1983 film directed by Wilford Leach
The Pirates of Penzance is a 1983 romantic musical comedy film written and directed by Wilford Leach based on Gilbert and Sullivan's 1879 comic opera of the same name. The film, starring Kevin Kline, Angela Lansbury, Linda Ronstadt, George Rose, and Rex Smith, is an adaptation of the 1980 Joseph Papp production of Pirates. The original Broadway cast reprised their roles in the film, except that Lansbury replaced Estelle Parsons as Ruth. The minor roles used British actors miming to their Broadway counterparts. Choreography was by Graciela Daniele. It was produced by Papp and filmed at Shepperton Studios in London.
Plot
In the 1850s, young Frederic was sent in the care of his nursemaid, Ruth, to be apprenticed to a pilot. But she misunderstood her instructions, being hard of hearing, and apprenticed him instead to the Pirate King. Now turning 21 years old, his service is finished, so he decides to leave the Pirates of Penzance. He has a strong "sense of duty" and vows to lead a blameless life and to exterminate the pirates. Ruth wants him to take her with him, but just then he meets some young maidens, the daughters of Major-General Stanley, and realizes that Ruth is "plain and old".
One of the maidens, Mabel, agrees to rescue him from his life of piracy by offering her love, and Frederic accepts. Soon, however, the pirates return and seize the young ladies, planning to marry them. Their father then arrives and lies to the pirates, telling them that he is an orphan. He knows that the pirates are orphans themselves and never attack another orphan; the pirates let him and his daughters go free.
Later, General Stanley wrestles with his conscience, having told a lie. Mabel and Frederic try to cheer him up, and Frederic has engaged the constabulary to help him defeat the pirates. The police arrive, but they turn out to be timid. Then the Pirate King and Ruth find Frederic alone. They have reviewed the fine print on his apprenticeship indenture and have discovered that he is still a pirate because he was born in a leap year on February 29, and he will not be out of his indentures to the pirates until his 21st birthday in 1940. Mabel agrees to wait for Frederic until then.
The Police return and, hearing the pirates approach, they hide. The pirates arrive and seize the still guilt-ridden Major-General. Mabel coaxes the police to battle the pirates, but they are quickly defeated. However, the Sergeant of Police calls on the pirates to "yield in Queen Victoria's name". The pirates tearfully do so and release the Major-General, surrendering to the police. However, Ruth reveals that the pirates are all "noblemen who have gone wrong"; the Major-General pardons them and invites them to resume their parliamentary ranks and to marry his beautiful daughters. All ends happily.
Reception
Box office
The film opened theatrically in the United States on February 18, 1983, and earned $255,496 from 91 venues in its opening weekend, ranking fourteenth in the box office.[3] At the end of its run, the film grossed $694,497.[2] The film was a box office bomb, as audiences found it disappointing in comparison with the Broadway production.[4]
Critical reception
Despite its commercial failure, the film received generally positive reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes reports an 81% score based on 16 reviews, with an average rating of 7.1/10.[5][6]
