"The Beggar's Opera" is a ballad opera popular during the early eighteenth century, which used the music of popular folk songs, ballads and church hymns set to new lyrics to satirize social customs, mores, and especially Italian opera. It copied the three act Italian operatic format, rather than the then-custom of five acts.
The genesis of this 1728 opera came from Jonathan Swift, who wrote to Alexander Pope in 1716 asking "what think you, of a Newgate pastoral among the thieves and whores there?" John Gay, who was a friend of both, took up the idea.
One of the characters, Dolly Trull, is aptly named as "trull" was an eighteenth century term for "prostitute".
Laurence Olivier and Stanley Holloway were the only actors to do their own singing in the film.
One of the most expensive British films of its period and a huge box-office flop, although it shows an obvious influence on "Tom Jones", made ten years later and a colossal hit.