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30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
At Last !, 22 Sep 2006
At last this Rodgers & Hammerstein classic musical is available
in a 2 disc special edition.
This is a vast improvement over the rather savagely cut versions that have been available previously.
My only gripe is the fact the wonderful stills that were shown on the old DVD whilst the overture and intermission music were played are missing on this new DVD version.
That said, it is a small sacrifice as both sound and picture have been beautifuly restored.
Also included on disc 2 is the full roadshow version of the film, but this does only have a stereo sound track rather than the 5.1 on the cinema version on disc 1.
Packed full of extras this set is realy a "must have" for any Rodgers & Hammerstein Fan, and whilst we cant have the Tod-Ao HD on DVD Yet, We can get the wonderful surround sound that made this film so special for me when I first went to see it in London's west end, in the late 1950's
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29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Rodgers & Hammerstein's Master PIece, 22 Feb 2006
At last this Rodgers & Hammerstein classic musical is to be available in a 2 disc special edition set!!! which should be a vast improvement over the rather savagely cut 'short' version that we have been used to.
Ted Chapin, who is president of The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organisation, should give some iteresting insights into the making of this classic musical, based on 1949 Broadway Production, with Ezio Pinza & Mary Martin, which is brilliantly photographed in TOOD-AO and Technicolor, and its oscar winning sound.
It contains one of the best scores that Rodgers & Hammerstein ever wrote : 'A Cockeyed Optimist', 'Twin Solioquies' 'Some Enchanted Evening', 'Bloody Mary', There Is Nothin' Like A Dame', 'Bali Ha'i', 'I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair', 'A Wonderful Guy', 'Younger Than Springtime', 'Happy Talk', 'Honey Bun', 'Carefully Taught', and 'This Nearly Was Mine'. It also features the song 'My Girl Back Home', which was cut from the original stage production because of timing issues, and which director Joshua Logan wanted to re-instate into the film because he and Rodgers & Hammerstein liked it so much.
Based on James Michener's collection of short stories his 1947 Pulitzer prize winning 'Tales Of The South Pacific' Rodgers & Hammerstein with Logan who co-wrote the book used basically two of Michener's stories Fo' Dolla' and Our Heroine as the stories for the musical which tell of the tragic love affair between the young marine Lt Joseph Cable and the young native girl Liat, Logan initially, wanted to stop there, but Rodgers & Hammerstein, thinking it smacked too much of Madame Butterfly, rather brilliantly brought in the story of the young and naive American navy nurse Ensign Nellie Forbush, and her romance with the ex-patriot French Planation owner Emile De Becque, and had the two love stories running side by side, on a small island habitation in 1943 during the Pacific war, full of comic and colourful characters including the Seabee Luther Billis played by Damn Yankees star Ray Walston. Juanita Hall repeated her marvellous witch like portrayal of Bloody Mary which she had created on the Broadway stage in 1949, although Richard Rodgers, was unhappy about the quality of her singing voice by 1957, so her vocals were dubbed by the original London Bloody Mary, Muriel Smith.
Ezio Pinza was to have recreated his original role of Emile De Becque for the film , but he died in 1957, so the part went to the dashing and romantic Rossano Brazzi with the singing voice of Giorgio Tozzi. With the loss of Ezio Pinza went Mary Martin, so the part of Nellie ,coveted by Doris Day, went to the charming Mitzi Gaynor (There's No Busniness Like show Business), with John Kerr (Tea & Sympathy) and France Nuyen (later in the series Hawaii Five-0) as the young lovers Cable & Liat.
This is one DVD release that I cant wait for!!!!
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
PROBABLY THE BEST MUSICAL TO DATE!, 25 May 2008
'South Pacific' is such a beautiful film - the location (Hawaii) is paradise, the cast are just perfect, the music is some of Rodgers & Hammerstein's best and I think that despite all the material on these 2 Discs, that the editing for the theatrical version on Disc 1 is by far the best. I found the second commentary on Disc 2 on the Road Show version to be very long, at times repetitive, a little boring, and irritating when continually comparing Doris Day (who wanted the part of Nellie) to Mitzi Gaynor, who was so right for the part. She was refreshingly young, but capable, understanding and compassionate in the role, and her singing, dancing and acting left nothing to be desired!
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