Eclectic, thoughtful, but not an unmitigated smash. The esteemed Brook made his film directing debut with THE BEGGAR'S OPERA, an attempt at re-creating John Gay's original play on film. (It was also done as
The Threepenny Opera with a score by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill.) The music in
this version is by Sir Arthur Bliss, with lyrics by Christopher Fry (
The Lady's Not For Burning) as well as some additional dialogue for the Cannan screenplay. Olivier stars as MacHeath, with Holloway as Lockit, Griffith as the Beggar, and the wonderful Seyler (who gave one of the funniest
performances in
any comedy in MAKE MINE MINK and for years specialized i...
Released:
1952
Rated:
NR
Length:
94 mins