Kiss Me Kate

Now here is a movie worth seeing over and over again till kingdom comes. This is in my opinion one of the best examples of what MGM can offer when it comes to musicals. The acting is excellent, the singing is brilliant, the music is marvellous and the dance routines are sensational. That's a great team you have there Keel-Grayson-Miller-Rall. The script is great and there are no dull moments, the comedy is tremendous and the amount of music squashed in the movie is super. Everything about this movie is great, but the music is out of this world, being witty and artistic at the same time. Cole Porter is simply the best and the treatment he is given by the stars and the production company are just superb. I could go on and on about this movie, being my favourite musical film, but I will sum it up in just two words (and note the warning in them) ENJOY IT!

I agree with all the enthusiastic comments of the previous reviewers but would like to add two more related ones. First, all the singers sang with perfect clarity. You could understand every word being sung - such a contrast to most of today's singers who tend to shout (or even screech) so that you cannot understand a word of the lyrics. Second, "Kiss Me Kate's" singers had to sing clearly so that one could hear the incredibly clever, witty, and elegant Cole Porter lyrics. No composer since has come anywhere near Cole Porter when it comes to sophisticated lyrics. Recall "lovely Lisa - she gave a new meaning to the Leaning Tower of Pisa" or 'If a Harris pat means a Paris hat" or all the lines from "Brush Up Your Shakespeare". "Kiss Me Kate" was made 54 years ago and just about the only survivor, James Whitmore now 86, has just opened on Broadway in a revival of another classic of the 1950's "The Man Who Came to Dinner." I'll be 90 next month and I mourn for the great musicals of the past.

Kiss Me Kate has a lot to love in the dance department: Ann Miller's fantastic tapping; Ted Rall's ability to fuse ballet, jazz and tap into a seamless pastiche; Bob Fosse's unforgettable duet with Carol Haney. These elements catapult the movie into the upper echelon of musicals when considering dance. The acting is not quite on par. Keel is fun as the hammy Petruchio and I enjoyed the comic relief of Wynn and Whitmore, this despite the fact that "Brush Up on Your Shakespeare", like other "racy" numbers, was emasculated for the censors. Grayson was passable as Kate, although the "love" she showed for Keel seemed to me more akin to lust and the result of being terrified of marrying Tex (the longhorns on the car was a nice touch). Miller, well, is a great dancer. The singing, however, was very difficult for me to stomach. Keel was at his stentorian best and, when put in context, fairly easy to bear. Grayson, on the other hand, I found simply aggravating. I don't quite know why semi-operatic female singers were put into musicals in the 50's, but the results are often horrid. The trilling, vibrato, and high notes ruin sassy, angry songs such as "I Hate Men" and, for me anyway, are pretty unnerving. Cole Porter's razor wit gets invariably lost in the attempt to make his songs ready for the Met. Kiss Me Kate seems more like jazz to me; why not get a first-rate jazz singer instead of a second-rate soprano? Every time Grayson was about to sing, I had to resist hitting the fast forward or stuffing my fingers into my ears. As for Miller, she is a great dancer. My suggestion? Watch Kiss Me Kate for the dancing, which is luminous. As for the songs, go get a cd of Ella Fitzgerald singing the Cole Porter songbook.

Seriously, Kiss Me Kate is a truly splendid movie. My only complaint is that there are one or two slow scenes in the middle half. People might say it just lacks the energy and pizazz of a musical like Singin' In the Rain, maybe so. Singin' In the Rain is one of those wonderful, energetic and irresistible films. But Kiss Me Kate sparkles in a truly delightful and somewhat unique way, not only in the production values but in its performances, music and choreography. The film looks absolutely fabulous. The cinematography is fluid, the sets colourful and the costumes lavish. Director George Sidney is right at home here, and makes splendid use of his stars by using cleverly disguised long takes. The music and songs by Cole Porter is outstanding, from a musical AND choreographic point of view Too Darn Hot and Brush Up Your Shakespeare have always stood out for me. The plot reads of a musical version of Taming of the Shrew, and is very effective. The choreography is energetic and never pedestrian. And the performances are wonderful. I can never get enough of Howard Keel, he just has a charming screen persona and a beautiful singing voice. Here, as Fred he has rarely been better. As Lisa, Kathryn Grayson looks stunning and acts "difficult" perfectly. Comic gangsters James Whitmore and Keenan Wynn are also great in the saucy waltz Brush Up Your Shakespeare, but with Too Darn Hot it is Ann Miller who steals the show. All in all, splendid. 9/10 Bethany Cox

The director and actor Fred Graham (Howard Keel) and the composer Cole Porter (Ron Randell) invite the talented but spoiled actress Lilli Vanessi (Kathryn Grayson) to perform Katherine in his musical version of "The Taming of the Shrew", where Fred has the lead role of Petruchio. Fred and Lili are divorced and he has also invited his affair, the promiscuous Lois Lane (Ann Miller), to perform Bianca. While they are preparing for the opening night, Lois' boyfriend Bill Calhoun (Tommy Rall), who performs Lucentio in the play, tells to Lois that he lost a large amount gambling and he signed a bill (promissory note) using the name of Fred. Out of the blue, two gangsters come to the backstage to collect the debt from Fred. Meanwhile Fred and Lilli have the same behavior in real life of Katherine and Petruchio on the stage. In the intermission, Lilli tells that she will leave the play; however, Fred lures the gangsters to keep Lilli acting. "Kiss me Kate" is a delightful musical, with a version of "The Taming of the Shrew". The story of a divorced couple that argues all the time and are brought together to perform Petruchio and Katherine of William Shakespeare and have the same behavior in real life is very entertaining and funny. Despite the restored image, unfortunately Warner released a shameful DVD in Brazil, without subtitles in the musical numbers (I checked and the subtitles are available only in Japanese)in a total disrespect to the Brazilian viewers. Shame on you, Warner! My vote is eight. Title (Brazil): "Dá-me um Beijo" ("Give me a Kiss")

I like a decent bunch of MGM musicals, but each time I give KMK another chance, I just find it's fundamental problems. It has a play within a play structure that cheats both stories. It has many limp Cole Porter songs (but also, of course, some classics). The good songs (So in love, Why Can't You Behave?, Too Darned Hot, From this Moment On) are so well known that I'd prefer just to hear them sung really well, than to watch characters act them in a movie. They're so unanchored by the story that you could easily perform them in any order and get the same result. After an hour or so I'm bored and wishing the script offered some interesting development, some decent humor, rather than another character (onstage or backstage) singing a momentum-killing song. For me, there are two deadly musical ideas here: 1) Characters singing to me, rather than to each other (I Hate Men, Where Is The Life That Late I Led? Brush up Your Shakepspeare). 2) Characters singing declarative songs that are so forthright (I Hate Men, Tom Dick or Harry) that any chance of detecting a sub-text oneself is shot to hell. There is nothing to discover about these characters, or their predicament. You just watch passively from start to finish. The songs generally bring the plot, and any forward momentum in the movie, to a dead stop. The best moments in this are 10,000 volts of Anne Miller (Too Darned Hot) and one or two dance numbers in front of deChirico inspired backdrops. The rest is just a matter of endurance.

OK all you lovely people out there, I know you enjoyed this and I feel a bit guilty to disagree. Maybe I was in a bad mood ? I am not sure ! That said I really felt it was OTT badly acted, somehow overly stretched singing that just did not hold up to the Cole Porter songs and lyrics that I have always loved. The print which clearly has undergone stupendous clean up and stunning hues of glorious colors, added to all that 3D simply detracted from the atmosphere of the original 2d version ! Having to wear infernal uncomfortable spectacles, continually drooping on my face was an additional pain in the backside. And frankly, a film of this genre in 3D is nothing less than an unattractive addition where none is needed. In no way does 3D add any gravitas whatsoever to this great version of Shakespeare's tale. Come on, really, a juggler throwing his skittles or whatever they were, a complete waste of time and detracting from all the original value. Why on earth do we need to fix something that is not broken ? I should have known better, as in fact my preview invite did state 3D and if I would have thought about that, I could have realized, that as a fussy purist. Actually, my comment re 'badly acted ' really somehow is at the mercy of this in 3D ! For me, it is akin to placing all actors under a microscope, thereby exaggerating their performances to the point of overblowing the performances to something that was not seen or felt in the original ! Once again, my personal interprtation. I would not have made the long journey required to get to the preview theater. I left after about 25 minutes due, at least partly to 3D glasses. And finally, the theater was packed to capacity, so clearly I am in a minority of about one quarter of one percent ? So, anyone reading this, please be aware, you may well revel and thoroughly enjoy this film from beginning to conclusion. My advice, never accept someone else's opine, as the above is always nothing more than personal for that particular day of viewing ? On another day, or evening, not withstanding the pointless ( also my opine only ) 3D, I may view at a later date and also thoroughly enjoy ?

This bowlderised version of Kiss Me Kate lacks lustre, though its sanitised lyrics and dialogue apparently did well enough for 1953 audiences. Howard Keel is blustering as always, singing in a his semi-operatic style that does not suit the material. The dialogue is declaimed, not acted - although I do grant that that was the stereotype of Shakespearean acting at the time. And even Kate lacks fire/ The candy coloured costuming and set does the film no favours, either. If you want to see the musical sparkle, see a live production or check out the 2003 DVD of a live performance.

The Broadway musical on which this film is based may display oodles of charm, but if so, the film adaptation captures none of it. Kathryn Grayson and Howard Keel prove once again that they were singers first and actors second, and exhibit less than compelling screen presence. It wouldn't matter if they created fireworks together, because they would be overwhelmed anyway by the film's ghastly, unwieldy production design, whose sole purpose is to showcase the film's fancy 3-D technology, which of course means absolutely nothing now watching it on DVD. Grade: D

This movie is quite the best musical of the 50's, with more plot and excellent sideplay and bits. Of these bits, my favorites are Howard Keel's rendition of "Where Is the Life that Late I Led", and Keenan Wynn and James Whitmore's clever presentation of "Brush Up Your Shakespeare". Either one could stand alone, but when added to the dancing of Ann Miller, Bob Fosse, Bobby Van and Carol Chaney, you have a real winner. Very clever and upbeat. Kathryn Grayson was never a favorite of mine, but she is acceptable as Lily, and her number "I Hate Men" is a real winner. You know, this movie has so many excellent songs that it is very hard to pick just a few. "Always True to You, Darling, in my Fashion", "Tom, Dick and Harry"--Cole Porter was at the top of his form for this movie.