Gilbert and Sullivan are world famous for their comic operas, which many have tried to imitate but nearly always fall very short. I was quite pleased to find “HMS Pinafore” as one of the selections from which to choose on Blockbuster.com and put it into my queue. When it arrived, I sat right down to watch it.
The Pinafore is a ship in Her Majesty’s fleet, one of the finest to be had. It is commanded by Captain Corcoran, a fair man who holds the respect of his men. He is also the father of Josephine, a beautiful young woman who is engaged to the First Lord of the Admiralty, Sir Joseph Porter. However, Josephine is in love with someone else, a common sailor by the name of Ralph (pronounced “Raif”) Rackstraw. When Sir Joseph comes to visit Josephine aboard the Pinafore, he learns that she has feelings for someone else, but he won’t let her out of their engagement until Buttercup, a wandering peddler/former nursemaid reveals that she switched two babies at birth, and that Captain Corcoran is really Ralph Rackstraw and vice versa. Sir Joseph can’t bring himself to marry the daughter of a common sailor, and so they all live happily ever after. Except for Sir Joseph, that is.
Unfortunately, this DVD version of the play was poorly staged. It doesn’t matter how good the libretto is; if the actors can’t pull it off, the play will appear clumsy. I found much to criticize in watching this movie. With the exception of the man playing Sir Joseph, the actors’ voices were so operatic that I couldn’t understand the lyrics, which is criminal because most of the humor in a Gilbert and Sullivan opera is found within the lyrics. In addition, our leading man seemed more concerned with facing the camera than anything else, including ignoring the woman to whom he was supposed to be singing. It’s my understanding that when wooing a fair lass, it’s much easier done if you’re actually looking at her.
In addition, rather than performing the play upon an actual boat, the set was a very unconvincing boat shell. To watch a play on a DVD, one usually expects a little more effort to be put into it, but it just wasn’t.
I would love to see this play performed on the stage. I’m sure I would be able to enjoy the mastery of Gilbert and Sullivan much better then. As for this DVD version, my verdict: don’t even bother.
Starring: Peter Marshall, Frankie Howerd, Meryl Drower, and Michael Bulman. Not rated.