Last time around, you may recall, we were looking for a plot description of the full-length animated feature Dick Deadeye, which is now available from Procenium Entertainment (P.O. Box 909; Hightstown, NJ 08520 / (1-800) 222-6260). We didn't get a plot description, but member Winfield Smith has come through with his review of the film. Since he printed it off in such a way that the MGS Editorial Board (such as she is) could cut-and-paste it into the Nonsense, that's just what she did. Here is his review of Ronald Searle's Dick Deadeye: Dick Deadeye, or Duty Done. The editor tells me that this 1975 animated feature movie has again been released in VHS form and, knowing that I have a copy of the original release, requests a review. Dick Deadeye is an 80-minute animated cartoon of which the most worthy creators are Gilbert, Sullivan, and Ronald Searle. The latter's designs were turned into animated film in England by Bill Melendex, the U. S. animator responsible for the Charlie Brown cartoon TV specials. Searle's busy, scratchy designs, marvelously suited to the Victorian subject matter, may have been magnificent on the big screen, but they suffer in the transfer to 525-line video. Most unfortunately, the writer(s) efforts to synthesize a new script out of the G&S characters, plots, and dialog achieved very uneven but mostly uninteresting results, with much of the dialog below the level of the average Saturday morning TV cartoon. The result is a curiosity with numerous engaging aspects and some serious flaws. Neither a kiddie movie nor one with much appeal to the general market. Dick Deadeye will please most heavily the rare G&S aficionado who is able to be amused rather than enraged by the considerable liberties taken with Gilbert's words as well as with Sullivan's melodies and scoring. The producers must have expected to register heavily with both adults and children, and accompanied the original release with a deluxe-jacketed LP record of the sound track and also a colorful storybook with lots of Searle-inspired art (and insufferable text by Jeremy Hornsby). All their hopes were quickly dashed, however, by the picture's total failure in its initial runs in London, Boston, and Los Angeles (and despite its being dubbed "One of the top 20 films of the year" by the generally more reliable Charles Champlin of the L.A. Times). The editor has requested an account of the plot. This is a task that would be several times more difficult as accounting for the plot of The Grand Duke, so I shall only say that it borrows characters, songs and plotlines from Trial by Jury, Sorcerer, Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance, Patience, Iolanthe, The Mikado, and Utopia, Limited (although not much from the last: Princess Zara and her maidens appear as bare-breasted Los Vegas showgirls in the finale, but their music is mostly from Iolanthe). The lyrics are clever at least half of the time, and most so when they stick rather close to the originals. Here are some things I liked about the show: o the initial sequence, in which the voice of an unseen royal person declares the motion picture to be open, as if it were a public improvement or a charity fair; o all the voice characterizations, from Dick Deadeye (who sounds like John Lennon) and Nanki-Poo (who sounds like any guitar- strumming, love bead wearing '60's teenager) to the judge and all the growling, burping pirates and uniformed officers of high and low rank -- a magnificent gallery of dirty old men; o the varied orchestrations (Nashville, Gospel, Delta, Las Vegas, Broadway and in some places plain old fully scored sound stage); o and of course, the faces (and bodies!) and settings designed by Ronald Searle. I should note that while the stereo phonograph record has very nice, clear sound, the soundtrack on my VHS tape sounds rather muddy in spots. My present stereo VCR is not equipped to separate the two linear tracks that were first used to record stereo (assuming, as I do, that my videotape is recorded in stereo). A reissue, if it is re-mastered, might allow both to be heard at their best. After the dismal failure of the film, the collateral book and record album were dumped on the remainder market, where I purchased a dozen of each. The book is interesting for its Searle-inspired art rather than for its value as a childrens story. (The exact division of drawing labor seems to be that the endpapers reproduce Searle's character drawings for Buttercup and Major General Stanley, and the title page his designs for Dick Deadeye. The book uses his background designs, mostly Victorian interiors and exteriors. The actual film animation and the character drawings for the book are the work of Melendez and his crew, working from Searle's designs.) The phonograph record makes the music and lyrics clearly audible and omits the dialogue, which is mostly boring where it isn't silly. My impulsive purchase does not stand as one of my better investments, and I am now prepared to part with mint copies of the records, in the original shrink wrap, at the reasonable figure of $5.00, postpaid to any domestic address, while the supply lasts. Address orders to me at 5825 S. Blackstone Ave., Chicago, IL 60637. I could only find one extra copy of the book and shall contribute it and a record to the upcoming Pinafore sing-a-long and silent auction to benefit the Savoy-Aires, who need the money. Well, now we know what the film looks and sounds like, and that it is thick with bouncing beauties and dirty old men, but we still don't know what it's about. For what it's worth, there are those who have seen the film who still aren't sure what it's about. It really is one weird film. It's been years since she's seen it, but Sarah Cole (with much referring to a copy of the Picture Book) is willing to hazard an explanation. As she recalls, this is how it goes: Somehow or other, Dick Deadeye finds out that England's most important possession, the "Ultimate Secret", has been stolen and he spends the rest of the film trying to get it back. After trying to enlist the help of the Military (through the Major General), he finds the Sorcerer who has stolen it, and who plans to sell it to the Pirate King. In order to keep Dick Deadeye from getting it, the Sorcerer gives it to his lizard familiar (in the book, it's called a schlamelian, but it really doesn't make any difference to the story), who somehow winds up in Buttercup's basket of wares. Now, roaming through the plot are a pair of identical twins, Nanki and Poo. Nanki is very good, and Poo is very bad. In any event, Poo steals Buttercup's basket, and Nanki is arrested and imprisoned for it. In the meantime, Poo tries to sell the basket and all it contains to the Sorcerer. The Pirates figure out that Poo has the Ultimate Secret, so they grab Poo, the Sorcerer, and decide to put out to sea. Dick Deadeye somehow gets wind of it at a pub frequented by pirates (I think he is in love with the barmaid Rose Maybud, but I'm not sure. She's there in any event, and figures at the end of the story) Anyway, he goes to see the Admiral ((sic.) in his bathtub, attended by the sisters, cousins and aunts who follow him everywhere, or something to that effect) about getting a ship to follow them. He gets the Pinafore, and they take off after the Pirates. They catch up with the pirates, and somehow or other, it is determined that the Captain of the Pinafore is really the Pirate King, and visa versa. While all this is going on, Poo escapes to a desert island with the Ultimate Secret. Everybody follows him, and find themselves on the island of Utopia, which is peopled by Las Vegas Showgirls. The queen of the island is Princess Zara. (Incidentally, while looking through the picture book, it struck me that these are the only women in the whole story whose figures have normal proportions. None of that figure is left to the imagination, either, but anyway.) They catch up with Poo, get the Ultimate Secret away from him, and it is revealed to be: It's Love that Makes the World Go Round. It turns out that Nanki and Poo were just halves of one man, so they somehow turn into one individual. Now that the Secret is Revealed, Princess Zara turns into the fantasy woman Nanki had been in love with (and now that Nanki-Poo is a complete man, she can love him in return). Everybody picks a mate, and in light of the Ultimate Secret, Dick Deadeye turns into a handsome sailor that Rose Maybud falls in love with, and they all presumably live happily ever after. If anyone has seen the film lately and wants to correct the plot, go right ahead. Anyway, that's the upshot of the story as I recall. If you want to look at the picture book, it should be easily obtainable through interlibrary loan. Ask for: Searle, Ronald. Dick Deadeye. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1975. ISBN 0151256004. [This article appeared in Issue 30 (May 1991) of Precious Nonsense, the newsletter of the Midwestern Gilbert & Sullivan Society. Posted by permission of Sarah Cole, Society Secretary/Archivist. For information on Society membership write to: The Midwestern Gilbert & Sullivan Society, c/o Miss Sarah Cole, 613 W. State St., North Aurora, IL 60542-1538.]