A Megera Domada

This is a lavish presentation of William Shakespeare's classic comedy, highlighted by the ideally cast coupling of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in the pivotal roles. Hers was the questionable characterization, but Ms. Taylor keeps "Katharina" well within her range, and sparks the original role with an appealing update. Burton balances with a fine interpretation of "Petruchio". The bombastic Burtons are only hindered by the relatively slight material; some of this humor doesn't transcend the centuries, although much is appreciated. Director Franco Zeffirelli and several in this company soon went to work on "Romeo and Juliet" (1968), which was a greater use of their skills.

******* The Taming of the Shrew (2/27/67) Franco Zeffirelli ~ Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Michael York, Natasha Pyne

This is a film version of a Shakespeare play the way Shakespeare would have wanted it to be seen - as funny and entertaining. The gorgeous colour in the sets and costumes reminds us that this story is taking place in sunny Italy - maybe it takes an Italian director to realize and bring out that light-hearted joyfulness. The actors are all wonderful, so natural in their roles that the Shakespearean verse sounds like believable daily conversation. Richard Burton is perfect as Petruchio, a self-confident, swaggering lout at the beginning, who in a way undergoes his own "taming" process to become a loving husband, proud of his wife and delighted with the happiness ahead of them. Elizabeth Taylor as an actress is not really up to the demands of Shakespeare, but she certainly looks her part, and on the whole does pretty well, especially as she is given a lot of action rather than speaking in this film, until the very end. Zeffirelli does wonderful things with the visuals - the scene at the beginning, when what appears to be a solemn church service suddenly erupts into a wild carnival can be seen as a joking reflection of the typical viewer's reaction to this happy treatment of Shakespeare; where we expect to be bored by solemn, po-faced reverence in the presence of Art, we suddenly find ourselves swept away in a merry romp. And the recurring glimpses of a huge grotesque blonde woman continually attended by her small, dark-haired pretty sister, always scaring away the latter's possible suitors is a witty summary of the main story we are watching. This movie is a great introduction to Shakespeare for anyone who hasn't seen his plays before, and a perfect antidote for anyone who's been intimidated into thinking that Shakespeare is "too hard" for anyone but experts and scholars to understand.

In Italy, Franco Zeffirelli is best known for his work in grand opera, and he brought all his experience in this larger than life art form to bear upon the two films for which he is best known, the 1968 ROMEO AND JULIET and the 1967 THE TAMING OF THE SHREW.

Scholars usually consider Shakespeare's THE TAMING OF THE SHREW to be among the playwrights lesser works, but it has been an audience favorite since its first known performance in 1594. Although many suitors beg for Bianca's hand, her widowed father is determined that she may not marry until her elder sister Katherine is wed--and Katherine is a hot tempered, willful, and vicious woman who makes life miserable for all who cross her path. Fortunately for Bianca, Petruchio is in need of money, and he is more than willing to marry Kate, no matter how resistant Kate herself is to the whole idea.

Shakespeare's original script has been trimmed here and there, and while purists may scream about it the result not only works for film, it also manages to capture the flavor of Shakespeare's language much better than any other film version of SHREW both before or since. And the look of the thing is beautiful: Zeffirelli brings his mastery of opera's larger than life visuals to bear upon the project, and the result is eye-popping production values, most particularly in reference to the costuming. Every cent spent shows on the screen.

Although she was a very fine screen actress, Elizabeth Taylor is not a name one would expect to find playing Shakespeare--but she carries it off in fine style, kicking, snapping, and snarling with tremendous panache in the first portion of the film, and then making Kate's "taming" seem entirely plausible in the latter portion. Unlike many later Shakespeare plays, SHREW is not greatly noted for its language; even so, Katherine's final speech is widely known and extremely memorable, and Taylor pulls it off with such credibility that one wishes she had done other classical roles as well.

Taylor's then-husband Richard Burton co-stars as the deliberately uncouth Petruchio, who sets out to tame a shrew and finds himself as much tamed by her as she by him. Burton, of course, was accustomed to the classics in general and Shakespeare in particular, and he plays with tremendous bravado. The supporting cast, which includes a young Michael York, is also very fine, and when all is said and done the 1964 THE TAMING OF THE SHREW is a tremendous amount of fun even if you don't like Shakespeare.

The DVD transfer is very nice. The picture has the occasional blemish, most often in the opening titles and closing credits, but on the whole it is remarkable, showing every detail of every set and every costume to fine effect. The sound is also quite good. Sad to say, there is really nothing in the way of bonus material, but the film is the thing, and Taylor, Burton, York, and Zefirelli do it up brown. More than just worth watching: worth owning.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

Shakespeare's bawdy comedy was perhaps the perfect vehicle for the Burtons four years into their real-life stormy marriage. Although Liz Taylor had no experience of playing ‘the bard' she is actually entertaining as Kate, that fiery girl who has no intention of becoming any man's plaything or possession. Richard Burton is on surer ground as Petruchio and doesn't disappoint, this is a rip-roaring performance and one of his best.

In Zeffirelli's cast we also see Michael Hordern, Cyril Cusack, Natasha Pyne (as Kate's sister Bianca), and Michael York (making his film debut as Bianca's suitor). The action can drag a bit when away from the leads (who always did tend to swamp other players in their movies), but the wit and mischief of the original play shines through. My only quibble would be with Kate's final speech. Interesting that Taylor plays it this way, but my guess is that it isn't the end of the bumpy ride for these two!

I wont go as far as to say I did not enjoy this film adaptation of "Taming Of The Shrew", but I will say that its a production of hits and misses. Richard Burton is perfectly cast as the blustery and bellowing Petruccio. He shows film audiences the vast talent for Shakespeare that he possessed. Elizabeth Taylor on the other hand was woefully miscast.All of Burton's strengths (command of language,natural delivery) are Taylor's weaknesses. She is just uncomfortable delivering Shakespeare's words. However,the action scenes(Petruccio's "wooing" of Kate) are very enjoyable. A strong supporting cast helps the film greatly. In particular Alan Webb's fussy old Gremio,Victor Spinneli's foppish Hortensio and Sir Michael Hordern's comiclly downtrodden Baptista. Unfortunately many of Shakespeare's funniest lines wer trimmed for the film and scenes not in the text added. This was truely dissapointing and distracting. Zefferelli had more success with his adaptations of "Romeo and Juliet" and "Hamlet".