The Story of Gilbert and Sullivan (1953) on Netflix
NR19531h 49mBiographyDramaMusical
Arthur Sullivan earns acclaim for the comic opera he writes with W. S. Gilbert, though he longs to compose serious music. Impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte draws the two men into a partnership.
- Watch on NetflixThis title is not on Netflix right now. Please check back later for updates.
- Watch on NordVPN
- Netflix3.5/5
- IMDb6.9/10300 votes
- Rotten TomatoesNot available
Trailer
Plot summary
Young composer Arthur Sullivan's friends and his fiancée, Grace Marston, urge him toward serious music, including the cantata The Prodigal Son, yet he takes pleasure in the acclaim for Trial by Jury, a short comic opera written with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert. Grace tells him he is wasting his gifts and leaves. The impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte then brings Sullivan and Gilbert together to write more light operas, and The Sorcerer and H.M.S. Pinafore bring them success. When the operas are pirated in America, the company tours there, and The Pirates of Penzance opens in New York. Carte then builds a London theater for the partnership's operas.
Cast
- Bernadette O'Farrellas Jessie Bond
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Story of Gilbert and Sullivan (1953)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Michael Korda said his uncle Alexander Korda loathed Gilbert and Sullivan and hated musicals, and only financed the film because Sidney Gilliat and Frank Launder urged him to, on the strength of their past record.
- The Story of Gilbert and Sullivan took £98,139 and, together with The Beggar's Opera, made up most of a £1 million loss for the National Film Finance Corporation that pushed British Lion into receivership.
- Maurice Evans got his role after visiting Robert Morley backstage, where Morley was appearing in The Little Hut, and going with him to Sidney Gilliat's house; Gilliat had just had his appendix out and signed him.
- Ralph Richardson and John Mills were the favorites to play the title roles in The Story of Gilbert and Sullivan.
- Director Sidney Gilliat called The Story of Gilbert and Sullivan a chaotic production that was initially underbudgeted, and said he clashed with Alexander Korda during filming.
- Alexander Korda negotiated with Bridget D'Oyly Carte, granddaughter of Richard D'Oyly Carte, for the rights to the operas; Sullivan's music entered the public domain at the end of 1950, but Gilbert's lyrics stayed in copyright until 1961.
