The Mikado

Directed by Victor Schertzinger, this 1939 film of Gilbert and Sullivan's popular 1885 operetta—a send-up of British mores in Japanese garb—is a cinematic adaptation rather than a straight filming of the famed stage production. Some numbers are dropped entirely—including Ko-Ko's famous “As Some Day It May Happen” (aka “I've Got a Little List”)—while others are shortened. And a rather dull prologue establishes the background for the arrival in Titipu of Nanki-Poo—son of the Mikado—who's run away from court to both avoid marrying the dreadful Katisha and to win the hand of the lovely Yum-Yum, although she's betrothed to Ko-Ko, the hapless Lord High Executioner. Still, what's left of the original remains a considerable joy, as stalwarts Martyn Green and Sydney Granville as Ko-Ko and Poo-Bah are wonderful; John Barclay is a fine Mikado; and Constance Willis makes a formidable Katisha. But while Kenny Baker as Nanki-Poo sings well, the American pop star makes no effort at an English accent and plays the role too straight. Extras include interviews (with two G&S scholars, and with director Mike Leigh, whose 1999 Topsy-Turvy—also newly available in Criterion DVD and Blu-ray editions—chronicles the creation of the operetta); the deleted scene of “As Some Day It May Happen”; and radio broadcasts of songs from two jazzed-up American versions of the operetta, The Swing Mikado and The Hot Mikado, featuring Bill “Bojangles” Robinson. More than simply a historical curio, this engaging film is recommended. (F. Swietek)