The Mikado (1939)

Director:

Victor Schertzinger

Writer:

William S. Gilbert (libretto based upon the opera by)

Release Date:

1 May 1939 (USA)

Genre:

Musical | Comedy

Plot:

The son of the Mikado of Japan, a wandering minstrel, falls for a girl who is engaged to her guardian.

Plot Keywords:

Minstrel | Executioner | Operetta | Romantic Rivalry | Attempted Suicide

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Kenny Baker	...	Nanki-Poo
Martyn Green	...	Ko-Ko
Sydney Granville	...	Pooh-Bah
John Barclay	...	The Mikado
Gregory Stroud	...	Pish-Tush
Jean Colin	...	Yum-Yum
Constance Willis	...	Katisha
Elizabeth Paynter	...	Pitti-Sing
Kathleen Naylor	...	Peep-Bo
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Leslie Phillips	...	Boy (uncredited)

Directed by
Victor Schertzinger

Writing credits
William S. Gilbert		(libretto based upon the opera by) (as W.S. Gilbert)

Produced by
Josef Somlo	....	associate producer
Geoffrey Toye	....	producer

Cinematography by
Bernard Knowles		(cameraman)
William V. Skall		(photography: Technicolor) (as William Skall)

Film Editing by
Philip Charlot
Gene Milford

Art Direction by
Ralph W. Brinton		(as Ralph Brinton)

Set Decoration by
Marcel Vertès		(decor) (as Vertès)

Costume Design by
Marcel Vertès		(uncredited)

Makeup Department
Ern Westmore	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Phil C. Samuel	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Andrew Allan	....	assistant director
Thorold Dickinson	....	unit director
J.P. Hicks	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Leslie Murray	....	sound recordist

Camera and Electrical Department
Jack Hildyard	....	camera operator
Cyril J. Knowles	....	camera operator (as Cyril Knowles)
Cliff Shirpser	....	assistant camera: Technicolor (uncredited)

Music Department
The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company	....	performers (as The Chorus of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company)
London Symphony Orchestra	....	music performers (as The London Symphony Orchestra)
Arthur Sullivan	....	music: based upon the opera by
Geoffrey Toye	....	conductor
Geoffrey Toye	....	music: adapted by

Other crew
Natalie Kalmus	....	technicolor director
Geoffrey Toye	....	producer: stage

Distributors

• General Film Distributors (GFD) (1939) (UK) (theatrical) (controlled thoughout: The United Kingdom and Eire by) (as General Film Distributors LTD.)
• Universal Pictures (1939) (USA) (theatrical)
• Universal Pictures (1948) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1956) (USA) (TV)
• Criterion Collection, The (2011) (USA) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (2011) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray)

Other Companies

• D'Oyly Carte Opera Company  chorus
• Pinewood Studios  made by
• Western Electric Sound System  recorded on

Also Known As:

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Sweden:Btl | USA:TV-G (TV rating) | USA:Not Rated | Australia:G

Filming Locations:

Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Trivia:

Sir William S. Gilbert and Sir Arthur Sullivan's comic opera "The Mikado or, The Town of Titipu" was their ninth of fourteen collaborations opening on March 14, 1885 in London at the Savoy Theatre and ran for 672 performances.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Animaniacs: The Warners' 65th Anniversary Special (#1.65)" (1994)

Soundtrack:

The Threatened Cloud Has Passed Away

Great singing, wonderful production.

At the conclusion of the wonderful prologue (A Wand'ring Minstrel I), my wife and I broke into applause right there in the den. Can't remember our doing that before. One reason it's so good is that the director found a way to keep it in its stage home without being stagey. The key to this is editing -- lots of fast cuts among faces and angles. Given these, the camera can rejoice in the operetta's stage-centeredness: the chorus can file onstage in glorious pageant and wondrous costume; the singers can face the audience and extend their arms in that wonderful G&S take on the hamminess that underlies the proper Englishman. That's another great thing about this production. It's clearly about how *Englishmen* would look and act if someone transported them to a magical imaginary Japan whose dimensions are constrained only by only the few wisps of knowledge in the *English* mind. The singing is tops, the physical comedy is wonderful, and there's more good feeling in it than in the next 20 Hollywood feel-good movies you'll see.