Topsy Turvy (1999)

Gilbert & Sullivan & So Much More

Original Title :	Topsy-Turvy
Director :	Mike Leigh
Writer :	Mike Leigh
Genre :	Comedy
	Drama/Music
Country :	UK
Language :	English
Producer :	Simon Channing-Williams , Georgina Lowe
Music :	Carl Davis (I) Jacques Offenbach Arthur Sullivan (I)
Photography :	Dick Pope
MPAA Rating :	Rated R for a scene of risque nudity.
IMDB ID :	0151568
Official site :	http://www.topsyturvymovie.com/
	Search Subtitles on opensubtitles.org

poster for "Topsy Turvy" by Mike Leigh (1999)

Topsy Turvy (1999) - Mike Leigh

Starring

Allan Corduner		Sir Arthur Sullivan
Dexter Fletcher		I
Sukie Smith		Clothilde
Roger Heathcott		Banton
Wendy Nottingham		Helen Lenoir
Stefan Bednarczyk		Frank Cellier
Geoffrey Hutchings		Armourer
Timothy Spall		Richard Temple (The Mikado
Francis Lee		I
William Neenan		Cook
Adam Searle		Shrimp
Martin Savage		George Grossmith (Ko-Ko
Jim Broadbent		W. S. Gilbert
Lesley Manville		Lucy Gilbert
Kate Doherty		I
Kenneth Hadley		Pidgeon
Keeley Gainey		Maidservant
Ron Cook		I
Eleanor David		Fanny Ronalds
Gary Yershon		Pianist in Brothel
Katrin Cartlidge		Madame
Julia Rayner		I
Jenny Pickering		Second Prostitute
Kevin McKidd		Durward Lely (Nanki-Poo
Sam Kelly		I
Charles Simon		II
Philippe Constantin		I
David Neville		Dentist
Matthew Mills		Walter Simmonds
Shirley Henderson		I
Nicholas Woodeson		Mr. Seymour, Production Manager
Nick Bartlett		Stage Hand
Gary Dunnington		Stage Hand
Dorothy Atkinson		Jessie Bond (Pitti-Sing
Amanda Crossley		Emily, Jessie's Maid
Kimi Shaw		Spinner
Toksan Takahashi		Calligrapher
Akemi Otani		Dancer
Kanako Morishita		Samisen Player
Theresa Watson		Maude Gilbert
Lavinia Bertram		Florence Gilbert
Togo Igawa		First Kabuki Actor
Eiji Kusuhara		Second Kabuki Actor
Naoko Mori		I
Eve Pearce		Gilbert's Mother
Neil Humphries		Boy Actor
Vincent Franklin		Rutland Barrington (Pooh-Bah
Michael Simkins		Frederick Bovill
Alison Steadman		Madame Leon
Cathy Sara		Sybil Grey (Peep-Bo
Angela Curran		Miss Morton
Millie Gregory		Alice
Jonathan Aris		Wilhelm
Andy Serkis		John D'Auban
Mia Soteriou		Mrs. Russell
Louise Gold		Rosina Brandram (Katisha
Shaun Glanville		Mr. Harris
Julian Bleach		Mr. Plank
Neil Salvage		Mr. Hurley
Matt Bardock		Mr. Tripp
Brid Brennan		Mad Woman (as Bríd Brennan
Mark Benton		Mr. Price
Heather Craney		Miss Russell
Julie Jupp		Miss Meadows
John Warnaby		Mr. Sanders
Kacey Ainsworth		Miss Dorothea Fitzherbert
Ashley Artus		Mr. Marchmont
		Mr. Gordon
Paul Barnhill		Mr. Flagstone
Nicholas Boulton		Mr. Conyngham
		Miss Jardine
Simon Butteriss		Mr. Lewis
		Mr. Rhys
		Miss Moore
Michelle Chadwick		Miss Warren
Debbie Chazen		Miss Kingsley
Richard Coyle		Mr. Hammond
Monica Dolan		Miss Barnes
Sophie Duval		II
Anna Francolini		Miss Biddles
Teresa Gallagher		Miss Coleford
Sarah Howe		Miss Woods
Ashley Jensen		Miss Tringham
Gemma Page		Miss Langton-James
Paul Rider		Mr. Bentley
		Miss Carlyle
		Mr. Kent
		Miss Betts
Angie Wallis		Miss Wilkinson
Kevin Walton		I

Plot

After their production "Princess Ida" meets with less-than-stunning reviews, the relationship between Gilbert and Sullivan is strained to breaking. Their friends and associates attempt to get the two to work together again, which opens the way to one of their greatest successes. Although a respectable hit, Gilbert and Sullivan's "Princess Ida" is criticised for being routine. Arthur Sullivan tends to agree, finding he has run out of musical ideas for Gilbert's increasingly predictable stories. He would rather be composing a full opera, an idea that jeopardises not only the pair's relationship but the future of the stage company that Richard D'Oyly Carte has built around the comic operas. Then Mrs Gilbert persuades her husband to take her to an exhibition of Japanese life...

Comments

OK, it's too long (almost 3 hours) and we did not need all those full performances of numbers from "The Mikado".That aside, this is an entertaining and extremely well-acted movie about Gilbert & Sullivan--their personal lives, their working partnership and how "The Mikado" was developed.We also get to see how they train the actors in how to talk, sing and (in an uproarious sequence) walk Japanese.How factual this is, I have no idea.But the movie was so well-done and entertaining, who cares. Well worth watching, but you do have to sit through one too many opera numbers.

295 x 425

Topsy Turvy (1999) - Mike Leigh

232 x 350

Topsy Turvy (1999) - Mike Leigh

333 x 500

Topsy Turvy (1999) - Mike Leigh

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