KISS ME KATE

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CREDITS

1953, 109 minutes, Ansco Color.
Producer, Jack Cummings; Director, George Sidney; Screenplay, Dorothy Kingsley; Cinematography, Harold Rosher; Choreography, Hermes Pan; Music Directors, Andre Previn and Saul Chaplin.

CAST

Lilli Vanessi/Katharine, Kathryn Grayson; Fred Graham/Petruchio, Howard Keel; Lois Lane/Bianca, Ann Miller; Lippy, Keenan Wynn; Gremio, Bobby Van; Bill Calhoun/Lucentio, Tommy Rall; Slug, James Whitmore; Baptista, Kurt Kasznar; Hortensio, Bob Fosse; Cole Porter, Ron Randell; Tex Callaway, Willard Parker; Dancers, Carol Haney and Jeanne Coyne.

SONGS

Why Can't You Behave; Wunderbar; So In Love; We Open In Venice; Tom, Dick Or Harry; I've Come To Wive It Wealthily In Padua; I Hate Men; Were Thine That Special Face; Too Darn Hot; Where Is The Life That Late I Led?; Always True To You In My Fashion; Brush Up Your Shakespeare; From This Moment On; Kiss Me Kate; Another Openin', Another Show (music only) by Cole Porter.

PLOT SYNOPSIS

"Kiss Me Kate focuses on Lilli Vanessi (Grayson) and Fred Graham (Keel), a battling, once-married couple who are reunited to star in a musical version of The Taming of the Shrew. On stage they fight it out as Shakespeare's Katherine and Petruchio - while backstage they continue to clash!"
- Liner Notes from Turner/MGM/UA Laserdisc

NOTES

"A classic musical from MGM and producer Jack Cummings, Kiss Me Kate was a literate, witty, and thoroughly beguiling screen adaptation of Cole Porter and Sam and Bella Spewack's 1948 Broadway smash."
- Clive Hirschhorn, The Hollywood Musical

". . .one of the year's more magnificent musical films. . .better, indeed, if one may say so, than the same frolic was on the stage. . .Under George Sidney's direction, the whole thing moves with zest and grace."
- The New York Times

"Grayson's trilling is something to contend with, and so is her busy, amateurish performance, and there's a lot of badly placed rambunctious comedy from just about everybody. But there is also a marvellous Cole Porter score. . .and there is Howard Keel, with his strong baritone and his good-hearted leering. . .and there is the dancing of Bob Fosse, Tommy Rall, and Bobby Van. . .Ann Miller, who obviously enjoys performing, comes off as lively and amusing. . ."
- Pauline Kael, 5001 Nights At The Movies


ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATION:
Scoring Of A Musical Picture

The movie was originally filmed in 3-D, but was released 'flat' in most locations.

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