November 23, 2006
The Movie That Changed My Life
I've spent a good part of the last couple days re-watching The Movie That Changed My Life, as it's now out in a double-DVD collector's edition containing not one but two copies of the movie: a wonderfully restored print of the general release version, and a patched-together restoration of the original Road Show.
On a summer evening when I was nine years old, my mother took me, along with our neighbor Joanne and her daughters Ellen and Kathleen, to the movies. I didn't particularly want to go because from the sound of the title, I assumed it must be about railroads and trains. You see, in Richland, where I grew up, the railroad went right through the heart of town, dividing our little borough in two at the junction of Main and Race Streets. Consequently, I spent a lot of time waiting for the trains to pass by, so to me railroads were just a nuisance, and I didn't particularly want to see a movie about them.
Why did I think the movie would be about railroads? Well, many of the boxcars on the freight trains carried the name Southern Pacific, so I just naturally assumed that anything named "South Pacific" would be about trains.
Boy was I wrong. It turned out to be about sex, sexual tension, racial prejudice, and did I mention sex? The story took place during World War II in a group of islands in the South Pacific, and it revolved around two parallel plot lines: one concerned a French planter with a mysterious past and a Navy nurse from Little Rock, Ark; the other involved a Marine Lieutenant from Philadelphia, PA, and a local Tonkinese girl. In both plot lines, racial prejudice played a key part.
But practically every song, and there were a bunch of them, was about sex. From the sexual tension of the Seabees ("There Is Nothing Like a Dame") to the Frenchman's main ballad ("Some Enchanted Evening"), from Lt. Cable's joyous "Younger Than Springtime" to nurse Nellie's proud declaration that she's in love with "A Wonderful Guy", nearly every major song was about sex. Of course, Oscar Hammerstein once said that any story that didn't have sex in it wasn't worth writing about. Oh, and I almost left out the most important song, the one that seduced me above all others, and "seduced" is the right word, because Bloody Mary used it as part of her careful plan to get Lt. Cable to marry her daughter. I'm talking, of course, about "Bali Ha'i". And need I mention "Happy Talk" in which mother and daughter team up to work their magic on Lt. Cable? Poor Joe Cable never stood a chance.
Of course, in 1958 I didn't understand any of this. In fact, I didn't understand the central point of the story, that irrational racial prejudice was what was keeping these couples apart.
What I did understand was the songs. This was the first time I was hearing them, and they were all glorious. I remember the ride home when we were discussing how much we all enjoyed the movie, the conversation went something like this.
Me: That was good.
Ellen: That was really good. There were a lot of songs though.
Kathleen: But they were all good!
Mom and Joanne: Well, it is a musical!
Oh, I thought. That was a musical? I guess I must like musicals.
To this day, "South Pacific" remains my favorite musical. The movie has come under a lot of harsh criticism, particularly over its overuse of colored filters, and while I understand the objections, they don't matter to me. This was The Movie That Changed My Life.
Seeing it again, and listening to the commentary, and especially seeing the restored Road Show version, which is the version that we saw on that special summer evening, is like meeting an old friend. Flaws and all, it's still my old friend.
A couple notes: In the song "My Girl Back Home", Lt. Cable sings
How far away,
Philadelphia, PA.
Princeton, NJ.
How far are they?
But back then I heard it as "Princeton and Jay", and I assumed he was referring to two different colleges in the Philadelphia area. It wasn't until many years later that I learned the correct lyric. So I grew up thinking that one of the major ivy league schools was named Jay. It's funny, I don't hear too much about Jay any more.
Know what a Seabee is? I never did until I listened to the commentary. They are the Construction Battalions (CB, get it?) who specialized in building bases and airstrips starting in WWII.
This was my first encounter with Ray Walston, who played Luther Billis, but it certainly wouldn't be my last. He went on to play the Devil in "Damn Yankees" and a Martian in "My Favorite Martian", and many other things besides.
This was 19-year-old France Nuyen's first movie role; 30 years later she had a recurring role as Dr. Paulette Kiem on one of my all-time favorite television shows, St. Elsewhere.
There are a number of actors who had tiny roles in the movie, but who went on to become known in their own right. Tom Laughlin, who played a pilot, later became known for the Billy Jack films. Ron Ely played a Navigator and had maybe one line; he later portrayed Tarzan on a television series. And Doug McClure was one of the bandaged patients in the hospital; no lines but he's definitely recognizable. Finally, Joan Fontaine is supposed to be one of the French women in the crowd scene on Bali Ha'i; if you ever spot her, please let me know.
South Pacific Collector's Edition
Posted by jt at November 23, 2006 12:43 PM