A great deal of time has been spent criticizing Glenn Close's age in respect to the character of Nellie Forbush. I feel this is due to people's familiarity with the 1958 film version and not the 1949 Broadway original.
Mary Martin was 36 when she played the part on Broadway. The part was never intended to be that of a girl in her 20's. Martin's characterization was that of a woman, and not of a ditzy blonde as Mitzi Gaynor (at age 28) portrayed it.
This TV-movie adaption is not without it's flaws, yet it offers a much more realistic approach to the story and better characterizations than the 1958 film.
A problem with both versions is the fact that the original continuity of the play has been tampered with. On Broadway the show opened with "Dites Moi," which led into the scene with Nellie and Emile ("Cock-eyed Optimist/Twin Soliloquies/Some Enchanted Evening"). This establishes the two main characters and is the hub of the entire production. Both the 1958 and 2001 versions begin with the character of Cable arriving on the island which creates an imbalance of plot focus which neither version fully recovers from. The '58 film puts the "Bloody Mary/Nothin' Like a Dame/Bali Ha'i" sequence ahead of the Nellie/Emile scene, while the 2001 version begins with "Dame" and scatters the other songs around throughout the next scenes. The '01 version also placed the "Wash That Man/Wonderful Guy" sequence after Cable's first trip to "Bali Ha'i" which was a bad decision.
In recreating Broadway shows for film one should take a lesson from 1993's TV version of GYPSY, which left the stage show roots intact and was wildly successful in it's adaption of that great work as a result. The 1962 film adaption of THE MUSIC MAN is another example of this.
All in all this new version of SOUTH PACIFIC is pretty good. At least it wasn't as abysmal as it's 1958 predecessor.
Mary Martin was 36 when she played the part on Broadway. The part was never intended to be that of a girl in her 20's. Martin's characterization was that of a woman, and not of a ditzy blonde as Mitzi Gaynor (at age 28) portrayed it.
This TV-movie adaption is not without it's flaws, yet it offers a much more realistic approach to the story and better characterizations than the 1958 film.
A problem with both versions is the fact that the original continuity of the play has been tampered with. On Broadway the show opened with "Dites Moi," which led into the scene with Nellie and Emile ("Cock-eyed Optimist/Twin Soliloquies/Some Enchanted Evening"). This establishes the two main characters and is the hub of the entire production. Both the 1958 and 2001 versions begin with the character of Cable arriving on the island which creates an imbalance of plot focus which neither version fully recovers from. The '58 film puts the "Bloody Mary/Nothin' Like a Dame/Bali Ha'i" sequence ahead of the Nellie/Emile scene, while the 2001 version begins with "Dame" and scatters the other songs around throughout the next scenes. The '01 version also placed the "Wash That Man/Wonderful Guy" sequence after Cable's first trip to "Bali Ha'i" which was a bad decision.
In recreating Broadway shows for film one should take a lesson from 1993's TV version of GYPSY, which left the stage show roots intact and was wildly successful in it's adaption of that great work as a result. The 1962 film adaption of THE MUSIC MAN is another example of this.
All in all this new version of SOUTH PACIFIC is pretty good. At least it wasn't as abysmal as it's 1958 predecessor.