South Pacific Movie: Williams/Jackman/Timberlake?- Page 2

[ucjrdude902]

Posted: 5/11/13 at 2:51pm

I always found this show to have a great score but a boring book.

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 5/11/13 at 3:00pm

^ Partially agree. Can anyone name another show where the action all hinges around boredom and waiting? The life-and-death plot doesn't really move till mid-Act II, so the characters are left with little to do but distract themselves with romance ups and downs until then.

That said, the show is incredibly potent when well done. Somehow those distractions Hammerstein and Logan came up do suffice.

Updated On: 5/11/13 at 03:00 PM

[BwayTday]

Posted: 5/11/13 at 4:50pm

I actually think that one of the reasons the show proves to be so poignant in the end is because for a great majority of the show the soldiers and nurses are just having fun "waiting around" until reality sets in.

It always fascinates me when shows/movies are considered dull if they focus more on movements in the characters rather than movements in the action. Obviously it's harder to do correctly and to properly engage the audience, but I'd argue South Pacific does it expertly (when the production gets it right).

[broadwaybabywannabe2]

Posted: 5/11/13 at 6:31pm

...don't forget Josh Logan also gave us all those hunky sailors with their shirts off...a lot...woofy!!...or at least he made sure they were the main focus of the camera shot a lot...:)

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 5/11/13 at 8:23pm

It was said that "Hurry up and wait" was the Navy motto during WWII.

[vf]

Posted: 5/13/13 at 3:49pm

Better youtube of Michelle Williams singing. I'd still prefer wonderful Kelli O'Hara or Laura Osnes.

That "Hurry up and wait" is a general military thing. The waiting must have been a combination of boredom and tension, worrying about what was to come. I don't think the audience of the time would have thought of it as a static thing, lot of very bloody battles in the Pacific Theater. Per Wikipedia over 106,000 US military died in the Pacific Theater, even Seebees like those in South Pacific got killed.
From Wikipedia:
"NCB 133 [Seebee unit] accompanied the invading forces on Iwo Jima on February 19, 1945; with a primary goal of maintaining a constant supply to the forward lines of Marine forces. As soon as the Japanese were driven from their airstrips, the Seabees went to work and in just seven days the northeast-southwest runway had been made operational and was in use by American planes. Over the 26 days the battle for Iwo Jima waged on, NCB 133 endured 245 casualties, including 3 officers and 39 enlisted men killed in action. This was the highest number of casualties for any Seabee unit in history." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_Mobile_Construction_Battalion_133

I think maybe the context is kind of lost for us, the cheesy (but cute) theatricals of Honey Bun were maybe part of morale boosting and keeping people's spirits up while they waited to find out if they were going to live much longer. Now maybe it just looks like cheesy theatricals. Seems like the waiting would be maddening, I don't think the screenwriter had to add back some big drama about Nellie being raped. (what a bad idea) Seems like in the right hands this could be made immediate for a current audience, although people don't seem to want to see movies about our recent military adventures, wonder if that affects whether this gets made.
from My Week with Marilyn

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 5/13/13 at 7:41pm

Personally, I don't find the musical play "slow" until all the military stuff (all of which takes place off-stage) begins late in Act II.

In Act I I'm very interested in the dramatization and musicalization of all the different types on the island(s).

Emil and Nellie fall in love, quarrel, break up, decide to get marry and break up again.

That's already several times as active as Billy Bigelow and Julie Jordan. Updated On: 5/13/13 at 07:41 PM

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 5/13/13 at 11:58pm

I didn't mean to suggest that Act I was slow, only that the main action of the show is a waiting game for the cast until the deployment begins. Out of that stress/boredom come all the romantic complications.

(Come to think of it, another R&H show based on a waiting game in Act I is The King and I. Maybe it's a Hammerstein "thing". There is even that awful cut song from the Lost in Boston collection called "Waiting" to prove my point.)

But I agree that despite the setup, Act I of South Pacific flies by effortlessly, and Act II is a slow slog to get to its conclusion.

Updated On: 5/13/13 at 11:58 PM

[ucjrdude902]

Posted: 5/14/13 at 12:22am

I agree, Act II has always been the issue in my eyes, seeing the Lincoln Center production and others.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 5/14/13 at 8:36pm

I think it IS a Hammerstein thing: there is some action in OKLAHOMA!'s first act, but basically everyone is getting ready for the box social, where everything is resolved.

He used his first acts to set up conflicts and local color and second acts to play them out. (But technically, so does every playwright; maybe Hammerstein just did it more obviously.)

[best12bars]

Posted: 5/14/13 at 9:38pm

It just feels like the timing is off for a South Pacific movie to me. Probably because it's already been done quite a bit, on stage, on TV, and countless home video (even Blu-ray) releases of the '50s movie.

It's already been shot in beautiful, exotic locations, so that wouldn't be new. The story has been told (very well and not so well) before.

I just can't get that excited about this.

If we have to remake older musical films, pick ones that didn't work well (or even halfway well) the first time. Or that deviated so far from the source material that a new film adaptation wouldn't feel like a rehash.

Guys and Dolls
Brigadoon
Pal Joey
Anything Goes
Carousel

Or pick a musical that hasn't been put on film:

Ragtime
Big River
Kiss of the Spider Woman
Sunday in the Park With George
The Drowsy Chaperone
Grey Gardens

I could even see a new 42nd Street movie based on the Broadway book and songs (which were a culmination of several scores and films).

But South Pacific? Again? Meh.

[ReggieonBway]

Posted: 5/14/13 at 11:35pm

Why not have Laura Osnes as Nellie? Lord knows she could sing it beautifully, and Les Mis proved like nobody's business that you need at least some legitimate theatre talent to make a musical film work.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 5/15/13 at 11:01am

Besty, I couldn't agree with you more, nothing about this remake sounds exciting save for the idea of Michelle Williams as Nellie but that's something I can live without. Just go ahead and cast Williams and Jackman as Sarah/Sky in a GUYS & DOLLS remake, now that's something I could get excited about.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 5/15/13 at 5:27pm

I absolutely agree with Best12. SOUTH PACIFIC has been revived on television THREE TIMES in the last decade or so (counting the Reba McIntire concert version).

Everyone who wants to see it has seen it.

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 5/16/13 at 11:10am

If we have to remake older musical films, pick ones that didn't work well (or even halfway well) the first time. Or that deviated so far from the source material that a new film adaptation wouldn't feel like a rehash.

Guys and Dolls

Seth MacFarlane must be a part of this.

I ain't kiddin'.