...

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

based on the 1949

stage musical Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement ...

of the same name, itself an adaptation of

James A. Michener James Albert Michener ( or ; February 3, 1907 – October 16, 1997) was an American writer. He wrote more than 40 books, most of which were long, fictional family sagas covering the lives of many generations in particular geographic locales and ...

's 1947 book ''

Tales of the South Pacific ''Tales of the South Pacific'' is a Pulitzer Prize-winning collection of sequentially related short stories by James A. Michener about the Pacific campaign in World War II. The stories are based on observations and anecdotes he collected while s ...

''. Directed by Richard Pearce, the film stars Glenn Close, Harry Connick Jr. and

Rade Šerbedžija Rade Šerbedžija ( sr-Cyrl, Раде Шербеџија, ; born 27 July 1946) is a Croatian actor, director and musician. He is known for his portrayals of imposing figures on both sides of the law. He was one of the best known Yugoslav actors i ...

(credited as Rade Sherbedgia). The screenplay, adapted by

Joshua Logan Joshua Lockwood Logan III (October 5, 1908 – July 12, 1988) was an American director, writer, and actor. He shared a Pulitzer Prize for co-writing the musical ''South Pacific'' and was involved in writing other musicals. Early years Logan w ...

(who directed the previous 1958 film version) and Lawrence D. Cohen, tells the story of a war-torn romance between a young American nurse (Close) and an older French plantation owner (Sherbedgia). The film premiered on March 26, 2001 on ABC to mixed critical reviews, praising its performances but criticizing the rearranged song order and removal of certain numbers deemed politically incorrect.

Cast

* Glenn Close as Ensign Nellie Forbush * Harry Connick Jr. as Lt. Joseph Cable * Rade Sherbedgia as Emile de Becque *

Jack Thompson Jack Thompson may refer to: Sports *Jack Thompson (footballer, born 1892) (1892–1969), English footballer who played for Sheffield United and Bristol City *Jack Thompson (1920s footballer), English footballer who played for Aston Villa and Bright ...

as Capt. George Brackett * Lori Tan Chinn as Bloody Mary *

Ilene Graff Ilene Susan Graff (born February 28, 1949) is an American actress and singer. Life and career The Queens, New York native began her professional career as a teenager when she performed as a background singer and commercial actress while attendi ...

as Singing Ngana * Natalie Mendoza as Liat *

Simon Burke Simon Gareth Burke (born 8 October 1961) is an Australian actor, active in films, television and theatre. Biography Simon Burke began his career at the age of 12, starring in Michael Cove's ''Kookaburra''; a painful look at a dysfunctional wo ...

as Harbison *

Steve Bastoni Steve Bastoni (born 4 March 1966) is an Award winning, Italian-born Australian actor. He became a household name in Australia for his role as Constable Yannis 'Angel' Angelopoulos in ''Police Rescue'' and as Steve Parker in ''Neighbours''. H ...

as Lt. Buzz Adams *

Kimberley Davies Kimberley Davies (born 20 February 1973) is an Australian actress most famous for playing Annalise Hartman on the Australian soap opera ''Neighbours'' from 1993 to 1996. She is sometimes credited as "Kimberly Davies". Life and career Davies wa ...

as Luann *

Robert Pastorelli Robert Joseph Pastorelli (June 21, 1954 – March 8, 2004) was an American actor. After he acquired a reputation as a skilled character actor in the 1980s and 1990s, Pastorelli's career went into decline after the death of his girlfriend under my ...

as Luther Billis * Craig Ball as Austin *

Damon Herriman Damon Herriman is an Australian actor. He is known for his film and television work in Australia and the United States. He is perhaps best known for his portrayal of Dewey Crowe in '' Justified''. In 2019, he portrayed the cult leader and crimina ...

as Professor *

Salvatore Coco Salvatore Coco (born 22 April 1975) is an Australian film and television actor of Italian descent. Biography Coco was born in Sydney and is of Sicilian (from Italy) descent. He performed with the Australian Theatre for Young People, where he ...

as DeVito * Peter Lamb as Bruno * Steve Le Marquand as Stewpot *

Simon Pryce Simon James Pryce (born 7 March 1972) is an Australian singer and actor. He is best known for his work as the Red Wiggle of The Wiggles since 2013, and also for the children's show '' The Kingdom of Paramithi''. Career Pryce, whose grandparent ...

as Bass Sergeant

Production

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as ...

took place primarily in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

, with some scenes shot in

Moorea Moorea ( or ; Tahitian: ), also spelled Moorea, is a volcanic island in French Polynesia. It is one of the Windward Islands, a group that is part of the Society Islands, northwest of Tahiti. The name comes from the Tahitian word , meaning ...

, an island close to

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Austra ...

. Several new scenes, such as Nellie and Emile's first meeting at the officer's club, were added, and a new character was created to serve as Nellie's best friend and confidante. The sex scenes between Liat and Cable are also dealt with more frankly in the film than in the original 1949 musical.

Music

Sixteen songs from the musical are featured in the film, although "

Happy Talk Happy talk, also called banter, is the additional and often meaningless commentary interspersed into television news programs by news anchors and others on set. It may consist of simple jokes or simply a modified wording in asking a question ...

" was omitted and "Bali Ha'i" was cut in half. Vincent Paterson choreographed the musical numbers. A

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrac ...

was released on March 20, 2001. # "Overture" # " There Is Nothing Like a Dame" # "A Cock-Eyed Optimist" - Close # "Bloody Mary" # "

Bali Ha'i "Bali Ha'i", also spelled "Bali Hai", is a show tune from the 1949 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical '' South Pacific''. The name refers to a mystical island, visible on the horizon but not reachable, and was originally inspired by the sight of Amba ...

" # "Twin Soliloquies" - Close # "Some Enchanted Evening" - Šerbedžija # "Dites-moi" # "Younger Than Springtime" - Connick Jr. # "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair" - Close and Graff # Some Enchanted Evening (Reprise) - Close # "

I'm in Love with a Wonderful Guy "A Wonderful Guy" is a show tune from the 1949 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical '' South Pacific.'' It was first introduced by Mary Martin in the original Broadway production and sung by Mitzi Gaynor in the 1958 film adaptation. In the show, Nellie ...

" - Close and Graff # " You've Got to Be Carefully Taught" – Connick Jr. # "This Nearly Was Mine" # "Honey Bun" - Close and Graff # "Finale Ultimo" - Close # "My Girl Back Home" - Close and Connick Jr.

Release

Critical reception

Julie Salamon of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' praised the film and, particularly, Close's performance, writing, "Ms. Close, lean and more mature, hints that a touch of desperation lies in Nellie's cockeyed optimism. 'I'm stuck like a dope with a thing like hope' means one thing when you are in your 20's, something else when you are not." She also noted that the movie "is beautifully produced, better than the stagy 1958 film. ... The other cast members, including Ms. Close, also sing well." The ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

'' wrote that "Notions of racism toward the islanders were glossed over in the 1958 movie, but in tonight's remake, the racial themes are brought to the surface, to the production's advantage ... there's a heightened sense of drama and tension in the remake because the war is closer at hand ... the rewards are great." ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

'' noted: There was criticism by some, for example, theatre critic and historian John Kenrick because the order of the songs was changed, and because Rade Sherbedgia, unlike previous Emiles, did not have an operatic singing voice. ''

Playbill ''Playbill'' is an American monthly magazine for theatergoers. Although there is a subscription issue available for home delivery, most copies of ''Playbill'' are printed for particular productions and distributed at the door as the show's p ...

'' reported that "Internet chat room visitors have grumbled that Close is too old for the role of Nellie Forbush, who, in the song, 'A Cock-Eyed Optimist', is described as 'immature and incurably green'", but also that " o-producerCohen said the 'May–December' romance plot point ... has less resonance with audiences today and it was cut. Nellie is ageless, in effect."Jones, Kenneth
"Glenn Close TV Movie of ''South Pacific'' Gets DVD and Video Release"
. Playbill.com, August 29, 2001 In the 2008 '' Oxford Companion to the American Musical'', Thomas Hischak wrote:

Home media

The film was released on DVD on August 28, 2001. Special features include

deleted scene A deleted scene is footage that has been removed from the final version of a film or television show. There are various reasons why these scenes are deleted, which include time constraints, relevance, quality or a dropped story thread. A similar ...

s and a behind-the-scenes featurette. In 2013, it was reissued on DVD by Mill Creek Entertainment in a double-feature set alongside the 1993 TV remake of '' Gypsy''.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:South Pacific (2001 Film) 2001 television films 2001 films 2000s English-language films 2001 comedy-drama films 2000s musical films 2000s romantic musical films Films directed by Richard Pearce Films based on musicals Films about interracial romance Musical film remakes Musical television films Films based on works by James A. Michener Films based on adaptations Tales of the South Pacific