The Pirates of Penzance (film)

Plot

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. Ruth wants him to take her with him, but he soon meets some young maidens, the daughters of Major-General Stanley, and realizes that Ruth is "plain and old". Frederic quickly falls in love with one of them, Mabel. He has a strong "sense of duty" and has vowed to lead a blameless life and to exterminate the pirates. Soon, however, the pirates return and seize the girls. Their father then arrives and lies to the pirates, telling them that he is an orphan. He knows that they are orphans themselves and never attack an orphan.

After the pirates leave, 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 leap year on February 29, and he will not be out of his indentures to the pirates until his 21st birthday. 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. The police are coaxed to battle the pirates, but they are 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", and the Major-General pardons them and invites them to marry his daughters, as all ends happily.

Cast

Kevin Kline as The Pirate King

Angela Lansbury as Ruth

Linda Ronstadt as Mabel Stanley

George Rose as Major-General Stanley

Rex Smith as Frederic

Tony Azito as the Police Sergeant

David Hatton as Samuel

Stephen Hanan as Samuel's singing voice

Louise Gold as Edith

Alexandra Korey as Edith's singing voice

Teresa Codling as Kate

Marcie Shaw as Kate's singing voice

Tilly Vosburgh as Isabel

Musical numbers

Differences from the stage version

+Shortened ++Extended +++Originally dialogue. Omitted: How Beautifully Blue the Sky

Box office

Theater owners boycotted The Pirates of Penzance because Universal Pictures released it simultaneously to theaters and to subscription television services SelecTV and ONTV.

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. At the end of its run, the film grossed $694,497. The film was a box office bomb.

Critical reception

Despite its commercial failure, the film received generally positive reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes reports an 80% score based on 15 reviews, with an average rating of 7.1/10.

Home media

The film was released on VHS in 1984 and on DVD in 2010.