There's Gilbert, the rapier-witted satirist, alienated from his mother, who warns her maiden daughters not to have a "humorous child." There's Gilbert's wife, desperate for his love and attention, which he seems blind to. There's Sullivan's own split personality--a roue with a mistress who has aborted more than once for him who also longs to be in the first rank of respectability and reknown. There are the actors and actresses--coping with physical pain (the gamy leg), drink, drugs and vanity, showing talent while also mouthing the worst racist, imperialist sentiments. To Leigh's credit, he presents all of these as being as much a part of the landscape as those mutton-chops and telephones.