''The Pirates of Penzance'' is a 1983 romantic musical

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

written and directed by Wilford Leach based on Gilbert and Sullivan's 1879 comic opera of the same name. The film, starring Kevin Kline,

Angela Lansbury Dame Angela Brigid Lansbury (October 16, 1925 – October 11, 2022) was an Irish-British and American film, stage, and television actress. Her career spanned eight decades, much of it in the United States, and her work received a great deal ...

Linda Ronstadt Linda Maria Ronstadt (born July 15, 1946) is a retired American singer who performed and recorded in diverse genres including rock, country, light opera, the Great American Songbook, and Latin. She has earned 11 Grammy Awards, three American ...

, George Rose, and Rex Smith, is an adaptation of the 1980

Joseph Papp Joseph Papp (born Joseph Papirofsky; June 22, 1921 – October 31, 1991) was an American theatrical producer and director. He established The Public Theater in what had been the Astor Library Building in Lower Manhattan. There Papp created ...

production of ''Pirates''. The original

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

cast reprised their roles in the film, except that Lansbury replaced Estelle Parsons as Ruth. The minor roles used British actors miming to their Broadway counterparts. Choreography was by

Graciela Daniele Graciela Daniele (born December 8, 1939) is an Argentine-American dancer, choreographer, and theatre director. Biography Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina to Raúl Daniele and Rosa del Carmen Almoina. After her parents divorced, her mother got a job ...

. It was produced by Papp and filmed at

Shepperton Studios Shepperton Studios is a film studio located in Shepperton, Surrey, England, with a history dating back to 1931. It is now part of the Pinewood Studios Group. During its early existence, the studio was branded as Sound City (not to be confused ...

in London.

Plot

In the 1850s, young Frederic was sent in the care of his nursemaid, Ruth, to be apprenticed to a

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

. But she misunderstood her instructions, being hard of hearing, and apprenticed him instead to the Pirate King. Now turning 21 years old, his service is finished, so he decides to leave the Pirates of Penzance. He has a strong "sense of duty" and vows to lead a blameless life and to exterminate the pirates. Ruth wants him to take her with him, but just then he meets some young maidens, the daughters of Major-General Stanley, and realizes that Ruth is "plain and old". One of the maidens, Mabel, agrees to rescue him from his life of piracy by offering her love, and Frederic accepts. Soon, however, the pirates return and seize the young ladies, planning to marry them. Their father then arrives and lies to the pirates, telling them that he is an orphan. He knows that the pirates are orphans themselves and never attack another orphan; the pirates let him and his daughter go free. Later, General Stanley wrestles with his conscience, having told a lie. Mabel and Frederic try to cheer him up, and Frederic has engaged the constabulary to help him defeat the pirates. The police arrive, but they turn out to be timid. Then the Pirate King and Ruth find Frederic alone. They have reviewed the fine print on his apprenticeship indenture and have discovered that he is still a pirate because he was born in a

leap year A leap year (also known as an intercalary year or bissextile year) is a calendar year that contains an additional day (or, in the case of a lunisolar calendar, a month) added to keep the calendar year synchronized with the astronomical year or ...

on February 29, and he will not be out of his indentures to the pirates until his 21st birthday in 1940. Mabel agrees to wait for Frederic until then. The Police return and, hearing the pirates approach, they hide. The pirates arrive and seize the still guilt-ridden Major-General. Mabel coaxes police to battle the pirates, but they are quickly defeated. However, the Sergeant of Police calls on the pirates to "yield in

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

's name". The pirates tearfully do so and release the Major-General, surrendering to the police. However, Ruth reveals that the pirates are all "noblemen who have gone wrong"; the Major-General pardons them and invites them to resume their parliamentary ranks and to marry his beautiful daughters. All ends happily.

Cast

* Kevin Kline as The Pirate King *

as Ruth *

as Mabel Stanley * George Rose as Major-General Stanley * Rex Smith as Frederic *

Tony Azito Tony Azito (July 18, 1948 – May 26, 1995) was an American eccentric dancer and character actor. He was best known for comedic and grotesque parts, which were accentuated by his hyperextended body. Education Azito was part of the Juilliard Schoo ...

as the Police Sergeant * David Hatton as Samuel ** Stephen Hanan as Samuel's singing voice *

Louise Gold Louise Gold (born 1956) is an English puppeteer, actress and singer whose career has spanned more than four decades. She is best known for her work as a puppeteer on television and for roles in musical theatre in the West End. Gold was raised ...

as Edith ** Alexandra Korey as Edith's singing voice * Teresa Codling as Kate ** Marcie Shaw as Kate's singing voice *

Tilly Vosburgh Matilda Vosburgh (born 17 December 1960) is a British character actress. Early life Born in the Westminster district of London, Vosburgh is the daughter of comedy writer and lyricist Dick Vosburgh and former actress Beryl Vosburgh (née Roques ...

as Isabel

Musical numbers

# Overture # Pour, oh Pour the Pirate Sherry – Pirates and Samuel # When Frederic Was a Little Lad+ – Ruth # Oh Better Far to Live and Die++ – Pirate King # Oh False One, You Have Deceived Me – Frederic and Ruth # Climbing Over Rocky Mountain+ – Major General's Daughters # Stop, Ladies, Pray – Frederic and Daughters # Oh Is There Not One Maiden Breast+ – Frederic and Daughters # Oh Sisters, Deaf to Pity's Name – Mabel and Daughters # Poor Wandering One++ – Mabel and Daughters # Stay, We Must Not Lose Our Senses – Frederic, Daughters and Pirates # Hold Monsters and I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General+ – Mabel, Major General and Chorus # Act I Finale – Company # Oh Dry the Glistening Tear* – Mabel and Daughters # When the Foeman Bares His Steel++ – Sergeant of Police # Now for the Pirate's Lair – Frederic, King and Ruth # When You Had Left Our Pirate Fold+ – Ruth, King and Frederic # My Eyes are Fully Open (from ''

Ruddigore ''Ruddigore; or, The Witch's Curse'', originally called ''Ruddygore'', is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It is one of the Savoy Operas and the tenth of fourteen comic operas written tog ...

'') – Frederic, Ruth and King # Away, Away, My Heart's on Fire – King, with Frederic and Ruth # Stay, Frederic, Stay – Mabel and Frederic # Ah, Leave Me Not to Pine – Mabel and Frederic # Oh Here Is Love and Here Is Truth – Mabel and Frederic # No, I Am Brave+ and Sergeant, Approach+++ – Mabel, Police and Sergeant # When a Felon's Not Engaged in His Employment+ – Sergeant and Police # A Rollicking Band of Pirates, We – Sergeant, Pirates and Police # With Cat Like Tread++ – Pirates and Police # Sighing Softly to the River – Major-General and Men # Act II Finale++ – Company ;Differences from the stage version :+Shortened :++Extended :+++Originally dialogue. :Omitted: How Beautifully Blue the Sky

Release

Box office

Theater owners boycotted ''The Pirates of Penzance'' because

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

released it simultaneously to theaters and to subscription television services SelecTV and ONTV. The film opened theatrically in the United States on February 18, 1983 and earned $255,496 from 91 venues in its opening weekend, ranking fourteenth in the box office. At the end of its run, the film grossed $694,497. The film was a

box office bomb A box-office bomb, or box-office disaster, is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the production, marketing, and distribution costs combined exceed the revenue after ...

Critical reception

Despite its commercial failure, the film received generally positive reviews from critics.

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

reports an 81% score based on 16 reviews, with an average rating of 7.1/10.

Home media

The film was released on VHS in 1984 and on DVD in 2010.

References

External links

* * * * *
Review at Variety
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pirates Of Penzance, The 1983 films 1980s adventure comedy films 1983 romantic comedy films 1980s musical comedy films American adventure comedy films American musical comedy films American romantic comedy films American romantic musical films British adventure comedy films British musical comedy films British romantic comedy films Films based on operas Films based on works by Gilbert and Sullivan Films set in the 1870s Pirate films American swashbuckler films Films shot at Shepperton Studios Universal Pictures films British swashbuckler films 1980s English-language films 1980s American films 1980s British films