Cheap Gilbert & Sullivan - The Mikado (DVD) (Kenny Baker (II), Martyn Green) (Victor Schertzinger) Price

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Customer Reviews of Gilbert & Sullivan - The Mikado

famous D'Oyly Carte Players on film
This wouldn't be my first choice for a DVD or VHS Mikado, but IS interesting in its own way. A big technicolor production from 1938, one has the opportunity to see D'Oyly Carte greats Martyn Green and Sydney Granville in action as Ko-Ko and Pooh-Bah. I must disagree with most about Kenny Baker as Nanki-Poo; sure, it is an American approach, but this role isn't high drama--he's a young prince in love, and I think Baker is just fine in the role, and sings it as well, and at times better, than most of the recorded Nanki-Poos, and I've heard them all on records. A pure, sweet, naturally high lyric tenor. I'm not surprised he also gets Yum-Yum's song--he was the main star of the film (this was his heyday in radio and movies.) The costumes are bizarre, and sometimes the sets, and, yes, the plot is messed with, but it still is a fun watch if you can put purist notions aside about Gilbert & Sullivan production. I was a bit amazed, though, how much Martyn Green "hammed-up" the role; did he get away with this on stage for years with the esteemed company? Oh well, at this price, give it a try!

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Outstanding Adaptation!
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!

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Green & Granville make for pleasant MIKADO
True love never runs smooth in the classic operas of W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan. When the son of the Mikado of Japan falls in love with the fair Yum-Yum, he must not only out-wit the man she is to wed (Ko-Ko), but the lovesick Katisha and his own father as well. What follows is a tuneful comedy of errors that has become one of the classics of the musical stage. If nothing else, THE MIKADO has long been regarded as one of the best of the Gilbert & Sullivan creations, with it's sharp satire wedded to the lovely music and Japanese trappings. However, many fans of the Savoy operas have tended to view this 1939 film adapation as somewhat of a mixed bag. While they appreciated the use of stars from the D'Oyle Carte Opera Company, they didn't enjoy seeing the opera trimmed to fit into a 90 minute time frame. Having said that, I will state that this version is a solid enough introduction to the classic show, while preserving the great performances of D'Oyle Carte veterans Sydney Granville and Martyn Green.
Green truly makes the most of his role as the nervous Lord High Executioner, Ko-Ko. His dances of glee in the "Here's A How De Do" number are a great highlight. In contrast, Granville is the epitome of pompous officialdom as Pooh-Bah, the Lord High Everything Else. Kenny Baker's Nanki-Poo doesn't quite have the flair of the others, but he's pleasant enough in the role.
In the title role, John Barclay makes an absolutely gleefully ghoulish Mikado. Some of the costumes are a little strange and the "prologue" which basically sets up the story is charming, if a little strange to those familiar with the opera. If you're a solid G & S fan, you might not appreciate the abridgement, but the performances of Green and Granville are truly classic.....and that alone makes this film worth recommending.