A rather resplendent telling of the partnership
of Gilbert and Sullivan. It looks fabulous in Technicolor and the music is
. . . well the music of Gilbert and Sullivan. If you like their music
as I do it is a treat - and if you don't my guess is you won't be watching
this! For those who are not familiar with the duo this is a nice straightforward
place to start. They were the Lennon-McCartney at the end of the 19th century.
Enormously popular - not just among the hoi polloi but among all the classes
in England. Various productions of their works have been put on all over
the world - even in their own time - there was a black version way back that
must have been fabulous (The Hot Mikado). They wrote 14 comic or light operas
with Gilbert writing the libretto and Sullivan the music. Nearly all of them
were big hits though these days it is mainly The Pirates of Penzance, The
Mikado and The H.M.S. Pinafore that people know. For I am a Pirate King.
And it is, it is a glorious thing to be a Pirate King. Their productions
by Richard D'Oyly Carte at the Savoy Theater - which was built specifically
to house the operettas of G&S - changed English theater - gave it professionalism
and class. D'Oyly Carte Company gave performances till 1982 and then on occasional
revivals.
Other than an ending that seems to have been fabricated to give a slightly
happy ending, the film sticks to the facts for the most part. Even things
that you think they might have skipped over. The partnership between the
composers and D'Oyly Carte lasted 25 years. They had their issues - their
arguments but they kept coming back for one more operetta and then one more.
They finally broke up in 1896 for good and Sullivan was to die four years
later, D'Oyle Carte the following year and Gilbert in ten years. So there
is not a lot of drama to be had here. The only conflict was that Sullivan
pre-Gilbert was already making a reputation for himself as a serious classical
composer and he continued to do so in between his work with Gilbert. He felt
the music he composed for the operettas was taking him away from serious
music - but at the same time they made him wealthy and famous. They both
worked before and after with other partners but I don't think much or any
of it or Sullivan's solo work is available today.
So without a lot of drama, there is a ton of music - and well presented.
Not just on the stage but sometimes in clever ways - like a on a group boat
trip or a puppet show. And some of the music displayed is from a few of their
lesser known works like Trial by Jury, Iolanthe and Ruddigore. Gilbert is
portrayed in his usual good cheer style by Robert Morley, Sullivan by Maurice
Evans (Dr Zaius) and D'Oyly by Peter Finch. No great acting is called for
but they are all fine. Mainly the film looks great and the music is
splendid.
