Search - Gilbert & Sullivan - The Mikado on DVD

What would Willie and Artie think?

Robert Ray (r.ray@vca.unimelb.edu.a | Australia | 11/06/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"While it is wonderful for its preservations of Martyn Green's KoKo and Sydney Granville's Pooh Bah, I find that the rearrangement of the scenes for this movie most odd. Once you get past the interpolated opening, it is quite enjoyable. But too much of the music is missing for my taste. Still it gets more respectful treatment than poor Lehar's Merry Widow did both from Maurice Chevalier and Lana Turner (!). Martyn Green in his autobiography states they were going to make The Yeomen of the Guard and changed their minds at the last minute. Probably beacuse they couldn't imagine Kenny Baker as Colonel Fairfax. Green thought it would have made the better film. I agree (if without Baker though - who's American accent just grates). Still an invaluable record of two great Savoyards, but I suspect strictly for the fans only."

Outstanding Adaptation!

D.D. | Jacksonville, FL United States | 07/21/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This film is a great adaptation of what's been called the most popular musical of all time...if you are able to accept the edits. In bringing the production to an end at least 30 minutes quicker than a typical stage version, they opted to cut Katisha's role down to a mere plot mechanism, which works fine if it must. In the 1960 TV production, overseen by Martyn Green himself, she didn't even show up until the second act, and it worked just fine (though it did help that she got her two big numbers at the end, which sweetly helped to layer Groucho Marx's under-rehearsed but hilarious Ko-Ko). The other cuts are of lesser-known numbers (the packaging says only one song was omitted!), except for the "List" song, and the abrupt and jarring fade to black after Ko-Ko's wonderful entrance sequence indicates that it may have been filmed (as I have seen written) and dropped, either because this was a few years before the official "banjo" lyric substitution, or because of some business involving a Hitler image. As great as it is, that song always seems stuck-in (as it was) and counter to Ko-Ko's personality.
The mouthing of pre-recorded lyrics is exceptionally well-done, and until I read Green's account of lip-synching experiences I wondered if the songs were actually recorded live...he is particularly sharp, especially in the "Criminal Cried" sequence. Some of his business seems over-done, especially in the "encores," and inside-jokes like the stubbed-toe bit seem weird and out-of-place (I think the film would have benefited from editing out both encores). But he is the classic Ko-Ko, and his changing motivations and emotions expertly show why this complex character is one of the great characters of the theatre.
Sydney Granville's Pooh-Bah perfectly calibrates a character that can be very tiresome if presented too one-dimensionally. John Barclay's Mikado is not like the buffoon we're used to, but his ghoulish countenance seems to work here. There is something jarring about the sound of his voice when speaking, however, almost as if it were dubbed by another person. Kenny Baker's Nanki-Poo is fine but, well, his hair is distractingly effeminate.
As for the prologue, I found it a bit long and frustrating, seeming almost like a pantomime, or even a silent movie. If they had worked the "Wandering Minstrel" song in where it should have been, I don't see why they couldn't have avoided it altogether. In all, however, this is a beautifully shot, very effective adaptation. (And the numbers are much more spirited than the beautiful but flatly-performed ones in "Topsy Turvy.") There are filmed stage productions out there if you are sensitive to the editing process...enjoy this if nothing else as a historical record, and be grateful it's on DVD!"