I had a hazy recollection from my youth of the total market indifference to this film when it landed with a thud in theaters in 1983. Turns out a G-rated operatic pirate musical comedy didn’t hold much interest for mainstream movie audiences, collecting less than $1 million worldwide and essentially ending Rex Smith’s film career at its start. The stench of legendary failure is hard to shake, but this sparkling new 4K edition of the film proves that quality material will eventually rise to the top.
Buy The Pirates of PenzanceBased on Gilbert and Sullivan’s 19th-century comic opera, the story follows a young apprentice pirate named Frederic (Smith) who is looking forward to leaving the crew forever on his 21st birthday as promised. Unfortunately, poor Frederic was born on February 29th, so the pirates rule that he still has many more leap year birthdays to go before fulfilling his servitude. The pirates are led by the flamboyant Pirate King (Kevin Kline) and attended to by their head maid, Ruth (Angela Lansbury), essentially acting as parental figures for the crew of scallywags.
On a brief shore leave, Frederic meets and falls in love with Mabel (Linda Ronstadt), one of many daughters of a gruff Major-General (George Rose) who deceives the pirates so they won’t marry his daughters and leave him in solitude. Much song-filled romance and conflict ensue, leading to a boisterous final act that will either find the pirate crew in prison or marital bliss.
I didn’t know the history of this production, so was surprised to find that it originated from a successful Broadway run with virtually the same principal cast members, except for Lansbury. Yes, Kline, Smith, and Ronstadt all actually perform their operatic songs, just as they did in the stage production, while Lansbury steps in to add her legendary musical theatre prestige. The funny thing is that the stage production was also filmed, or at least taped, so it’s entirely possible to watch the show today on YouTube as it was originally staged and compare it to this filmed version produced a few years later.
As for the performances, Kline steals the show with his unbridled charisma, much as he later ruled the ensemble in A Fish Called Wanda. He’s all in on playing a free-spirited swashbuckler and is the best selling point for the film. Smith and Ronstadt are fine in their virtuous, straight-laced roles, contributing outstanding vocals with fairly bland acting suitable for their parts. Lansbury’s role is limited, but potent.
The staging is purposefully artificial, with all of the high seas and land action happening on a soundstage that doesn’t even attempt to look realistic. It’s not framed like a stage production, instead operating in some fantastical setting where lightly painted backgrounds and forced perspective buildings give the cast room to move like they’re really outside. Lighting is artificial and super bright, while elaborate costumes tend toward reddish-browns but pop with a multitude of vibrant hues. They didn’t know it at the time, but the artificially luminous production design is tailor-made for 4K, with colors leaping off the screen and all details of the exceptionally well-lit sets thoroughly revealed in ultra high definition. The film looks absolutely remarkable, especially thanks to the brand new HDR/Dolby Vision master from a 4K scan of the 35mm original camera negative.
The primary bonus feature is an interview with Smith. An audio commentary track is provided by a film historian and a writer/filmmaker, and the original theatrical trailer is also included.
While it may have sunk unseen in movie theaters, this totally bonkers, high-energy film is thoroughly entertaining and well worth seeking out on its welcome new 4K remaster.
