Kiss Me Kate (1953) - film review

Fred Graham and Cole Porter are discussing their new show, a musical version of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew, and agree that Fred’s ex-wife Lilli Vanessi would be perfect for the part of Katharine.  Unfortunately, Lilli has other ideas and is about to quit the entertainment business to start a new life with her latest beau.  She changes her mind when Fred offers the part to his new paramour, the lusciously leggy Lois Lane.  With Fred playing Petruchio opposite Lilli’s Katherine, it isn’t long before the couple’s tempestuous off-stage relationship begins to resemble the plot of Shakespeare’s play...

MGM’s colourful screen adaptation of Cole Porter’s hit Broadway musical Kiss Me Kate is a dazzling song and dance spectacular, acknowledging its debt to Shakespeare by skilfully appropriating the device of a play within a play.  Whilst not as inspired as some of the other great Hollywood musicals, this one is still immense fun, buoyed up by its memorable collection of Cole Porter numbers and some stunningly choreographed dance routines.   If the film looks occasionally weird it is because it was shot in 3-D, although it was released in conventional 2-D format once the 3-D craze had passed.    

Howard Keel is a delight in the rumbustious woman-taming Petruchio role, exhibiting more prime cuts of ham than you can ever hope to find in a well-stocked delicatessen.  Regrettably, Keel’s co-star, Kathryn Grayson, gives a disappointingly muted performance, far too tame as Katherine ever to appear as shrewish as the Bard had intended.   By contrast, Ann Miller is feistiness personified, joyfully ripping the rug from under Grayson’s dainty little feet in the supporting role of Lois Lane.  Early on, Miller steals the show with the film’s classiest song-and-dance number, Too Darn Hot.  Other musical highlights include Why Can't You Behave?, From This Moment On and the catchy showstopper Brush Up Your Shakespeare (performed with great panache by Keenan Wynn and James Whitmore).   Whilst it may not be the greatest musical you will ever see, Kiss Me Kate still manages to be superlative entertainment.

© Sally Hunter 2010

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