The Pirate Movie Reviews

Remaking Gilbert and Sullivan's "The Pirates of Penzance," this film takes place as the daydream of a modern-day girl, Mabel (Kristy McNichol), who is vacationing in Australia. Pop tunes are mixed in with some of the original G&S songs in a pirate period setting that grates on the nerves, as does the inane toilet humor that substitutes for wit. All the performers, especially McNichol, look as if they can't wait until the film is over, and one can hardly blame them. The producers shot the film in a hurry in an attempt to beat the film version of Joseph Papp's hit Broadway staging of the operetta to the screen, and it shows in every frame.