The Pirates of Penzance

The famed Gilbert and Sullivan 1879 operetta about curiously moralistic pirates, the lovely daughters of a modern major-general, a Keystone Kops troop of British bobbies, and a young hero torn between duty and desire bowed on the big screen in 1983 with both theatrical flair and tongue-in-cheek self-awareness. Wilford Leach, who directed the hit stage production for Joseph Papp and subsequently filmed it for public television, reunites most of his Broadway cast for this playfully flamboyant adventure that embraces theater conventions, from brightly painted backdrops to larger-than-life caricatures. Kevin Kline makes for a marvelous comic swashbuckler as the Pirate King, all fun-loving gusto with a soft spot for orphans; and Rex Smith is quite charming as Frederic, his reluctant protégé, who leaves the pirate life and falls in love with virginal innocent Mabel (Linda Ronstadt), who is determined to rehabilitate the lovable rogue. When Frederic's former comrades decide that Mabel's many sisters would make suitable wives, the girls' father, Major-General Stanley (George Rose), steps in and concocts a ruse to derail the plan. Angela Lansbury is perfect in the role of Frederic's maid, playing to the rafters with a knowing affection. Easily the most entertaining film based on a Gilbert and Sullivan work to date, The Pirates of Penzance is perhaps also the most faithful to both the text and the spirit of the original. Highly recommended. (S. Axmaker)