The Yeomen of the Guard (VHS) ~ Joel Grey (actor) and Elizabet... Cover Art

Gilbert & Sullivan - The Yeomen of the Guard / Marks, Grey, Opera World [VHS]

Joel Grey (actor) and Elizabeth Gale (actor)


List Price: $19.95
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Review

The Yeomen of the Guard, one of Gilbert & Sullivan''s least satiric and most charming works, largely stars its rich, operatic score. The story, set at the Tower of London during Tudor times, is also beautifully constructed, with terrific pseudo-Shakespearean language. For such a vibrant piece, this video (part of the Opera World series of Gilbert & Sullivan works, made for the BBC in 1982) is strangely drab. The weakest element is Joel Grey as the melancholy clown Jack Point. The series mixes musical-comedy performers with opera singers, Americans with Brits. Grey''s Broadway background isn''t a drawback; in fact, some show-biz sparkle might have done him good. His sour, lethargic performance misses the potential for sunshine at the character''s heart. Even his singing is doubtful--he has a hard time staying on key. Other actors are equally lackluster. David Hillman as Colonel Fairfax, around whom the plot''s twists (and the two leading ladies) revolve, is fatally without charm. One redeeming presence is Alfred Marks as the dimwitted jailer Wilfred Shadbolt. Preposterously sure of himself, with a marvelous deadpan, this Wilfred comes to life more than anyone else on screen.

For television, the operas in this series were restricted to a two-hour length. Most easily met that limit, but Yeomen underwent deep cuts. The result is both disappointing and confusing, with some major plot developments excised. And the film has been sloppily edited: dead moments mark a couple of junctures where songs, no doubt previously filmed, were snipped out. --David Olivenbaum

Release Note

Surrounded by the battlements of the Tower of London, Phoebe Meryll sits brooding over the coming execution of Colonel Fairfax. Only Phoebe''s father, whose life Fairfax has twice saved, has a plan for his disguise and escape. The plot thickens with the arrival of Jack Point, a professional jester, and his sweetheart Elsie. For legal reasons, Fairfax needs to marry before he dies, and, to raise much-needed cash, Elsie agrees to be his temporary bride. Eventually all is resolved, except for Jack, who finds his loss too much to bear.


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