Customer Reviews

Gilbert & Sullivan - The Mikado

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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.

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!

It is certain that the biggest problem with this make of the Mikado is that so many good songs were cut. However, I am glad that they cut out "As someday it may happen" I never liked that in the least. I mostly compare this to the Statford 1986 version. Overall, it wasn't as good, but it is worth seeing both. I think that this is definitely the Mikado to watch first because it is shorter and the sets are so excellent the watching is easier. I tried watching the Statford version and was desparately bored, until I became enough of a Mikado lover from watching this version to watch it again.
I thought that Kenney Baker made a fine Nanki-Poo, he was much better than Stratford's Henry Ingram, who overacted even more, if that's possible. Baker's voice was good for the role. The accent wasn't much of an impediment, though getting an English one may have helped.
I liked this Yum-Yum because she was much different than the Stratford one, she was quiet and graceful while the other was bouncy, active and perky.
I like the way that Martyn Green hammed up the role, he is the best Ko-Ko I know and did that very well. The Mikado, however, I thought was very bad because he was nothing compared to Gidon Saks of Stratford, a better Mikado than Saks never did in DVD exist.
My favorite character was certainly Sydney Granville, he really captured and haughtiness and snobbery perfectly. While the Stratford Pooh-Bah makes one laugh more, this Pooh-Bah had the correct personality and was better. I loved his fake stomach.

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.

For those of you spoiled by TOPSY-TURVY, this will come as disappointed relief or some such thing. There are several missing songs (As someday it may happen, So sir we much regret, etc.) which is unforgivable because they are important and famous (imagine writing a biography of Shakespeare and never mentioning Hamlet, As you like it, Romeo & Juliet - you get the picture) and the performance feels hushed. Ko-ko is tremendous and the Behold the Lord High Executioner entrance is the best I've ever seen. You must compare this with the 1983 Canadian production which is better in sound and lacking in sets. Miscasting is quite obvious, most faces are forgettable, though the Mikado seems appropriately stern. There is absolutely no chemistry between the lead actors and Yum-yum is as much part of the background as everything else. Until the TOPSY-TURVY cast is recalled to shoot the remainder songs not included in the movie, we are not likely to get a decent Mikado on video. Pity

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!

As a major fan of G&S I was delighted to purchase a Mikado with Martyn Green. The music acting and singing are all good but, this prodution is missing 2 of the best (in my opinion) songs. The 2 songs----
"I have a little list" --who ever heard of G&S production without the patter song and
"There is beauty in the bellow of the blast"--always a fun number.
So---buyer beware. I was quite upset, as part of the fun of G&S is knowing what songs are coming and anticipating them.

The Martyn Green 1939 Mikado film is a valuable historical document, and in the end enjoyable, but still not without certain defects. The foremost of these is the huge number of cuts, listed here in chronological order:

* Much of the Overture (understandable, as it wasn't even written by Sullivan)
* Some of the opening chorus I think, but half of it is run over the opening credits anyway
* Both of Nanki-Poo's recitatives (some of the words of the first one are place in his dialogue with Pish-Tush)
* 2nd verse of Pish-Tush's song, "Our great Mikado"
* Pooh-Bah's song, "Young man despair"
* The list song, "As some day it may happen"
* All but the coda of "Comes a train of little ladies"
* "So please you sir, we much regret" and much of the dialogue preceding it
* "With aspect stern and gloomy stride" (the orchestral part is altered in order to skip from the introduction to Pooh-Bah singing "To ask you what you mean to do we punctually appear")
* 2nd verse of "The threatn'd cloud has passed away"
* "Oh fool that flee-est my Hallow'd joys"
* "The hour of gladness is dead and gone"
* Katisha's first solo lines in the conclusion of the Act I Finale ("Ye torrents roar"), allowing for the chorus to continue on after they interrupt Katisha.
* Pitti-Sing's solo and the reprise of the main verse in "Braid the raven hair"
* 2nd verse of "The sun whose rays are all ablaze." Sadly, Yum-Yum's small speech preceding it, which I never fail to enjoy, is also omitted
* 2nd verse of the madrigal, "Brightly dawns our wedding day" (this cut is also made in the 1966 film)
* 2nd verse of "From ev'ry kind of man obedience I expect" (the daughter-in-law elect thing)
* 1st verse of "A more humane Mikado"
* "See how the fates their gifts allot" and the dialogue concerning Katisha's complexion
* "Alone and yet alive" (including "Hearts do not break")
* "There is beauty in the bellow of the blast" and all of the preceding dialogue
* "For he's gone and married Yum-Yum" (They skip straight to "The threatn'd cloud has passed away" after Ko-Ko explains himself, and very well too)
* The orchestral reprise of "There is beauty in the bellow of the blast"

No doubt I have missed something as I have only watched the movie once (I have made no effort to include all of the dialogue cuts)

Regardless, these are the consequences of the various deletions: Katisha's role is cut down to nothing, singing-wise, though she still retains enough dialogue to get her personality across. And Pitti-Sing's part is chopped down to "For he's going to marry Yum-Yum" and her part in "The criminal cried." Peep-Bo almost doesn't exist. Nanki-Poo and Ko-Ko are the main characters, though they have a few cuts to their roles as well. The part of the Mikado is trimmed down too, but has the privilege to appear before Act 2 in the "Prologue" added to the beginning. This prologue is okay, but I really don't see how it shortens the length of the opera much. Precious time is wasted showing Nanki-Poo walking around Ko-Ko's house, singing nothing but (at one point) "The sun whose rays are all ablaze" as a love song to Yum-Yum, who watches from her window. This seems counterproductive, but there really isn't much one can do about it except skip it. The movie has a distinct Hollywood flavor during the first bit, but once Ko-Ko enters, things begin to seem more Gilbert & Sullivan.

Some complain about the "encores," saying they should not have been allowed in the program so as the grant space for fewer deletions. One must keep in mind, however, that only three minutes are added due to encores (one for "Here's a how-de-do" and one for "The flowers that bloom in the spring") and they add greatly to this fascinating historical document. As another reviewer noted, this is one of the few recordings (the only one?) in which the special orchestration of "The flowers that bloom in the spring" and Nanki-Poo's cadenza are heard.

As for the performance, it is very good to have Martyn Green's Ko-Ko preserved on video. He does wonderfully, with many comic touches that are endearing rather than annoying (I like his last fan). Granville as Pooh-Bah does similarly well, and makes his character's personality come across well. The way he uses his costume almost as a turtle shell is delightful. Kenny Baker is a decent Nanki-Poo. His voice isn't as operatic as it should be, though he certainly can hold his breath for a long time (take a gander at the encore to "The flowers that bloom in the spring"). Jean Colin as Yum-Yum is good but not memorable as far as singing goes. John Barclay's Mikado is pretty good, and gives so much more character to the part than, say, his Brent Walker counterpart.

The sound limits all of the singers a bit, but isn't too bad for 1939.

Overall, this is something to watch once or twice, but not own unless you really take a liking to it. Trying it via interlibrary loan is probably a good idea. Martyn Green is a wonderful Ko-Ko, but with the defects in this recording (primarily the cuts) it probably can't compete with modern versions as a recording of The Mikado. Rather, it is a recording of what the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company was like in 1939 (to a certain extent). If you want to see Green in action, this is the only place for it, otherwise, I recommend the more complete 1966 version or even The Brent Walker version (which has issues all its own).

July 2010 EDIT: Since 2007, I have managed to pick up a DVD copy of this wonderful film. I don't remember laughing so much the first time around! Also: the DVD has restored part of the prologue that the VHS copy cuts. The color and film quality in general are also cleaned up a fair bit on the DVD.

Anyway, the 1938 Mikado ended up being so much more enjoyable than I remember it that I'm upping my rating from four stars to five. Amazing stuff this.

This wouldn't be my first choice for a DVD or VHS Mikado, but it 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? The DVD presentation is wonderful--very sharp and clear, and the color outstanding for its age. At this price, give it a try!

...A TECHNICOLOR "Mikado" circa 1938 and starring Martyn Greene--well who who loves Gilbert and Sullivan could ask for anything more. Kenny Baker, obviously included in the cast to attract American bookings, is the weak point in this production--but not really bad--simply not as good as the D'Oyle Carte Company who did this sort of thing every day for decades to earn their keep. The color is lovely, the sets are delightful and the costumes are a hoot. The opportunity to see vintage performers and performances is not to be missed. Five STARS!!...if you love Gilbert and Sullivan...you will be delighted to own this...