The Pirates of Penzance (1983)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Wilford Leach

Writers:

William S. Gilbert (operetta)
Wilford Leach (writer)

Release Date:

18 February 1983 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Musical | Romance

Tagline:

Broadway's smash hit is now the movie!

Plot:

This movie is an adaptation of Gilbert and Sullivan's comic operetta of the same name, with parts of other of their operettas stirred in...

Plot Keywords:

Pirate | Gilbert And Sullivan | Orphan | Family Relationships | Based On Play

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 1 nomination

Cast

Kevin Kline	...	The Pirate King
Angela Lansbury	...	Ruth
Linda Ronstadt	...	Mabel
George Rose	...	Maj. Gen. Stanley
Rex Smith	...	Frederic
Tony Azito	...	Sergeant
David Hatton	...	Samuel
Louise Gold	...	Edith
Teresa Codling	...	Kate
Zoot Money	...	Pirate (as G.B. Zoot Money)
Tilly Vosburgh	...	Daughter
Peppi Borza	...	Policeman
Preston Lockwood	...	Orchestra conductor
Romolo Bruni	...	Pinafore captain
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Mohamed Aazzi	...	Pirate
Anthony Arundell	...	Pirate
John Asquith	...	Pirate
Tim Bentinck	...	Pirate
John Bett	...	Pinafore company
Lennie Byrne	...	Pinafore company
Jo Cameron Brown	...	Pinafore company
Nicolas Chagrin	...	Policeman
Frankie Cull	...	Policeman
Ross Davidson	...	Pirate
Zulema Dene	...	Pinafore company
Marta Eitler	...	Pinafore company
Carole Forbes	...	Pinafore company
Mike Grady	...	Pirate
David Hampshire	...	Policeman
Stephen Hanan	...	Samuel (voice)
Leni Harper	...	Daughter
Phillip Harrison	...	Policeman
Jack Honeyborne	...	Pinafore company
Simon Howe	...	Pirate
Alix Korey	...	Edith (singing) (voice) (as Alexandra Korey)
Maurice Lane	...	Policeman
Carol MacReady	...	Pinafore company
Jerry Manley	...	Policeman
Brian Markham	...	Pinafore company
Neil McCaul	...	Policeman
Clare McIntyre	...	Daughter
Tony Millan	...	Pirate
Valerie Minifie	...	Pinafore Company
Rhys Nelson	...	Policeman
Garry Noakes	...	Policeman
Louise Papillon	...	Daughter
Andrew Paul	...	Pirate
Chris Power	...	Policeman
Ken Leigh Rogers	...	Pirate
Mohamed Serhani	...	Pirate
Marcie Shaw	...	Kate (voice)
Linda Spurrier	...	Pinafore company
Ursula Stedman	...	Pinafore company
Mike Walling	...	Pirate
Kenny Warwick	...	Policeman
Nancy Wood	...	Daughter

Also Known As:

The Pirates of Penzance or The Slave of Duty (UK) (long title)

Runtime:

112 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Australia:G | USA:G | UK:U

Company:

St. Michael Finance Limited

Trivia:

Linda Ronstadt was nominated for the 1981 Tony Award (New York City) for Actress in a Musical for "Pirates of Penzance" and recreated her role in the film based on this production.

Goofs:

Continuity: As the Sergeant does a backbend while Mabel sings to him, the position of his hand on his chest keeps changing between shots (as opposed to the actual movement prescribed by the choreography).

Quotes:

Pirate King: Do you mean that in order to save his contemptible life, he dared to impress upon our credulous simplicity?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Flashpoint: Scorpio (#1.1)" (2008)

Gilbert and Sullivan still have a strong and legitimate appeal

History records that Gilbert and Sullivan were personally often at odds when producing their great comic operettas - no doubt that, if they are still monitoring this, they are surprised to find both their humour and their music - despite its limitations in both time and location - still has a great appeal to audiences throughout much of the world. The music of course is timeless, but music too evolves and many people today have no appreciation of the types of lyrics which G & S exploited so shamelessly. Perhaps the remarkable thing is the wide and continuing appeal of so many of their works. This film is a movie version of a 100th anniversary Broadway stage production of this operetta in New York. A review of previous comments show, not unexpectedly, that it has been adored by numerous G. & S. fans; but that its appeal to those who are not in this category is much more limited. They also make it clear that this is a very fine production; and it would be a serious omission if I did not re-emphasise it is almost a classical example of the way in which a major stage production should be presented on film, both to retain the best of the original production and to as fully as possible exploit the more fluid form of presentation that is possible on the screen.

To your reviewer who reports fears about wearing out her taped version, I would recommend doing what I have done and converting this to a VCD disk that she can play, almost for ever, on her DVD player. It is, I believe, a great film; and my wife and I have also viewed it repeatedly whenever we have been a little "blue", we never fail to feel cheered up afterwards. However we recognise that most members of the contemporary generation would not respond in this way, and that our appreciation will not even be understood by them. We remain thankful that minority tastes can still be satisfied without infringing on the perogatives of the majority, and that in the process of doing so the film will be seen by many who initially have little sympathy with the production, but who find that - as with so many of us in the older generation - they have come to appreciate both its music and its humour.