The Mikado (1967 film)

The Mikado

Promotional poster
Directed by Stuart Burge
Produced by John Brabourne
Anthony Havelock-Allan
Richard B. Goodwin
Based on The Mikado
by W.S. Gilbert
Arthur Sullivan
Starring Valerie Masterson
John Reed
Kenneth Sandford
Donald Adams
Philip Potter
Music by Arthur Sullivan
Cinematography Gerry Fisher
Edited by Alma Godfrey
Production
company
BHE Films
Distributed by Warner Bros. (United States)
Release dates
  • 15 March 1967 (1967-03-15) (United States)
Running time
122 minutes
Country England
Language English

The Mikado is a 1967 musical film adaptation of Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera of the same name. The film was directed by Stuart Burge and was a slightly cut adaptation of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company's production of The Mikado and used all D'Oyly Carte singers.

Cast

Donald Adams as the Mikado
Kenneth Sandford (left) as Pooh-Bah and John Reed (right) as Ko-Ko

Production

The 1966 production of The Mikado by the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company was adapted by director Stuart Burge, who had previously adapted such films based on theatre productions as Uncle Vanya (1963) and the Laurence Olivier version of Othello (1965). The direction of the film closely reflects traditional D'Oyly Carte staging of the time by Anthony Besch, although there are some cuts.[1]

The Mikado was filmed at the Golders Green Hippodrome on enlarged stage sets. It starred John Reed, Kenneth Sandford, Valerie Masterson, Philip Potter, Donald Adams, Christene Palmer and Peggy Ann Jones in their usual roles with D'Oyly Carte and used the D'Oyly Carte chorus. The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra was conducted by D'Oyly Carte's longstanding conductor, Isidore Godfrey. Set design and decoration was by Disley Jones and Peter Howitt, with costumes by Jones.[1][2]

Release

The Mikado was released in the United States on 15 March 1967. The UK title was The Mikado: The Town of Titipu.[3]

Reception

The New York Times criticized the filming technique and the orchestra and noted, "Knowing how fine this cast can be in its proper medium, one regrets the impression this Mikado will make on those not fortunate enough to have watched the company in the flesh. The cameras have captured everything about the company's acting except its magic."[4] A reviewer of the video commented: "the performance is extremely flat. One senses that the cast, lacking a live audience to interact with, are merely going through the motions."[1]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Shepherd, Marc. "The 1966 D'Oyly Carte Mikado Film", the Gilbert and Sullivan Discography, 15 April 2009, accessed 16 July 2014
  2. "The Mikado (1966)", BFI.org, accessed 16 July 2014
  3. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061973/releaseinfo?ref_=tt_ov_inf
  4. Sullivan, Dan. "The Mikado (1967)". The New York Times, 15 March 1967, accessed 22 March 2010
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