DVD film:
The Taming of the Shrew with music by Nino ROTA
Starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. Directed by Franco Zeffirelli
"Kiss me Kate, we will be married o' Sunday"
"This is the way to kill a wife with kindness"
Shakespeare without tears. The Taming of the Shrew might be politically incorrect by today's standards but with such glorious comic performances by the Burtons who cares? Elizabeth Taylor is perfect as spitfire, Katherina, throwing her spite and everything else handy at Petruchio (Richard Burton) who has come to "wife it wealthily" in Padua. How he tames her is the basis of this colourful romp. Michael Hordern, as Katharina's long-suffering father, with Cyril Cusack, Alfred Lynch and Victor Spinetti, all add doleful support. Art direction and costume design sparkle and so does Nino Rota's rollicking score – one of his sunniest and one that propels the action and comments wryly on the antics of the combating principals.
A short featurette with a contrived interview with Taylor and Burton precedes their appearance before HRH Princess Margaret at the 1967 Royal Command Film Performance.
Ian Lace
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