Does the longer version of SOUTH PACIFIC still exist? (1 Viewer)

[george kaplan]

Thanks for the info.

 

[Garysb]

How about a dubbed Steve McQueen as Cable ?

I agree that Doris Day and Judy Garland were much too old for Nellie, I can't think of a late 50's star who would have been right. Maybe Kim Novack dubbed ? She was sweet and innocent in Picnic and Pal Joey

 

[Joe Lugoff]

With a $25 per ticket price at least in New York. Its expensive when they only run one or two shows a day.

Yet, surprisingly, that price isn't out of line (especially since you get a souvenir program with it.)

I say that because, for instance, when "The Sound of Music" played the Rivoli in New York City in 1965 and 1966, the top ticket price was $3.75, which is about the equivalent of $23 today (and you paid another buck for the souvenir program.)

"Dreamgirls" is a bargain compared to "Cleopatra" at the Rivoli in 1963 and 1964. Its top price was $5.50, the equivalent of $34 today!

 

[aprets]

Wish I had gotten in on this "South Pacific" thread four years ago. Very interesting reading. I have purchased the recently released dvd version which contains some of the deleted footage. Haven't a chance to watch it yet but I understand that "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair" was not restored.

Interestingly, if you have the hardcover program from the original release of "South Pacific" there is a copy of a memo from Rodgers and Hammerstein to Joshua Logan saying something along the lines of "the cuts to "Wash That Man" are just what was needed - these scenes play much better now" - so it looks like they were in favor of the cuts.

I don't care what anyone says - I like the use of the filters. I hated them before because on the old laserdisc releases the players could never handle the intensity of the colors and they looked awful but now they look great.

Getting back to one of the discussions in this thread, I'd like to know if there's anyone out there that knows more about the deluxe edition of the original soundtrack album (LOCD-2000). I recently stumbled upon a soundtrack collectors website where two people claim to have copies of a STEREO version of this album (LSOD-2000). I wrote them both e-mails. One responded at a very high level (not much information) and the other never responded. I'd really like to know if this album ever existed in stereo. It's difficult for me to believe that it wasn't released in stereo because this was the height of the stereo era and "South Pacific" was one of the biggest selling soundtracks at the time for just that reason.

 

[Joe Lugoff]

Yes, the album was released in stereo -- I still have it. My father got it in 1959 when he got our first stereo. (All of my father's stereo records were from 1959 -- he lost interest in things quickly.)

 

[John Skoda]

As far as I know, the DELUXE edition of the album (the version with the bound-in booklet) was released in mono only, at least in the U.S. Reference books I've seen show the standard edition (without the booklet) being released in mono and stereo at the same time (March 1958).

The U.K. had an edition with a booklet that looks similar to the U.S. deluxe edition. I have it in mono as catalog number RB-16065. It's possible this version came out in stereo, but I can't verify that.

This was only RCA Victor's second true stereo U.S. soundtrack album. The first was RAINTREE COUNTY the month before (February 1958), and its release followed a similar pattern--the deluxe edition (in this case, a 2-LP set) was released in mono only, and the standard one-disc version was released in mono and stereo, all three editions being released at the same time.

 

[Greg_M]

Did the deluxe edition of "South Pacific" have music not featured on the standard edition?

 

[John Skoda]

No, the LP content is exactly the same as the standard version. Only difference is the deluxe cover with bound-in booklet.

 

[Joe Caps]

According to several source books, the deluxe South Pacific was only mono.
It ahd exactly the same music as the regular album.

I do have a stereo copy of the deluxe British version which is full stereo.

Concerning Gonna Wash That Man right Oughta my Hair =- it would be tough to restore, as the uncut version never made it even to the preview print showings (test showings).

Gonna Wash is more than uncut on the soundtrack album. A short dance section was added only for the album and was no in the raw sessions or filmed.

Still missing from the roadshow dvd is the Bali Hai reprise sung by Joe cable, on the way tohis first time on the island. The Commentary track says it was never in the film. Don't believe it.

 

[john a hunter]

There is not much that is on the commentary tracks that you should believe. I think this DVD has the most incompetent "expert" tracks that I have ever heard.A prize should be awarded to one Richard Barrios for managing not only to get most facts wrong but for actively hating the film in question. How Fox came to hire him and where he came from is anyone's guess.

 

[MatthewA]

I would have gladly sacrificed that Barrios "commentary" (to limit myself to HTF-acceptable terminology) for a music-only track. Sigh, guess there's always the Hi-Def version.

 

[AdrianTurner]

I have just watched the Roadshow version again - it's a favourite of mine - and, wanting to check a few facts, I went to the IMDB and guess what: they think it was shot in Spain!

 

[Mark B]

Well, since the information found there is contributed by the visitors, submit a correction.

 

[Joe Lugoff]

There really is no "they" on websites like Wikipedia and the IMDB. Anyone can say anything they want, really, and the information is incredibly unreliable.

For example:

Back in the "old days," movies didn't open everywhere at once as they tend to now, and trusting the IMDB's release dates would be a major mistake. Except for the biggest movies which had major premieres in New York or L.A., it's almost impossible to get an accurate release date for movies prior to 1980 or so.

But that didn't stop someone from trying. Apparently, this person sat down with an old Film Daily yearbook which lists thousands of movies and assigns dates to them, the dates clearly being (because it says so!) the date of the issue of Film Daily in which the movie was reviewed. Someone took those dates and entered them on the IMDB as the dates the movies actually opened. This could be wrong by as much as several months!

There's no way I'm going to go through thousands of entries and remove those incorrect dates, so they'll probably sit there until the end of the Internet as we know it.

 

[Eric Vedowski]

Supposedly the giant rock island of Es Vedra (off the coast of Ibiza) stood in for Bali Hai. It looks like it could've been.

 

[Claude S]

SOUTH PACIFIC was shot in my home State of Hawaii on the north shore of the island of Kauai. Bali Hai in the distance was not real but only a matt painting.

-Claude S

 

[edelweissflower]

To clear up a few South Pacific things -
when the film was cut, it wasnot just chopped up but the parts that were cut were also redubbed to smooth out the cut.
One scene, Joe cable singing Bali Hai on his way to the island, was cut and replaced with new footage of Joe on the boat while the chorus alone sings the song.
However, it seems the release of the restored version is a year from this November, so we have a lot of waiting to do.

Anyway, the restoration of south Pacific to full length has been an pbsession with me. When I was allowed in 1990 to go through the holdings of South Pacific in storage at goldwyn, some fun things were found. - scnes cut from the preview print, the underscore by Alfred Newman, a song - Loneliness of Evening recorded but not used in the film, the audio tests for possible dubbers for John Kerr including John Kerrs own voice. There is also the alternate opening reel for the foreign prints that resotre the film to its Broadway continuity.
What I did not find is the missing sections of Gonna wash That Man right OUghta My Hair - and don't expect to see them in the restored print. These scens never even made it to the first preview print. Oscar Hammerstein was onlocation with the Fox crew and he took a disliek to the number. the number was then cut to the bone.

A couple of months ago, there was a 70mm film festival in the north of England. Part of the festival was a print of south Pacific. Several friends of mine were there and the next day I was bombarded with emails from them saying the uncut version was ran.
I then called a gentleman in California who sometimes acts as a go between for collectors and studios. The print belonged to a collector. He quickly cleared the way with the studio and the collector, and the uncut print was in the U.s. in a matter of weeks. The print was all pink and fox began the long task of taking eeach frame of the print and feeding into high resolution computers to preserve and color correct the film. That is still going on and work on the soundtrack is also going on.
The restoration of theis film has beena holy grail for me and I can not wait until a year from now to see it.

 

[edelweissflower]

I heard the opposite that it was Richard Rodgers who apparently never liked the film version of 'South Pacific' and wanted the children's song 'Dites-Moi' cut and 'I'm Gonna Wash That Man' cut down even although he wasn't there at the filming as he was ill in New York.

 

[Joe Caps]

I was asked by Fox along time ago, to go looking for the missing footage.
There was a large square silver containter - in there was dubbing tests with John Kerr singing for himself. also there was the missing footage of Gonna Wash that Man.
South Pacific was cut just one month into its verysuccesful roadshow run. Why cut a film that's already doing well.
Ego- Rodgers was not there on the shoot. I found a memo from the R and H org but the memo listing suggested cuts is only from Richard Rodgers. We are still missing the Bali Hai reprise on the boat, sung by Joe Cable. This can be heard, only, on an early trailer.

 

[edelweissflower]

I was asked by Fox along time ago, to go looking for the missing footage.
There was a large square silver containter - in there was dubbing tests with John Kerr singing for himself. also there was the missing footage of Gonna Wash that Man.
South Pacific was cut just one month into its verysuccesful roadshow run. Why cut a film that's already doing well.
Ego- Rodgers was not there on the shoot. I found a memo from the R and H org but the memo listing suggested cuts is only from Richard Rodgers. We are still missing the Bali Hai reprise on the boat, sung by Joe Cable. This can be heard, only, on an early trailer.

very interesting info thanks does that mean do you think that they could restore 'I'm Gonna Wash That Man' I twitted Mitzi Gaynor on the 60th Anniversary of the Film's release this year saying how great it would be to see her singing the full version again and she liked my twitter message so she herself would love to see that again its obvious that it was all filmed as per the soundtrack recording and in fact I have a poster of part of the missing footage of Nellie and all the nurses playing in the pool. For me the song is one of the best in the score and for it to be cut I think was a great mistake making the character of Nellie less than she should be. A lot of people have said to me that it was cut and stayed cut because it showed Emile at one point spying on all the nurses washing which they thought was unacceptable and creepy, I see no reason for that
I have heard the ' Bali Hai' reprise in one of the trailers and I think one part of the 'I'm Gonna Wash That Man' missing footage is in another trailer I have seen on TCM. thanks again for the info.