The Pirates of Penzance

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.

This movie's great even though it's quite clear that this movie was low budget. Still, why wasn't it a hit? It's wonderful! Linda Ronstadt's Mabel is superb, I wish I could hit those high notes as flawlessly as she does and plus she is so pretty! Who can play the Pirate King as charismatically as Kevin Kline? You just have to love his crazy antics and that voice, oh! It's obvious he has great talent and that Tony Award he won for his portrayal of The Pirate King on Broadway was well-deserved. I wonder if he can still sing and dance... Rex Smith is divine as Frederic; his singing voice is powerful yet has a tender appeal. He is quite talented in his portrayal of a gullible yet loveable Frederic. Angela Lansbury is lovely in her portrayal of the deaf nursemaid and she has such a wonderful voice; it fits the role perfectly. The pirates, the daughters, the policemen, were all wonderful. I especially love the policemen's song-and-dance numbers. Tony Azito's nasal voice and rubber-like movements are perfect as the Sergeant. I have nothing bad to say about this movie, only I wish it were longer and it did not end so soon! See this movie! It's funny, romantic, and has good music.

I recently had the task, for a organization's class, to assemble various performances of the Gilbert & Sullivan operetta "The Pirates of Penzance". This has always been my favorite G&S work, and I have heard many live performances, plus I have played the Pirate King in a revue type staging of the work.

I recall seeing the Kevin Kline version many years ago, and did not recall the details. Obtaining a copy to view for my project, I was very impressed with the wit and overall quality of the performances. There are a few small issues, such as the fudging of Linda Ronstadt's and Rex Smith's vocal parts (It is clear, whenever Smith sings, that lots of electronic enhancement is being used to bring his voice into the same universe with the other more capable singers, but still he has right delivery and it works well; for Ronstadt, she does very well, but for "Poor Wandering One" her part has been transposed down a bit, probably so that she can manage the highest notes), and the overdubbing of a couple other performer's singing by better singers, but overall the dancing and singing is as good as any I have seen.

The staging is deliberately campy, somewhere between traditional stagecraft and a movie set, and it adds extra charm to the proceedings. There has been some carping about Angela Lansbury's singing, but what she does is in line with the requirements of the role, and is in fact typical of other performances of Ruth's character (I recall the director, during casting of the performance I was in, saying of Ruth, "we don't need a GOOD singer, only a FUNNY singer).

A quick review of the offerings of Pirates on Amazon reveals that the only DVD version of this cast is taken from an outdoor staging in New York (and without Lansbury). It is one of the mysteries of DVD releases that the film version does not exist on on DVD; it certainly one of the best.

I saw the movie version of "Pirates Of Penzance" again six years after my first viewing;I have to admit it wasn't quite as good as I remembered. The movie can't seem to build any momentum for the first few numbers until the Major General shows up. It falters again for several minutes while Kline, Stevens, and Lansbury struggle gamely with the "Leap Year" birthday number (it just isn't all that funny,guys); and the gimmick of staging the big fight between the cops and the pirates through an community theater staging of "HMS Pinafore" is way too cutesy and self-referential. A few of the "patter songs" have a bit of obvious filler, too (although a first time viewer might not notice this among all the clever word play).

But man, that scene where the pirates are parading through the commons singing "WITH CAT-LIKE TREAD, WE HARDLY MAKE A SOUND" at the top of their lungs...it makes me forgive the movie any of its obvious flaws. Kevin Kline was born to play the "Pirate King" and the movie is worth watching for his (and the Major General's) performance alone. Everyone else is good-to-great... there's not a flat tire or a bad performance in the bunch. Linda Ronstadt's abilities were a surprise to me; even though I am sure she got some "assistance" via dubbing and clever arrangements that hid her weak spots as a singer, she still made a smashing Mabel. And Gilbert and Sullivan's frothy, feather-light operettas still provide easy enjoyment for a modern audience who want light, clever comedy and pretty, accessible songs.

Still very good stuff, though not quite as good as I remembered. That's probably because I played a whole lot of pit orchestras in the intervening years and became a bit jaded.

I first saw this incarnation of Gilbert and Sullivan's "Pirates of Penzance" at the age of 10, but just recently saw it again when my school decided to perform it for our annual spring musical. At the age of 18, I expected that I would find it immature after having liked it at 10. Needless to say, I was wrong. This is a wonderful adaptation of a great operetta, and becomes even better with the experience of performing it.

Fans of Kevin Kline rejoice! He plays the perfect "Pirate King," the silly leader of a band of pirates who seem to be completely incompetent, if only at piracy. He delivers his lines with precision and, along with David Hatton (Samuel), adds a much needed low bass-baritone to Rex Smith(Frederic) and the rest of the pirates' tenor in the pirate tunes.

The late Tony Azito(Police Sergeant)'s performance is literally unbelievable, as he looks more like a man made out of rubber rather than flesh and bone.

I would recommend this to anyone, especially die hard Gilbert and Sullivan fans.