The Story of Gilbert and Sullivan (1953)

The Story of Gilbert and Sullivan
Directed by Sidney Gilliat
Written by Sidney Gilliat based on The Gilbert and Sullivan book by Leslie Bailey
1953/UK
London Film Productions
First viewing/Amazon Prime

For he himself has said it,
And it’s greatly to his credit,
That he is an Englishman! – from HMS Pinafore, lyric by W.S. Gilbert

If you love Gilbert and Sullivan as much as I do, you will likely love this biopic.

This is the story of the sometimes uneasy collaboration of W.S. Gilbert (Robert Morely) and Arthur Sullivan (Maurice Evans) who created many beloved comic operettas during the second half of the 19th Century.  The film explores the tensions arising from Sullivan’s continuing ambition to write serious classical music.  The story is liberally interspersed with scenes from the operettas.

This film is not as lavish nor as perceptive as Mike Leigh’s Topsy-Turvy (1999), which I really loved.  Nonetheless I was thoroughly entertained and would recommend the film to fellow devotees of the protagonists.

Clip – from a performance of HMS Pinafore in the film