Kiss Me Kate (1953)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

George Sidney

Writers:

Dorothy Kingsley (screenplay)
Sam Spewack (play) ...

Release Date:

26 November 1953 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Musical | Romance

Tagline:

THE FAMED STAGE HIT...NOW A BIG COLORFUL MUSICAL!

Plot:

Fred and Lilly are a divorced pair of actors who are brought together by Cole Porter who has written a musical version of The Taming of the Shrew...

Plot Keywords:

Opening Night | William Shakespeare | Kiss | Gambling | Gambling Debt

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 nomination

Cast

Kathryn Grayson	...	Lilli Vanessi 'Katharina'
Howard Keel	...	Fred Graham 'Petruchio'
Ann Miller	...	Lois Lane 'Bianca'
Keenan Wynn	...	Lippy
Bobby Van	...	'Gremio'
Tommy Rall	...	Bill Calhoun 'Lucentio'
James Whitmore	...	Slug
Kurt Kasznar	...	'Baptista'
Bob Fosse	...	'Hortensio'
Ron Randell	...	Cole Porter
Willard Parker	...	Tex Callaway
Dave O'Brien	...	Ralph
Claud Allister	...	Paul
Ann Codee	...	Suzanne
Carol Haney	...	Specialty Dancer

Runtime:

109 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Anscocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.75 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo (Western Electric Sound System) | Mono

Certification:

Canada:PG (Ontario) | Canada:G (video rating) | Australia:G | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | USA:Approved (PCA #16600)

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

The original stage show was based upon the backstage bickering of the illustrious married stage couple Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne during their 1935 Broadway production of "Taming of the Shrew."

Goofs:

Factual errors: At the time he wrote this musical, far from being a healthy man, Cole Porter was a wheelchair-bound cripple who needed constant medical care. His legs had been crushed in a riding accident when the horse fell on him.

Quotes:

Lilli Vanessi: Do you really think *I* could play the shrew?
Fred Graham: You'd make a perfect shrew!

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Broadway: The American Musical" (2004)

Soundtrack:

Wunderbar

Ann Miller Deserved an Oscar

Total delight from start to finish, this witty, musical version of The Taming of the Shrew. This show within a show is bright and splashy and boasts terrific performances, songs, dancing, and costumes. Howard Keel plays the egotistic Fred Graham who us mounting this new musical with ex-wife Lilli Vanessi (Kathryn Grayson) as his leading lady. The battling couple mirrors the battling couple in the play. All very clever.

As good as Grayson and Keel as however, Ann Miller totally steals the show as Lois Lane, the brassy chorus girl Fred has given a part (the younger sister) in the play. Mills is fantastic as she sings and dances her way through some great numbers: It's Too Darn Hot, From This Moment On, Always True to You, and Tom, Dick or Harry. Her opening number of Too Darn Hot is astounding as she swirls and taps around Cole POrter's living room and across his table tops. The skin tight tassled red outfit is probably the sexiest outfit Miller ever wore and she looks great. She was always denied the starring roles in MGM musicals which is a shame. MGM preferred the more demure types like Grayson or Judy Garland, Jane Powell, Debbie Reynolds for starring roles and Miller always got stuck playing the flashy friend or other woman.

Also good in this great musical are Keenan Wynn and James Whitmore as the thugs who get to sing Brush Up Your Shakespeare. Bob Fosse, Bobby Van, and Tommy Rall are the three dancers. Carol Haney and Jeanne Coyne show up for the From This Moment On number with Miller and the Boys. Ann Codee is the maid, Claude Allister is the butler, Willard Parker is Tex, Dave O'Brien is the stage manager, Kurt Kaznar is the stage father, and Ron Randell plays Cole Porter.

Originally done in 3-D, Kiss Me Kate is shock full of great songs and some of the best lyrics ever heard. For those of us growing up in the 50s, most of the songs from this musical are familiar hits, including Wunderbar, From This Moment On, Always True to You, and So In Love.

Kiss Me Kate is a textbook musical that works on all levels. Keel and Grayson were never better, Miller is outstanding, Whitmore and Wynn are fun, and Tommy Rall gets a couple of dance numbers (My Can't You Behave) that prove him to be one of the best dancers of his generation. The short dance solo with Fosse and Haney also presages much of Fosse's later groundbreaking choreography.

Not a false step in this film, which ranks as one of the great musicals.