Syndetics cover image
Image from Syndetics

The Mikado [videorecording] / Janus Films ; General Film Distributors, Ltd. ; based upon the opera by W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan, by arrangement with Rupert D'Oyly Carte ; adapted, conducted, and produced by Geoffrey Toye ; directed by Victor Schertzinger.

Contributor(s): Material type: FilmFilmPublisher number: CC1992D | CriterionLanguage: English Original language: English Subtitle language: English Series: Criterion collection (DVD videodiscs) ; 559.Publication details: Irvington, NY : Criterion Collection, 2011.Description: 1 videodisc (91 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in. + 1 booklet ([18] p. : ill. ; 19 cm.)ISBN:
  • 160465399X
  • 9781604653991
Uniform titles:
  • Mikado (Motion picture : 1939).
Subject(s): Genre/Form:
Contents:
Prologue -- "The sun and I" -- "A wand'ring minstrel" -- The Lord High Executioner -- "Three little maids" -- "To Ko-Ko plighted" -- The substitute -- Wedding day -- "Here's a how-de-do" -- "A more humane Mikado" -- "The criminal cried" -- A dead man -- "Willow, tit willow" -- Finale -- Color bars.
Production credits:
  • Decor, Vertès ; cameraman, Bernard Knowles ; technicolor photographer, William V. Skall ; editors, Philip Charlot, Gene Milford ; art director, Ralph Brinton.
Kenny Baker (Nanki-Poo), Martyn Green (Ko-Ko), Sydney Granville (Pooh-Bah), John Barclay (The Mikado), Gregory Stroud (Pish-Tush), Jean Colin (Yum-Yum), Constance Willis (Katisha), Elizabeth Paynter (Pitti-Sing), Kathleen Naylor (Peep-Bo); the London Symphony Orchestra and the Chorus of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.Summary: The legendary Gilbert and Sullivan troupe, the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, joined forces with Hollywood for this 1939 Technicolor version of the fabled comic opera, the first complete work by the famed duo to be adapted for the screen, directed by musician and Oscar-nominated filmmaker Victor Schertzinger. The result is a lavish cinematic retelling of the British political satire set in exotic Japan. Nanki-Poo, son of the Mikado of Japan, fled his father's imperial court to escape marriage with Katisha, an elderly lady. Now, disguised as a traveling musician, he meets and falls in love with Yum-Yum, the young ward of Ko-Ko, a cheap tailor in the town of Titipu. Yum-Yum, however, is already betrothed to her guardian, and Nanki-Poo is in despair.
Audiovisual profile: Click to open in new window
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult DVD Adult DVD Main Library DVD MUSIC Mikado Available 33111009922382
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Though it boasts an American director and star, this Technicolor cinemadaptation of Gilbert and Sullivan's comic operetta The Mikado is a faithful record of what it must have been like to attend a performance of Britain's D'Oyly Carte opera company. Rradio tenor Kenny Baker stars as Nanki-Poo, the wand'ring minstrel who wanders into a curious set of situations in the Japanese village of Titi-Pu. D'Oyly Carte perennial Martyn Green plays the leading role of Ko-Ko, the timorous Lord High Executioner who must perform one execution per day or he'll lose his job-and his own head. Ko-Ko finds a likely candidate for decapitation in the form of Nanki-Poo, who feels mighty suicidal when it seems as though his sweetheart Yum-Yum (Jean Cola) is out of his reach. Unbeknownst to Ko-Ko, Nanki-Poo is the son of none other than The Mikado, played with a combination of pomp, circumstance and Noel Cowardlike waspishness by Sydney Granville. Most of the satirical Gilbert & Sullivan songs have been retained, including "The Lord High Executioner", "Three Little Maids from School are We", "Tit Willow", "Here's a How-de-Do", and "The Object Most Sublime". Musical accompaniment is provided by the London Symphony Orchestra. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Originally produced as a motion picture in 1939.

Special features: Interviews: Mike Leigh (18 min.); Scholars Josephine Lee and Ralph MacPhail, Jr. (29 min.); 1926 D'Oyly Carte promo [b&w silent film] (4 min.); Deleted scene (3 min.); Audio feature: 1939 radio broadcast excerpts from "The swing Mikado" (4 min.) and "The hot Mikado" (8 min.); Booklet includes the essay "Celluloid Savoy" by Geoffrey O'Brien.

Synopsis partially derived from the Gilbert and Sullivan Archive.

Prologue -- "The sun and I" -- "A wand'ring minstrel" -- The Lord High Executioner -- "Three little maids" -- "To Ko-Ko plighted" -- The substitute -- Wedding day -- "Here's a how-de-do" -- "A more humane Mikado" -- "The criminal cried" -- A dead man -- "Willow, tit willow" -- Finale -- Color bars.

Decor, Vertès ; cameraman, Bernard Knowles ; technicolor photographer, William V. Skall ; editors, Philip Charlot, Gene Milford ; art director, Ralph Brinton.

Kenny Baker (Nanki-Poo), Martyn Green (Ko-Ko), Sydney Granville (Pooh-Bah), John Barclay (The Mikado), Gregory Stroud (Pish-Tush), Jean Colin (Yum-Yum), Constance Willis (Katisha), Elizabeth Paynter (Pitti-Sing), Kathleen Naylor (Peep-Bo); the London Symphony Orchestra and the Chorus of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.

The legendary Gilbert and Sullivan troupe, the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, joined forces with Hollywood for this 1939 Technicolor version of the fabled comic opera, the first complete work by the famed duo to be adapted for the screen, directed by musician and Oscar-nominated filmmaker Victor Schertzinger. The result is a lavish cinematic retelling of the British political satire set in exotic Japan. Nanki-Poo, son of the Mikado of Japan, fled his father's imperial court to escape marriage with Katisha, an elderly lady. Now, disguised as a traveling musician, he meets and falls in love with Yum-Yum, the young ward of Ko-Ko, a cheap tailor in the town of Titipu. Yum-Yum, however, is already betrothed to her guardian, and Nanki-Poo is in despair.

DVD; Region 1, NTSC; Dolby Digital mono.; full screen presentation, preserving the 1.33 :1 aspect ratio of its original theatrical exhibition.

In English with optional subtitles in English.

Powered by Koha