Associate producer: Josef Somlo. Producer: Geoffrey Toye. This film was produced by arrangement with Rupert D'Oyly Carte. Made at London's Pinewood Studios.Music played by the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Geoffrey Toye. Chorus from the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. Songs, all lyrics by Sir William Schwenck Gilbert, music by Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan: "The Sun, Whose Rays" (Baker, reprized Colin), "Gentlemen of Japan" (chorus), "A Wandering Minstrel, I" (Baker and chorus), "Our Great Mikado" (Stroud and chorus), "Behold the Lord High Executioner" (chorus), "Taken from a County Jail" (Green), "Comes a Train of Little Ladies" (chorus), "Three Little Maids from School" (Colin, Paynter, Naylor and chorus), "Were You Not to Ko-Ko Plighted" (Baker and Colin), "I Am So Proud" (Granville, Green, Stroud), "With Aspect Stern" (Green, Granville, Stroud, chorus), "The Threatened Cloud Has Passed Away" (Baker, Colin, Granville, Paynter, Naylor, chorus), "Long Life to Nanki-Poo" (Granville, chorus), "Your Revels Cease!" (Willis, chorus, Paynter, Baker), "Braid the Raven Hair" (chorus), "For He's Going To Marry Yum-Yum" (Paynter and chorus), "Brightly Dawns Our Wedding Day" (Colin, Paynter, Baker, Stroud), "Here's a How-De-Do!" (Colin, Baker, Green), "Miya Sama" (chorus), "Obedience I Expect" (Barclay, Willis, chorus), "A More Humane Mikado" (Barclay and chorus), "The Criminal Cried" (Green, Paynter, Granville, chorus), "The Flowers That Bloom in the Spring" (Baker, Green, Colin, Paynter, Granville), "Titwillow" (Green). Deleted songs: "Young Man Despair", "I've Got a Little List", "So Pardon Us'', "Oh Fool", "Flutter Little Heart", "A Is Happy", "Alone And Yet Alive", "Beauty in the Bellow of the Blast", "For He's Gone and Married Yum-Yum". Copyright 10 May 1939 by Universal Pictures Co., Inc. A G&S Films (London) Production. New York opening at the Rivoli: 1 June 1939. U.S. release: 8 September 1939. U.K. release through General Film Distributors: January 1939. Australian release through G-B-D/20th Century-Fox: 15 June 1939. 11 reels. 91 minutes. SYNOPSIS: Rather than marry his father's choice, the son of the Mikado of Japan flees from the palace. NOTES: Universal's first full Technicolor release. COMMENT: Exquisite. Mind you, some viewers complained that Kenny Baker's American accent was distracting. Others were unhappy by the omission of Ko-Ko's famous patter song about his "little list". And many of the songs that are retained have been cut down to a few verses. But who could resist such a charmingly pastel-colored production, brilliantly enacted and sung, and so stylishly presented? Sound recording and other technical credits are superb.

Was channel surfing and came upon this film. I am not a G&S expert,The print looks like a duplicate. It was copied from a print and not the original negative. Before VCRs it was illegal to own a film, except those where the copyright had expired. People could duplicate and sell these films and show them without having to reimburse the creator of the film. That is why until recently every TV station would show "Its A Wonderful Life". This film looks like a candidate for a restoration if the original negative still exists. PS in order to make the 10 lines. Did you know Groucho Marx was obsessed with The Mikado. In 1960 he did a TV version in which he played Ko-Ko and his daughter played Peep-Bo

In the 1930s the decision was made to do a movie of a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta as a star vehicle for Kenny Baker. They decided to do "The Yeomen of the Guard" with Baker as Fairfax and engage members of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company for other roles in the film--including Martyn Green as Jack Point. However, they went back in this decision and decided to make a movie of "The Mikado" instead. In his autobiography, Green states that he feels "Yeomen" would have made a better movie.This is an interesting Mikado, with both its upsides and its downsides. The biggest downside being the large amount of song cuts. The Mikado is one of Gilbert and Sullivan's best works, and it's a shame that so much of G&S's score is left out. Missing from the production are Pooh-Bah's "Young Man Despair;" Ko-Ko's excellent "Little List" song; "So Please You Sir, We Much Regret" (the quartet between Pooh-Bah and the girls); much of the Act I Finale; the quintet between Pooh-Bah, Pitti-Sing, Ko-Ko, the Mikado, and Katisha--"See How the Fates Their Gifts Allot;" Katisha's solo "Alone and Yet Alive;" and Katisha and Ko-Ko's duet "There is Beauty in the Bellow of the Blast." I assume these were all cut due to time, but it is a shame to lose them. Much of the dialogue is cut as well, cutting out some of Gilbert's funniest lines.All this is made up for, however, by the actors. Despite the fact that it's Kenny Baker and Jean Colin's faces you see on the front of the box, the star here is Martyn Green as Ko-Ko. Green was the principle comic baritone with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company (a name which has always been synonymous with the best performances of Gilbert & Sullivan you can find) for many years and both this and the many recordings he made show that he was one of the best actors to ever play the Grossmith roles. He gives a stellar performance as Ko-Ko, the lord high executioner, and it really is a shame the list song was cut. Another D'Oyle Carte regular, Sydney Granville, plays Pooh-Bah and he is excellent as well. His Pooh-Bah is just as great as Green's Ko-Ko. There are quite a few other D'Oyly Carters here as well--Elizabeth Paynter and Kathleen Naylor (Pitti-Sing and Peep-Bo), the entire chorus, and Gregory Stroud (Pish-Tush) had done a bit of work with the D'Oyly Carte during the 1926 season. The rest of the cast does an excellent job as well. Victor Schertzinger manages to transfer the show to film quite well without it feeling too awkward on the screen (although I agree with Martyn Green in feeling that Yeomen would have made a better movie).All in all, despite the song cuts, it is an excellent production of the Mikado, one that is well worth seeing. Of the Mikados I have seen on video and/or DVD (including this one, Stradford's production, Opera World's, and English National Opera's), I would say this is the best one out there. This is G&S performed the way it should be performed, the only disadvantage being that there's not enough of it.

Admittedly, there are some magnificent performences here. Ko-Ko is truly delightful, and probably quite canonical. However, the cuts and interpolations made to turn the play into a movie are absolutely vile. Several totally uncessary scenes are added, songs are given to the wrong characters, and several of the best are cut. What's The Mikado without "I've Got A Little List" or Katisha's magnificent "Oh, Living I" aria? I'd also be more comfortable with classic Japanese costumes (which, BTW, Gilbert insisted on) rather than these exaggerated, silly versions of them. Sigh. The D'Oyley Carte association with this film led me to expect an absolutely authentic production, and I was terribly disappointed.