Juanita Hall, who had played Bloody Mary in the original Broadway production, obviously sang her own songs onstage, but was dubbed in the film version at the request of composer Richard Rodgers. Rodgers and musical director Alfred Newman brought in Muriel Smith (who had played Bloody Mary in London).

The film ran for just under 4? years at the Dominion Theatre in London. It opened April 21, 1958 and closed September 30, 1962, for a record run that probably will never be equaled.

This is the only theatrical film adaptation of a Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II stage show to have all the songs intact, with the addition of the song "My Girl Back Home", which was cut from the play before it opened.

Dating back to the development of the stage musical, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II were pressured to eliminate the song "You've Got To Be Carefully Taught", but they resisted. The movie was greeted with objections and even boycotts in certain parts of the country specifically because of the song.

France Nuyen had not yet learned English when playing Liat. Fortunately, she was able to converse in her native language (French) with co-star Rossano Brazzi, who spoke French as well as his native Italian.

Continuity

The tattoo on the stomach of Luther Billis disappears and reappears when he is stranded in the lifeboat.

In numerous outdoor scenes in the movie, the sky in the background changes from clear to partly cloudy to overcast to rain clouds between shots, indicating that the scenes were filmed over several days with different weather each day.

During the song "There is Nothing Like a Dame", Luther's shirt unbuttons and rebuttons itself several times.

While singing "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair", the soap on Nellie Forbush's shoulders disappears and comes back.

Lt. Joe Cable flies in on his mission in a PBY Catalina at the start, but when he walks off the short pier to the beach at his destination there is no flying boat in the lagoon behind him. Had he really just disembarked from a plane, it would still be present.



Incorrectly regarded as goofs

The appearance of African Americans as Seabees is not an error. Over 12,000 such sailors served in the Construction Brigades, despite segregation in other parts of the WWII military.



Revealing mistakes

Although the cockpit of the seaplane appears to have all its glass shot out, the crew never shows any effect from the wind that would be whipping through.

When Luther Billis is paddling away from the gunfire, the cable pulling his lifeboat can be seen.

In the beginning, the controls of the pilot and co-pilot are not really linked. It's obvious that the pilot is turning the wheel, but the co-pilot's is not in sync; it's turned by an unseen hand.

Towards the finale of "Nothing Like a Dame", Nellie jogs along and picks up her party dress from Luther although she won't even be invited to the party until several scenes later when she meets Emil.



Anachronisms

When Luther Billis is in the lifeboat being fired upon by Japanese troops, the rear of the lifeboat shows its manufacturing date as 'APR 1956'.

At least one of the Jeeps shown is a model M-38 from the 1950s.

In the initial Bali Ha'i sequence, the native girls are all dressed like they're heading for the 1958 prom, in typical 1950s mid-calf flared skirts, despite the fact that the story is taking place in the era of World War II.

All of Mitzi Gaynor's hair styles, as well as the style and cut of her uniforms (when worn), and especially the party dress in the last sequence before the intermission, are strictly 1958 and nothing like what was being worn during the time of the story, i.e., the mid-1940s.



Audio/visual unsynchronized

When Nellie asks Captain Brackett if the "Frenchman" on the island she's heard about from all the pilots in the hospital is "her Frenchman", there's a complete mismatch between what she says and the movement of her lips.

During "A Wonderful Guy", there's a part when Mitzi Gaynor's lips aren't synchronized with the music.

Liat's lips are not even slightly in sync with the song's words when she sings "Happy Talk."



Plot holes

Liat does not understand English. But when her mother sings "Happy Talk," in English, she shows by her gestures that she understands what her mother is singing.

It doesn't make sense for Bloody Mary to encourage the young couple to engage in happy talk about many things, when the only language they share is a few words of French.



Character error

Emile is supposed to be a Frenchman, but speaks English, and sings (dubbed) with a heavy Italian accent.