H.M.S. Pinafore (1982) (TV)

Director:

Rodney Greenberg

Writer:

William S. Gilbert (operetta)

Genre:

Musical | Comedy

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Comic Opera | Gilbert And Sullivan | Operetta | Independent Film

Cast

Peter Marshall	...	Captain Corcoran
Frankie Howerd	...	Sir Joseph Porter, KCB
Meryl Drower	...	Josephine Corcoran
Michael Bulman	...	Ralph Rackstraw
Gordon Sandison	...	Bill Bobstay (The Boatswain's Mate)
Della Jones	...	Mrs Cripps (Little Buttercup)
Alan Watt	...	Dick Deadeye
Anne Mason	...	Cousin Hebe

Also Known As:

The Lass That Loved a Sailor (UK) (subtitle)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Movie Connections:

Version of H.M.S. Pinafore (1981/I) (TV)

Save Your Money

I love Gilbert and Sullivan, but the productions in this series are so bad I winced watching them. When Captain Corcoran first appeared on deck, I furrowed by brow and said out loud, "No, it can't be." But sure enough, a check of the credits revealed that the hardy captain of the H.M.S. Pinafore actually was game show icon Peter Marshall. That claim to fame and his constant horse-toothed grin were distracting enough, but his terrible performance made watching this version of Pinafore almost unbearable. Pete should have stuck to the likes of Yahtzee! and Hollywood Squares. Frankie Howerd speaks most of his lines as Sir Joseph. That may have worked fine for Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady, but it was a deep disappointment to a die-hard G&S fan waiting to hear some of his favorite songs actually sung. The cast includes a plain-looking Josephine and downright ugly (and aging) Ralph Rackstraw. I focus on Pinafore because it is usually my favorite and was so horribly wrecked here. But the other productions in the series are no better. The choreography is consistently overwrought to the point of being downright silly. The singing, while at times good, is generally uneven. Spoken lines often are poorly delivered. The series was taped in 1982. It shows its age, and not only from the silly looking, big 70s-80s hair on all the men. The camera work is awkward, the sets invariably cheesy. In one scene in Pirates of Penzance, the camera rises from behind a potted plant in an effect reminiscent of early public access cable television. I could go on, and really I'd like to find positive things to say, but I do so love G&S, whose work here is turned into something so bad it's difficult to watch. I was going to sell my boxed set and the extra DVDs I purchased, but I would not inflict them on someone else. Save your money and invest in some of the excellent audio versions that are available.