Topsy-Turvy

Set in London in the 1880s, Topsy-Turvy follows the partnership of librettist W. S. Gilbert and composer Arthur Sullivan, the team behind a long run of successful comic operas. When their latest work, Princess Ida, opens in 1884 to a lukewarm reception, the strain between the two men surfaces: Sullivan wants to move toward more serious music, while Gilbert is bound by contract to the Savoy Theatre's manager, Richard D'Oyly Carte, to deliver another piece. A visit to a Japanese exhibition in London gives Gilbert the idea for a new opera, and the film traces how the pair, their producer and their company put together The Mikado.

Mike Leigh wrote and directed the film, which came after Career Girls and before Vera Drake in his filmography. Jim Broadbent plays Gilbert and Allan Corduner plays Sullivan, with Timothy Spall, Lesley Manville, Ron Cook and Wendy Nottingham among the large credited cast of 88, supported by 97 credited crew members. Leigh and producer Simon Channing Williams mounted the production on a budget of about 11 million dollars; it returned roughly 6 million dollars worldwide.

Audiences rate the film moderately, at 7.3 out of 10 on IMDb from around 14,000 votes and 6.6 out of 10 on TMDB from far fewer. Critics were considerably warmer, giving it 8.3 out of 10 across 88 reviews.