After a young man leaves a band of pirates, hilarity ensues.
Director: Wilford Leach
Stars: Kevin Kline, Angela Lansbury, Linda Ronstadt, Rex Smith.
Graciela Daniele ... choreographer
Roy Jones ... assistant choreographer
Watched online, vhs copy, fs.
No songs in the Soundtracks, but plenty performed.
I've never been attracted to Gilbert & Sullivan, not even when Groucho Marx performed in The Mikado ('60). The rapid patter songs are more irritating than pleasing. That holds true here as well. I got very anxious for this to be finished.
Because I don't like the material, I have little to say about the performances. KK did not lip sync his own voice well early in the film, so I didn't want to watch closely. Therefore I could only give a vague outline of the plot: RS is an indentured servant to the pirate (hard-of-hearing AL thought she was making him apprentice to a pilot), and his term lasts until his 21st birthday. But when they discover he's born on Leap Day, they renege on releasing him.
AL has fallen in love with LR, daughter of that very modern major general, and she reciprocates.
The pirates are soft on orphans. If an adult claims to be an orphan, they don't rob him, or they release him, etc.
They did a big dance number with swords swashing, but I didn't follow why.
I (would have) applauded the conclusion because I could move on. It would take a very different state of mind for me to enjoy any G&S; I don't recommend trying this again until I've found some work of theirs that I like. And I won't be putting much effort into THAT quest.
Universal & more, dir. Leach; 5
21Sep2020 Update: Watched online, good copy with subtitles, right after watching The Pirates of Penzance (1985; 7). K.Klein & cie do not hold my attention. The voices are part of the problem: Casting was for star effect; they are mostly wrong for the material and/or irritating. Something fundamental is wrong when _I_ don't like the fact this is a film instead of a live performance. Perhaps if I had followed the libretto, I could have concentrated better. But I think I could have rewatched the '85 version with less irritation.
