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This video is one of the Opera World series of 12 Gilbert and Sullivan operettas produced for television in 1982. Aiming for a broad public, the series' producers assembled crossover casts of Savoyards, comedians, song-and-dance types, and Americans affecting British accents. The results are erratic, and H.M.S. Pinafore is as mixed as they come. Musically, it is of generally high quality (the opera singer Della Jones as Buttercup, for instance). It is full of energetic dance numbers, and there's a hefty dose of music-hall comedy. It just doesn't add up.
Peter Marshall, best known as the host of Hollywood Squares, turns out to be a credible singer and dancer. But his performance is bizarre. With his prancing movements and incessant grin, he's a Victorian cartoon that scarcely resembles the genial but upright Captain Corcoran. It's similar with the British TV comedian Frankie Howerd, who, in the role of Sir Joseph, plays himself. Expertly drawing on a large stock of mannerisms, he hoists his eyebrows, purses his lips, levitates his voice an octave in surprise. Howerd's speak-singing is more effective than you might think; he tramples on Gilbert's dialogue, however. Adlibbing many of his lines, he is sometimes visibly at a loss for what to say next.
The number of such wobbly moments suggests that the production was taped in a hurry. Things are further constrained by the shipboard set, which is too cramped for all those sailors, sisters, cousins, and aunts. During the dance segments, you can observe them bumping into the scenery and each other. --David Olivenbaum

Product Description

FEATURING THE LONDON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA AND A HOST OF INTERNATIONAL STARS, INCLUDING VINCENT PRICE, JOEL GRAY, PETER MARSHALL, KEITH MITCHELL, FRANKIE HOWERD AND PETER ALLEN. FILMED IN ENGLAND AND CREATED ESPECIALLY FOR TV, THEY HAVE DELIGHTED FANS ON PBS AND THE BBC.

From the Back Cover

From the popular series seen on PBS and the BBC. On the quarter-deck of the H.M.S. Pinafore, Captain Corcoran and his crew await the coming of Sir Joseph Porter, who is going to inspect Corcoran's ship and marry his daughter, Josephine. But Josephine is secretly in love with Ralph Rackstraw, a member of the crew. They attempt to elope but are apprehended. Through a strange twist revealed by Buttercup, the bumboat woman, all ends happily after all. Featuring the London Symphony Orchestra and the Ambrosian Opera Chorus and starring Peter Marshall, Frankie Howerd, Meryl Drower, Michael Bulman and Alan Watt. DVD SPECIAL FEATURES INCLUDE an introduction to the opera by Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., "making of" featurette, Gilbert & Sullivan profile, song index and companion booklet featuring the H.M.S. Pinafore libretto., ISBN13: B00006JU6A ISBN10: B00006JU6A Material Type: dvd