Coming on the heels of "The Rip Off Movie" (that unfortunate bubble gum pop flop with Kristy McNichol and Christopher Atkins), this is fortunately more loyal to the recent hit Broadway revival of the Gilbert and Sullivan musical that had taken the theater by surprise by becoming a delight at the Delacourte in Central Park and was determined to make it on Broadway, the only Gilbert and Sullivan operetta to do so, updated to modern styles and made a surprise hit. A good majority of the Broadway cast got together for this: Rex Smith as the romantic hero who leaves behind his pirate upbringing to find true love and swear revenge on the pirates who had seized his village, Kevin Kline as the dashing but rather clumsy pirate king, Linda Ronstadt as the lovely Mabel who captures Smith's heart, and George Rose as the very model of a modern major general, Mabel's father who must undergo battle with the pirates by using an old pirate law to prevent them from robbing his family.
Taking over for Estelle Parsons and Kaye Ballard from the original Broadway production is the legendary Angela Lansbury who fits right in as Ruth, the Pirate nurse who is enamored of the MUCH younger Smith and seeks revenge on him when he questions her beauty. This is silly fun, giving a pop sound to the classic Gilbert and Sullivan music yet remaining faithful to the show as a whole. Like the later TV version of "Peter Pan", this often looks like a "Candyland" board game, and features a slew of upbeat production numbers, ballads and witty romantic duets. Comical cops pop in to fight the pirates for a climactic battle scene that is never bloody, and like all good old fashioned musical comedy or operetta, everything turns out all right. Universal films didn't seem to have much confidence in this and shoved it in theaters and pulled it out rather quickly, but it has gained a cult following. The "Pirates of Penzance" revivals since then (including one I saw at City Center with Hal Linden as the Modern Major General) seem to be closer to this version than the original, although several other Gilbert and Sullivan companies prefer the original version of other Gilbert and Sullivan shows I have seen.
Taking over for Estelle Parsons and Kaye Ballard from the original Broadway production is the legendary Angela Lansbury who fits right in as Ruth, the Pirate nurse who is enamored of the MUCH younger Smith and seeks revenge on him when he questions her beauty. This is silly fun, giving a pop sound to the classic Gilbert and Sullivan music yet remaining faithful to the show as a whole. Like the later TV version of "Peter Pan", this often looks like a "Candyland" board game, and features a slew of upbeat production numbers, ballads and witty romantic duets. Comical cops pop in to fight the pirates for a climactic battle scene that is never bloody, and like all good old fashioned musical comedy or operetta, everything turns out all right. Universal films didn't seem to have much confidence in this and shoved it in theaters and pulled it out rather quickly, but it has gained a cult following. The "Pirates of Penzance" revivals since then (including one I saw at City Center with Hal Linden as the Modern Major General) seem to be closer to this version than the original, although several other Gilbert and Sullivan companies prefer the original version of other Gilbert and Sullivan shows I have seen.