South Pacific (1958)

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SOUTH PACIFIC: It was strange and yet satisfying to see this 50 year old Richard Rodgers Oscar Hammerstein blockbuster air during March in the time slot that replaced Monday Night Football. I liked spirited Glenn Close as Nellie, but it’s tough to think of the “corny as Kansas in August” nurse as closer to 50 than 20.

As the heroic and doomed Joe Cable, Harry Connick, Jr. seems born to play the part. But you still have to wonder about the glorification of sexual fascination at the heart of the Cable Liat Bloody Mary story. It’s odd how time provides perspective the military then, Cable and DeBecque gambling their lives to go into enemy territory, the celebrations of victory as the G.I.s headed home. All were idealistic and seem unreal today. But those were idealistic and hopeful times (at least in stage musicals).

It’s also impressive that of all the now-classic songs (“Some Enchanted Evening,” “Bali Hai,” etc.), the one that gets the most respect, that retains even more power now than “You’ve Got to Be Taught.” Cable tries to explain American attitudes: “You’ve got to be taught/before it’s too late/before you are six or seven or eight to hate all the people your relatives hate you’ve got to be carefully taught.” Thanks for that one, Oscar.

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