I am a Pirate King! (He is a Pirate King!)

Sitting around this evening, I’m participating in one of my favorite guilty pleasures. (No, not that one. Get your minds out of the gutter.)

The Pirates of Penzance (1983) starring Kevin Kline, Rex Smith, Angela Lansbury, and Linda Ronstadt.

It’s always kind of surprised me that the movie isn’t more popular than it is. It is so over-the-top and slapstick.

LOL!

They just got to the point were the pirates are invading Penzance, and after sneaking around on tip-toe during a musical intro, the pirate crew belts out:

“WITH CAT-LIKE TREAD…” at the top of their lungs.

Have any of you seen this gem?


God is my co-pilot. Blame Him.

Not only have I seen the Kline/Landsbury version, but I acted in it in Jr. High. Wonderful show. The best G&S, IMHO.


“Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn’t go away”. - Phillip K. Dick

Cool, SingleDad! What part?

Just a chorus part of the pirate crew. But it was a tremendously fun experience, and I memorized all the songs. Which annoyed my mom tremendously on our subsequent car trip from NYC to KS. :cool:

I agree the movie’s delightful, but the reason it wasnt more popular is prolly cause G&S on stage is just more fun than G&S on screen - traditionally you adlib a bit at the audience, and rewrite the patter songs to poke fun at current events. Think Rocky Horror for upper-class Victorian sensibilities.


Ass-Toaster Extraordinaire, SDMBSRC

Also my favorite G&S!

One of my favorite moments: when the Major-General comes on-stage for the first time, we get, “For he is a Major-General… and it is, it is, a glorious thing, to be a Major General!”

Whereupon Kevin Kline, with a stricken look on his face, mutters angrily, “It’s the same as the Pirate King song!”

And I’ll tell you that Linda Ronstadt really surprised me. That chick can sing. She gives perhaps the best recorded version ever of “Poor Wandering One”.

Ultra-operetta-geek trivia question: in what year does Pirates of Penzance take place? There is no specific mention in the show, but it can be deduced from the lyrics, a knowledge of history, and the rules of calendars. :slight_smile:

  • Rick

I LOVE this movie!

But there is another reason why it never reached the popularity that it could have which makes a nifty trivia question. The producers of the movie decided to try a risky scheme; they released it to the theaters at the same time that it was released for a one-time showing on HBO. Naturally the theater owners were against this idea, so a lot of them refused to book the movie. So, it only ended up playing in a few smaller theaters (here in Providence, it played in the old Cinerama theater, which at that time had degenerated into a second-run showing theater before it was torn down.) The movie never really had the chance to reach the audience that it should have.

“Can you sing it one more time?”

“Of course!”

“And can you do it … real fast?”


Saint Eutychus H.M.S.H.
" ‘He is a prince’ , the minstrels sing.
Among men, yes. Among fools he is a king."

Disney Shorts
The Eutychus Papers

You think that’s a guilty pleasure? Get ready for a shocking confession. I like The Pirate Movie starring Kristy McNichol and Christopher Atkins. Even own a copy. Mrs. Trion considers it the worst movie she has ever seen. I still love verse two of the Major General song.


This signature for rent.

Are you kidding? A chance to watch Kevin Kline sing, dance, swash, and buckle all while wearing tight pants! Book me a seat too!


All you need to start an asylum is an empty room and the right kind of people.

I was wondering if someone was going to mention The Pirate Movie. You like it better than I do, but I enjoyed it thoroughly back when it was on HBO every 3 days in 1985 or so. I haven’t seen it since so who knows how well it’s aged. Shouldn’t it be popping up on one of these new girlie movie channels soon?

otto - The Pirate Movie wormed it’s way into my head durring the HBO constant replay-a-thon in the mid 80’s too. I now watch it on occassion when the thought of it gets stuck in my head and I can’t get it out any other way. But, yes I still do like it.

Why are you all looking at me like that?


This signature for rent.

Oh, great. Now I’ll be singing “I am a pirate king! I am a pirate king! And it is, it is a wonderful thing to be a pirate king!” the rest of the day! Thanx.


“I must leave this planet, if only for an hour.” – Antoine de St. Exupéry

Are you a turtle?

No problem, Johnny! Here’s another one to get stuck in your noggin.

“A paradox, a paradox.
A most amusing paradox.
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha,
This par-a-dox!”

Ha! I own the vinyl soundtrack, which is quite rare. :slight_smile: That was back when Chris Atkins was still a babe… {drool}

“I’m a pirate.”

“A pirate? You mean like hack-slash-off with his head-the Jolly Richard and all that?”

Roger…”

“Roger? I love it…”

“No, Frederick. Is that ok?”

“Mabel, also without a ‘k’…”

:smiley:

Esprix, a lover of bad movies


Ask the Gay Guy!

Oh, and if you really like the movie, you’ll love the spoof song they did on “Forbidden Broadway Vol. I” - makes way fun of Klein (“I am a Kevin Klein!”), Smith (“Maiden’s Breast”) and Rondstadt (“Poor Warbling Star”)

LOVE IT!

Esprix


Ask the Gay Guy!

Esprix - So there really was a soundtrack. I had begun to doubt after all my searching was in vain.

And you had to bring up Forbidden Broadway. I have to admit I had forgotten about the parody on Volume 1. But now I’m gonna be laughing to myself all day. I already have “Somewhat Overindulgent” stuck in the old noggin.


This signature for rent.

Don’t know if you can still find it. I got it years ago in a second-hand vinyl shop, like before CD’s were priced to be popular.

“Don’t cry for me, Barbra Streisand! The truth is you bought the film rights!”

Esprix


Ask the Gay Guy!

Oh, I know a soundtrack was put out. It says so in the credits at the end. But even back in the 80’s I was unable to find the damn thing.

And don’t start quoting FB at me. I have all four CD’s at home PLUS Forbidden Hollywood. (Yes, I am now at work. I am very, very, very, very, very, very bad.)

<looks around> Hey, I think we hijacked this thread.

[QUOTE]
“Originally posted by Bricker:
**Also my favorite G&S!”

It's 3rd on my list. 1st is Iolanthe (perhaps this is not as surprising as it might be,) then Princess Ida. I'm a little tired of it at the moment, since I've performed it 2x in 6 yrs (chorus, then Isabel.)

“Whereupon Kevin Kline, with a stricken look on his face, mutters angrily, ‘It’s the same as the Pirate King song!’”

And speaking of which… My first thoughts on reading the OP were thus: If anyone here noticed 3 college age women wandering around Disneyworld 3 years ago, each declaiming that she was the Pirate King, well, that was me (& 2 others. Mundane & pointless anecdote? Well, this is the forum for it.)

“And I’ll tell you that Linda Ronstadt really surprised me. That chick can sing. She gives perhaps the best recorded version ever of ‘Poor Wandering One’.”

Um, tastes differ I suppose. I missed the actual high notes, as opposed to the watered down lower keys. If you're going to sing Mabel, sing Mabel. It's not worth it without the high E-flats.

Actually, this is why I'm not a huge fan of the movie version - the singing. Sullivan wrote some lovely music, and the singing should do justice to it. The worst offenders were the female chorus, and the woman singing Edith. Why? Not at all enjoyable.

“Ultra-operetta-geek trivia question: in what year does Pirates of Penzance take place? There is no specific mention in the show, but it can be deduced from the lyrics, a knowledge of history, and the rules of calendars. :)”

Bricker, I realize that you probably won’t read this, but I will miss you here. Who will do the challenges (that is, in addition to Arnold?) But here is my answer (and I’m finally beating everyone else, at last check :slight_smile:

 Frederic sings  "In 1940 I of age shall be." If he has 21 birthdays in 1940, then he shall be 84 years old. At first glance, simple subtraction would give you: 1940-84=1856. 1856+21=1877, which is around the time that Pirates was written. However, 1900 is not in fact a leap year, so in order for Frederic to be "21" in 1940, he must have been born in 1852 (a fine American presidential election year - Franklin Pierce has always amused me.) So the action would take place in 1852+21=1873.

So there are two answers:
1 - 1873. Frederic knew about the non-leap year, and incorporated it into his counting.
2 - 1877. Frederic didn't know/can't count/was too damn upset at leaving Mabel to care.

Which is the answer? Clearly this belongs in Great Debates, under the title "Does a career in Piracy imply a lack of math skills?" (right next to "When the 2-lines-no-singing-female-characters finally have a revolution, who's first up against the wall?" Bitter, me?)

I loved “Pirates” from the very moment I heard one song from it, years and years and years ago. I have the vinyl movie soundtrack, the stage soundtrack, the movie itseslf (Rex Smith, to die for, adorable Frederick), and me and the Mr. have seen four stage versions throughout the years. We put it on the ol’ turntable a couple years back and blasted it out the windows for the lawn Nazis to enjoy while we painted the living room.