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| South Pacific (Collector's Edition) | 
 enlarge | Director: Joshua Logan
Actors: Rossano Brazzi, Mitzi Gaynor, John Kerr (ii), Ray Walston, Juanita Hall
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Category: DVD
List Price: $26.98
Buy New: $16.56
You Save: $10.42 (39%)
New (37) Used (14) Collectible (1) from $16.56
Avg. Customer Rating:  122 reviews
Sales Rank: 1926
Format: Ac-3, Collector's Edition, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Dvd-video, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), Spanish (Subtitled), English (Dubbed)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Number Of Items: 2
Running Time: 329
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.4 x 0.7
MPN: 2238152
UPC: 024543381525
EAN: 0024543381525
ASIN: B000HT3PGK
Theatrical Release Date: March 19, 1958
Release Date: November 7, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 South Pacific is Terrific March 30, 2007
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
I was most pleased with the new upgraded, remastered quality of this classic musical. The color and content were beautiful and clear. The extras were every interesting and entertaining. Worth the great price!
Total Enchantment (Roadshow Version) March 18, 2007
22 out of 23 found this review helpful
Over the decades, I've seen this film many, many times -- on TV, on VHS, on laserdisc. Each time I saw it, I wanted it to be a bit more than it was:
-- I've always wished I could appreciate the performance of Ray
Walston as Luther Billis, because all of his scenes were pure
ham, and he nearly ruined all the scenes he was in...for me.
-- I have always wished "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair"
was as complete in the film as it is on the RCA soundtrack
recording (I'll tackle this now -- the complete version never made
any final cut of the film).
-- I've always wished I could see the film as originally assembled
and premiered.
-- I have always wished Alfred Newman's scoring -- brilliant though
it is in all the cuts I'd seen of the film -- offered a bit more
Newman flair.
And now, I'm extremely gratified to say, my wishes have nearly all come true.
This restoration print is phenomenal. Yes there are some washed-out scenes, but I don't care. They are finally back where they belong. This roadshow restoration was printed from a Todd-AO master negative and is a considerably DIFFERENT film from the one most of us have been exposed to the past 49 years.
The print is magnificent, clear and in many ways looks better than most new films look today.
This roadshow version resonates for me in ways that the theatrical cut never did. Time and again, the music set my heart racing, my pulse throbbing, and my senses went into overload.
This film is a visual and aural feast. It's also now my favorite film musical EVER!
Color filters? Bah! Get over 'em! I read somewhere that cinematographer Leon Shamroy wanted them for the purpose of achieving/enhancing emotional responses to scenes. Other sources say it was director Joshua Logan who insisted on using them, primarily because he had experimented with such things in the Broadway production. I know many responses have been sheer hatred/disdain for all the filters, but I love many of them. Those I don't I ignore.
I've read/heard a lot of hoo-haw about the casting of Nellie Forbush (including the highly negative and wishy-washy commentary by Richard Barrios, a film historian whose commentary is replete with "people" have said -- "many people", "some people", "people", "a friend", "someone"...all in the negative...and always attributing his negativity to unnamed others. He seemingly owns nothing he says, but doesn't mind repeating what he has heard. This depletes him of any sort of authority on the subject. It's unfathomable to me that a studio would afflict a restoration of one of its most profitable movies with such absurd negativity...especially given the film's many admirers).
Much has been discussed about why Mary Martin and Ezio Pinza did not recreate their roles. One of the features on the second disc will show you why -- check out the numbers performed in that 1954 Rodgers and Hammerstein TV tribute (three years before filming began on the movie version). Martin looks to be somewhere in her 40s (she was 51)...and matronly plump -- and Pinza (who was 62) looks terrible (and totally unromantic-leadish). You can get away with a lot on stage, but you cannot hide such things on camera. I doubt that Martin was EVER considered for the role. And Pinza died in 1957.
Mary Martin was a great, shining star of the Broadway musical theater. She had a lightly raspy singing voice that she invested with great emotional nuance and feeling. I am a huge fan of Martin's and mean her no disrespect in my observations above.
Barrios maintains that Mitzi Gaynor's voice was not in Martin's league. I'm not sure what he means by that because to my ears, Gaynor's voice is leagues better than Martin's in quality and range. He may be saying he felt Martin's intepretation of the songs was better (and he comes off as one of those somewhat snooty theatrical drama mavens for whom nothing translated to the screen from the theater will ever be good enough, but I disagree with virtually everything that comes out of his mouth on the commentary so I won't mention him again).
There is talk that Elizabeth Taylor was a candidate. What a blessing THAT never happened.
The other great "sigh-in-the-sky" complaint is that Doris Day would have been perfect as Nellie but that she turned off Joshua Logan at a party one night when she refused to get up and sing for guests. I'd always heard she refused to audition for Richard Rodgers.
At any rate...I certainly cannot imagine Doris Day, with her all-too-familiar mannerisms, as Nellie Forbush in "South Pacific." I know she had the look, but I think Gaynor was by far the best choice of those considered for the role.
Many will strongly disagree. And many of those will be the same folks who still bemoan the loss of Frank Sinatra as Billy Bigelow in "Carousel." The visual imagery of that casting still induces giggles. That slight, skinny man wearing a barker's cap and being a rugged barker on a carousel? I think Hollywood dodged a HUGE misfire when he walked out on that film.
Watch Gaynor's performance closely in this roadshow version -- she is luminous, she is restrained, she is exuberant. She is up to the task in every scene and pulls off some incredibly difficult scenes with great dramatic effect. Her vocals are magnificent.
And the huge surprise for me: Ray Walston is wonderful as Luther Billis. They restored much footage of him ...much of what was missing was character development and nuances. In the cut version we saw only the more hyper/extreme elements of his performance. This restored Luther Billis is terrific, and Walston owns the role!
Being a film music fan of many, many decades (!), I have to say that it's always the music that counts most for me in any musical (not to mention any other kind of film), but "South Pacific" is Alfred Newman's masterpiece. He took a classic Broadway score and made it shine more gloriously than it had ever shone before. It's thrilling beyond words to have Newman's original scoring returned to the film...many glorious flourishes pop up frequently to great effect...the entire segments like Cable's walk through the jungle of Bali Ha'i with Bloody Mary -- an entire chunk of film with an entire chunk of original music restored (the Newman scoring of this chunk brings to mind the opening music in the vision sequence in "The Song of Bernadette", but with exotic colorings employed rather than religious ones). Newman's work set a standard that has never been remotely approached by anyone but Newman himself (in "Camelot").
I cannot recommend the restored roadshow version of "South Pacific" more highly. See it (and IGNORE ENTIRELY the accompanying commentary).
South Pacific March 17, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
A beautiful movie ! the location is a masterpiece,the story well written ,and reveals some of the lesser evils of the war,its a fun movie while being romantic too.The first musical I saw as a kid and still enjoy it today. Anyone who enjoys Rodgers and Hammerstien this is a prime example!
 order not received March 9, 2007
1 out of 8 found this review helpful
i ordered THIRD MAN ON THE MOUNTAIN DVD.....before i ordered this DVD.....was sometime in January 2007 and i paid for top speed delivery.....i received the other DVD in my order but not THIRD MAN ON THE MOUNTAIN DVD.....nothing yet....
can u look into where it is please......i have emailed before but have not received any response...and wont order again from AMAZON\
thank you
Glenda Papac
Quality deteriorated--desperately needs restoring and digital remastering March 8, 2007
1 out of 8 found this review helpful
This movie must be restored--the quality of picture is unacceptable beginning with Bloody Mary's singing Bali Hi. I tried to purchase a completely restored, digitally remastered DVD of this musical and could not find one in 2007. I returned this DVD to the seller.
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