South Pacific [Original Soundtrack]

by South Pacific (Remastered) / O.

Overview

In contrast to the experiences of many Broadway songwriters, the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II had a large say in how their shows came to the big screen. South Pacific did not arrive in movie theaters until nine years after its Broadway opening, and when it did on March 19, 1958, its two-hour, 70-minute running time allowed for the full Rodgers & Hammerstein score, plus one song, "My Girl Back Home," that had been cut from the stage version for time. In addition to preserving their songs, the songwriters saw to it that the songs were sung by people they approved of, most of whom were not the same people seen on the screen. Mitzi Gaynor sang her own songs in the lead female role of nurse Nellie Forbush, and Ray Walston, who had played the supporting part of rowdy marine Luther Billis in the first national tour and in London, also got to sing. But Rossano Brazzi, as male lead Emile de Becque, was dubbed by opera singer Giorgio Tozzi (who was given screen credit), John Kerr as second male lead Lt. Cable was replaced by Bill Lee, and Juanita Hall, who had originated the role of Bloody Mary on Broadway, was voiced by Muriel Smith, who had played the part in London. (Several minor characters were also dubbed.) While it would have been nice if Lee and Smith were credited in the film and on the soundtrack album, the result is a well-sung version of the score. Gaynor is appropriately frisky in what is really a soubrette's part in songs like "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair" and "I'm in Love With a Wonderful Guy," Tozzi is sonorous and romantic in "Some Enchanted Evening," Lee is passionate in "Younger Than Springtime," Smith is haunting in "Bali Ha'i" and playful in "Happy Talk," and Walston, leading the Ken Darby Male Chorus, makes the most of "Bloody Mary" and "There Is Nothin' Like a Dame." Only Smith and Walston improve upon their counterparts on the original Broadway cast album, however, with stage leads Mary Martin and Ezio Pinza particularly outdistancing their screen and soundtrack rivals. And now that CD reissues of that earlier recording contain Martin's version of "My Girl Back Home," one can't even argue that the soundtrack album is more complete. The original Broadway cast album is preferred. It also sold better than the soundtrack album, but the soundtrack's commercial performance was not at all shabby. The film was one of 1958's ten biggest moneymakers, but the soundtrack did even better. Its run of more than seven months at number one tied it for fourth place among the longest chart toppers in history behind the original Broadway cast album, the soundtrack to West Side Story, and Michael Jackson's Thriller. It was not only the most successful album of 1958, but the most successful album of the second half of the 1950s. Given that success, the album has been relatively neglected in the CD era. There was a straight-transfer reissue in 1988, but it took RCA until October 24, 2000, to release a refurbished CD version, and that one turned out to be a disappointment. At a time when rivals like Sony and Universal were upgrading their cast and soundtrack reissues in terms of sound, bonus tracks, annotations, and photographs, RCA's new South Pacific seemed skimpy. There were no bonus tracks, little in the way of annotation (the songs were credited by character name except for Ken Darby!), a modest if well-written essay by Joseph F. Laredo, and no new photographs. In fact, the cover was a reproduction of the cover of the original monophonic LP (proclaiming "A 'New Orthophonic' High Fidelity Release"), down to its catalog number, LOC-1032, which was confusing, since the reissue had a new catalog number and was in stereo. Such a jewel of RCA's catalog deserved better treatment. ~ William Ruhlmann

Product Details

Release Date:	10/24/2000
Label:	Rca
UPC:	0078636797724

Tracks

1. South Pacific: South Pacific Overture
2. South Pacific: Dites-Moi
3. South Pacific: A Cockeyed Optimist
4. South Pacific: Twin Soliloquies/Some Enchanted Evening
5. South Pacific: Bloody Mary
6. South Pacific: My Girl Back Home
7. South Pacific: There Is Nothin' Like a Dame
8. South Pacific: Bali Ha'i
9. South Pacific: I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair
10. South Pacific: I'm in Love With a Wonderful Guy
11. South Pacific: Younger Than Springtime
12. South Pacific: Happy Talk
13. South Pacific: Honey Bun
14. South Pacific: Carefully Taught
15. South Pacific: This Nearly Was Mine
16. South Pacific: Finale

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Alfred Newman   Primary Artist,Conductor
Mitzi Gaynor   Primary Artist,Vocals
Mary Martin   Primary Artist
Betty Wand   Primary Artist
Bill Lee   Primary Artist,Vocals,Vocals
Muriel Smith   Primary Artist,Vocals
Children   Primary Artist
Nellie Forbush   Primary Artist
Lieutenant Cable   Primary Artist
Myron McCormick   Primary Artist
Emile De Becque   Primary Artist
Ken Darby Male Chorus   Primary Artist,Choir/Chorus
Ken Darby Singers   Primary Artist,Vocals
Ella Fitzgerald   Primary Artist
Marie Greene   Primary Artist
Giorgio Tozzi   Primary Artist,Vocals
Peggy Lee   Primary Artist
Frank Sinatra   Primary Artist
Paul Weston   Primary Artist
Ray Walston   Vocals
Joshua Logan   Director
Thurl Ravenscroft   Vocals
Ken Darby   Vocal Director

Technical Credits

Oscar Hammerstein II   Lyricist,Composer
Richard Rodgers   Composer
Pete King   Orchestration
Nellie Forbush   Performer
Ed Powell   Orchestration
Don Wardell   Digital Series Executive Producer
Lieutenant Cable   Performer
Emile De Becque   Performer
Bill Lacy   Audio Restoration
Paul Williams   Reissue Supervisor
Joseph F. Laredo   Liner Notes
Bill Lacey   Audio Restoration
John Snyder   Digital Producer
Mitzi Gaynor   Performer
Mike Hartry   Digital Transfers
Bloody Mary   Performer
Buddy Adler   Producer
Alfred Newman   Arranger,Music Supervisor