GILBERT & SULLIVAN - THE MIKADO

Details

• Release Year: 1939
• Genre: Musical
• Plot: As an operetta, THE MIKADO was the culmination of Gilbert & Sullivan's work, with the most improbable origins--they'd been stuck for an idea for a new project, and W. S. Gilbert was pacing around his home when a Japanese ceremonial sword fell off a wall. Inspired by the incident, he set to work and brought the story to his musician partner, Arthur Sullivan--the result was the tale of the Japanese prince Nanki-Poo (Kenny Baker), who is on the run from an arranged marriage, masquerading as a balladeer; he falls in love with Yum-Yum (Jean Colin), a woman betrothed to the Lord High Executioner (Martyn Green), who has problems of his own--his job (and life) depends on at least one execution taking place each month, but he's without a current prospect for the ax. Nanki-Poo agrees to be executed if he is allowed to marry Yum-Yum so that he will have a month of romantic bliss. Ko-Ko agrees, and a compedy of errors ensues, involving mismatched couples, an angry emperor, Japanese legal arcana, and a resolution of Shakesperean symmetry, all sparked by classic songs such as 'A Wandering Minstrel I,' and 'Three Little Maids from School.';
• Cast: Kenny Baker, Martyn Green, Sydney Granville, John Barclay, Gregory Stroud, Jean Colin, Constance Willis, Elizabeth Paynter, Kathleen Naylor, Leslie Phillips, Victor Schertzinger, William S. Gilbert
• Director: Victor Schertzinger
• Runtime: 1:27
• Company: Wesley Ruggles Productions, Ltd., Image Entertainment, Janus Films
• Media Format: Movie