The Beggar's Opera (1953)

As the notorious highwayman MacHeath (Laurence Olivier) is scheduled to be hanged, the composer (Hugh Griffith) of an opera on his life relays his musical conception to the outlaw. Based on the 1728 satirical ballad opera by John Gay (later re-invented by Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht into the immortal THE THREEPENNY OPERA) and directed by the acclaimed stage director Peter Brook (his first film), this delightful and infectious Technicolor confection does justice to the witty Gay work. Olivier makes a dashing MacHeath and does his own singing (which is more than decent) as does Stanley Holloway as Lockit but everyone else's singing voice is dubbed but when all the actors are clearly having a rollicking good time, who cares? The impressive art direction is by George Wakhevitch and William C. Andrews and the score is melodically adapted by Sir Arthur Bliss. The exquisite cast includes Dorothy Tutin as Polly, Daphne Anderson as Lucy, Yvonne Furneaux, Athene Seyler and Margot Grahame.