Main Cast: Richard Burton, Alfred Lynch, Elizabeth Taylor, Vernon Dobtcheff, Michael York, Michael Hordern, Natasha Pyne, Victor Spinetti
Release Year: 1967
Country: UK/US/IT
Run Time: 122 minutes
MPAA Rating: NR
Plot
Franco Zeffirelli's adaptation of William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew is a zesty version of the classic comedy, highlighted by performances by Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor and Nino Rota's score. Instead of simply filming a play, Zeffirelli turned Shakespeare's text into a lively, cinematic movie, with sweeping sets and cinematography. Set in Padua, Italy in the late 1500s, the story concerns the shy Bianca (Natasha Pyne) and the mean-spirited Katarina (Elizabeth Taylor), the two daughters of a rich merchant named Baptista (Michael Hordern). Though Bianca is being courted by a number of young men, Baptista announces that she may not marry until Katarina is wed. None of the men in town are willing to marry Katarina, so Bianca remains unwed, even as more suitors--such as Lucentio (Michael York), a student who begins working as a tutor in the Hordern household just so he can be near Bianca--line up to wed the maiden. No man approaches Katarina until Petruchio (Richard Burton--a wanderer who arrived in Padua just to find a rich wife--falls in love with her. After an intense, occasionally furious, courtship, Katarina eventually agrees to marry him, and they move to Petruchio's shoddy house, which is located outside of the city. Following the wedding, Lucentio reveals that he is not a student, but instead the son of one of the most respected men in town. Lucentio gets permission to marry Bianca and a mild-mannered Katarina shows up at the wedding, giving advice to her sister on how to be a good wife. The Taming of the Shrew received Academy Award nominations for Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design, and opened the British Royal Film Festival. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
Review
Sometimes art and real life combine in fortuitous ways, as when the rocky marriage of Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor gave fire and brimstone to their performances as the feuding couple in this 1967 film version of William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. In 1963, the couple's romantic spark had added sizzle to Cleopatra, but, by 1966, their alcoholic rages in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf had seemed almost painfully authentic. Their marital problems were public knowledge by the time they were cast in The Taming of the Shrew by Italian director Franco Zeffirelli, and their celebrity brought the film millions of curious viewers. They saw a phantasmagorically lit and vibrant staging, featuring violent physical confrontations between the two stars. The big-budget Hollywood production was the first major filming of the story since the 1929 version, which starred Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford. Soon after the film was released, Taylor and Burton were divorced. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
Cyril Cusack - Grumio; Alan Webb - Gremio; Roy Holder - Biondello; Giancarlo Cobelli - The Priest; Gianni Magni - Curtis; Alberto Bonucci - Nathaniel; Lino Capolicchio - Gregory; Roberto Antonelli - Philip; Ken Parry - Tailor; Mark Dignam - Vincentio; Bice Valori - The Widow; Anthony Gardner - Haberdasher; Milena Vukotic; Alfredo Bianchini
Credit
Luigi Gervasi - Art Director, Danilo Donati - Costume Designer, Irene Sharaff - Costume Designer, Franco Zeffirelli - Director, Peter Taylor - Editor, Nino Rota - Composer (Music Score), Carlo Savina - Musical Direction/Supervision, Giannetto De Rossi - Makeup, Ron Berkeley - Makeup, Alberto de Rossi - Makeup, Frank LaRue - Makeup, Lorenzo Mongiardino - Production Designer, John De Cuir - Production Designer, Elven Webb - Production Designer, Giuseppe Mariani - Production Designer, Oswald Morris - Cinematographer, Luciano Trasatti - Cinematographer, Elizabeth Taylor - Producer, Richard Burton - Producer, Franco Zeffirelli - Producer, Dario Simoni - Set Designer, Augie Lohman - Special Effects, Suso Cecchi D'Amico - Screenwriter, Franco Zeffirelli - Screenwriter, Paul Dehn - Screenwriter, William Shakespeare - Play Author
Baptista Minola (Michael Hordern) is attempting to marry off his two daughters; however, he will only marry his youngest, Bianca (Natasha Pyne), if someone will marry his eldest, Katharina (Elizabeth Taylor). Katharina is an ill-tempered woman but a lusty young nobleman, Petruchio (Richard Burton), takes on the challenge of taming and marrying her. A subplot involves the wooing of Bianca by several suitors including handsome Lucentio (Michael York), foppish Hortensio (Victor Spinetti), and elderly Gremio (Alan Webb).
Production details
The film cuts much of the original dialogue, but allows more characterization. For example, much of the subplot of Lucentio and Bianca is cut, but at the same time, more characterization of Katharina and Petruchio is allowed.
The final, controversial speech is played seriously; however, Zeffirelli lets Kate have the "last laugh", humiliating Petruchio by leaving the banquet without him. This act of defiance thus gives a happy ending which implies that Kate's spirit is not broken, and that Petruchio has not succeeded.
Taylor and Burton put over a million dollars into the production, and instead of a salary, took a percentage of profits. The film was originally a vehicle for Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni.
