The Mikado (1939 film)

The Mikado is a 1939 British musical comedy film based on Gilbert and Sullivan's 1885 comic opera The Mikado. Shot in Technicolor, the film stars Martyn Green as Ko-Ko, Sydney Granville as Pooh-Bah, the American singer Kenny Baker as Nanki-Poo and Jean Colin as Yum-Yum. Many of the other leads and choristers were or had been members of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.[2]

The Mikado
Cover art for the Criterion release
Directed byVictor Schertzinger
Produced byGeoffrey Toye
Written byGeoffrey Toye (adaptation)
Based onThe Mikado
by W.S. Gilbert
Arthur Sullivan
StarringKenny Baker
Martyn Green
Sydney Granville
John Barclay
Music byArthur Sullivan
CinematographyBernard Knowles, William V. Skall
Edited byPhilip Charlot
Gene Milford
Production
companies
G and S Films (uncredited)
Distributed byGeneral Film Distributors Ltd (UK)
Universal Pictures (US)
Release date
  • 12 January 1939 (1939-01-12)
(UK)
  • 1 May 1939 (1939-05-01)
(US)
Running time
90 minutes[1]
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Cast

Production

The music was conducted by Geoffrey Toye, a former D'Oyly Carte music director, who was also the producer and was credited with the adaptation, which involved a number of cuts, additions and re-ordered scenes. Victor Schertzinger directed, and William V. Skall received an Academy Award nomination for Best Cinematography.[3][4] Art direction and costume designs were by Marcel Vertès.[5] The orchestra (and the musicians depicted in the film) consisted of 40 members of the London Symphony Orchestra.[2]

Release

The Mikado premiered in London on 12 January 1939 before opening in the United States on 1 May. A decade later, on 23 July 1949, the film was re-released in New York City.

See also

References
  1. "THE MIKADO (U)". General Film Distributors. British Board of Film Classification. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
  2. Lejeune, C. A. "Films of the Week: Gentlemen of Japan", The Observer, 3 July 1938, p. 14. Barclay had played the title role in America, Stroud had been a D'Oyly Carte performer in Britain in 1926 and had extensive Gilbert and Sullivan experience in Australia, and Paynter had performed Pitti-Sing and other mezzo-soprano roles for five years with D'Oyly Carte under the name Elisabeth Nickel-Lean. Nearly all the chorus were current or former performers with D'Oyly Carte.
  3. Cinegram of the 1939 Mikado film containing photos, cast biographies and other information
  4. Shepherd, Marc. "The Technicolor Mikado Film (1939)", Archived 4 September 2006 at the Wayback Machine A Gilbert and Sullivan Discography (2001), accessed 12 August 2012
  5. Galbraith IV, Stuart. "The Mikado (Blu-ray)". DVDTalk, 27 March 2011
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