THE TAMING OF THE SHREW (1967)

Always out of fashion/never out of favor, Shakespeare’s early comedy of marriage & battery has seen successive generations claim they’ve ‘solved’ its troublesome misogyny, especially the finale when a ‘tamed’ Mistress Kate grovels before her lord & master, by playing it ironically.  No doubt, it was being played thusly by its second run at The Globe.  More interesting to contemplate is whether one of the pretty boys in the company took on Kate, or if (pantomime style) a grown man in drag played her.  (Women not allowed on stage at the time.)  What matters here is that this is one of only two Franco Zeffirelli films to have aged well.  (TEA WITH MUSSOLINI/’99 the other.*)  It may even be more fun now, especially the opening, before our famous stars show, as Zeffirelli sets the period scene (1500s?) with the instincts of a great art director.  (Always his truest talent whether or not he took official credit.)  And the look of the film is what sells the rest (kudos to sophisticated lenser Oswald Morris), along with Shakespeare’s two big structural tweaks on what was, as usual with The Bard, a thrice-told tale.  One, supplying a dramatic engine by having Father-of-the-Bride Michael Hordern (reprising his Dad from A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM/’66) insist that gentle daughter #2 cannot choose from her many suitors till shrewish daughter #1 weds.  And second: having roving fortune hunter Petruchio marry Kate before he tames her.  So marriage not on the table as some sort of reward for good behavior, but strictly an affair of strong wills and knowing how to win thru retreat.  As bridegroom, Richard Burton, in spite of a frightening gray carpet on his chest (Yikes!), is in fine fettle.  He’d be even better if he didn’t laugh at all the jokes.  (So too the rest of the cast.)  As for Elizabeth Taylor’s shrew, in what proved to be her last commercial success (hard to believe, no?), she has neither the wind nor the variety to properly speak the role.  Her shrieks quickly grow tiresome.  On the other hand, helped by costumer Irene Sharaff and her character arc, she looks better scene-by-scene.  Her bridal transformation a triumph.  And she doesn’t sashay like a hooker as she did in CLEOPATRA/’63.

DOUBLE-BILL:  *Not seen here in many a moon, perhaps Zeffirelli’s most acclaimed film, ROMEO AND JULIET/’68, also holds up . . . but I doubt it.  Click on the COMMENTS tab and let us know. 

ATTENTION MUST BE PAID:  Since the physical look of the film is 80% of its success, look for the most recent edition.  Early DVDs look awful, but lots of good streaming options.