Kiss Me Kate Information

Kiss Me Kate is the 1953 MGM film adaptation of the Broadway musical of the same name.

Inspired by The Taming of the Shrew, it tells the tale of musical theater actors, Fred Graham and Lilli Vanessi, who were once married and are now performing opposite each other in the roles of Petruchio and Katherine in a Broadway-bound musical version of William Shakespeare's play.

Already on poor terms, the pair begin an all-out emotional war mid-performance that threatens the production's success. The only thing keeping the show together are threats from a pair of gangsters, who have come to collect a gambling debt from the show's Lucentio, Bill Calhoun. In classic musical comedy fashion, slapstick madness ensues before everything is resolved.

Dorothy Kingsley's screenplay, which was nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award, was adapted from the musical's book by Samuel and Bella Spewack. The songs were by Cole Porter, with musical underscoring by Saul Chaplin and Andre Previn, who were nominated for an Academy Award. Hermes Pan choreographed the dance routines.

The movie was filmed in 3-D using the most advanced methods of that technique then available. Devotees of the stereoscopic 3-D medium usually cite this film as one of the best examples of a Hollywood release in polarized 3D.

Plot

The show opens with Fred Graham (Howard Keel) and Lilli Vanessi (Kathryn Grayson), a divorced couple, meeting at Fred's apartment to hear the score for the Cole Porter (Ron Randell) musical version of "The Taming of the Shrew". Lois Lane (Ann Miller), who is to play Bianca, arrives and sings "Too Darn Hot". Lilli almost decides against performing in the show, as she fears it might interfere with her honeymoon. But when she overhears Cole and Fred promising Lois the part, she decides to play Katherine after all.

Lois' boyfriend, Bill Calhoun (Tommy Rall), is playing Lucentio in the ("Shrew") musical but in between rehearsals, he leads a gambling lifestyle, which results in him owing a local gangster $2,000, but he has signed the IOU in Fred's name. Lois laments Bill's bad-boy lifestyle ("Why Can't You Behave?"), but Bill's winsome charm soon wins her over, and she forgives him. Meanwhile, after a fiery confrontation during rehearsals, Fred (who is also directing the show) and Lilli get together in Lilli's dressing room, and reminisce about happier times, singing "Wunderbar" from a show they did together. Fred later sends flowers to Lois but his butler gets confused and gives them to Lilli instead. Lilli is overcome by this romantic gesture and falls back in love with Fred, ("So In Love (Reprise)").

The show gets underway, with Fred, Lilli, Lois and Bill dressed as a group of traveling entertainers, ("We Open In Venice"). The main body of the play is their enactment of Shakespeare's, "The Taming of The Shrew"- the script is largely the same as Shakespeare's, but interspersed with Cole Porter's songs. In the play, Bianca, the younger daughter of Baptista, a Paduan merchant, wishes to marry, but her father will not allow it until his elder daughter, Katherine, is married. Bianca has three suitors " Gremio, Hortensio and Lucentio " and each of them try to persuade her to choose him as her husband. She is prepared to marry anyone, ("...any Tom, Dick or Harry...").

Lucentio's friend Petruchio arrives in Padua, seeking a wife, ("I've Come To Wive It Wealthily In Padua"), and when he hears of Katherine, he resolves to woo her. Katherine, however, hates the idea of getting married, ("I Hate Men"). Petruchio serenades Katherine ("Were Thine That Special Face"). Lilli is so moved by Fred's heartfelt delivery of the song, that she can't resist reading the card that came with the flowers, having placed it next to her heart. She sees that it is addressed to Lois, and attacks Fred mercilessly on stage, ad-libbing verbal abuse. As the curtain comes down, Fred has had enough, and spanks Lilli.

Lilli resolves to leave the theatre with her fiancé, Tex Calloway (Willard Parker); she phones him and tells him to pick her up, preferably with an ambulance. Meanwhile, Lippy and Slug, a pair of gang enforcers, arrive to collect Bill's IOU from Fred. Fred decides to accept the IOU and convinces Lippy and Slug that he needs them to help keep Lilli from leaving so that the show will be successful enough for Fred to afford the debt. Lois, in the meantime, learns that Fred has taken responsibility for the IOU and she comes to thank him, but each time she begins to thank him for not being angry about Bill forging his name, Fred kisses her passionately to prevent Lippy and Slug from learning about his deception. Lilli and Bill both walk in on this little scene and become furious.

In order to keep Lilli from leaving the show, Slug and Lippy appear on stage, disguised as Petruchio's servants, keeping an eye on Lilli. They have no acting ability, but still manage to amuse the audience. There is much less singing from this point onwards in the musical. In the play, Petruchio sets about "taming the shrew", by refusing to let Katherine eat, or sleep in a comfortable bed. Petruchio, however, is unhappy with his new married life, and reminisces about his days of philandering, and his many previous girlfriends, ("Where Is The Life That Late I Led?").

At Lilli's request via the phone earlier in the evening, Tex arrives with an ambulance, and Lilli finally escapes her tormentors and the pair prepare to leave. But Fred befriends Tex in the hopes of delaying their departure. Tex is recognized by Lois, with whom he once went on a date. Although Tex claims she has mistaken him for someone else, Bill is angered by Lois' behavior. Lois admits that though she loves Bill, she cannot resist the advances of other men ("Always True To You In My Fashion"). It turns out her morals are even looser than Bill's.

Fred's (Bill's) gambling debt is resolved by the untimely death of Mr. Hogan, Slug and Lippy's boss. Lilli succeeds in leaving the theatre, saying a surprisingly civil farewell to Fred. Fred thinks that she belongs in the theatre, and tries in vain to stop her from leaving. After her departure, Fred is dejected, but Slug and Lippy manage to cheer him up, ("Brush Up Your Shakespeare").

The last part of the play begins with Bianca finally getting married to Lucentio. Gremio and Hortensio are put out, but two other girls appear and each of the three couples has their own dance sequence in the next song, ("From This Moment On"). At the finale, the show is halted when Lilli's understudy, Jeanie, who is mentioned several times in the musical but never appears, goes missing. Suddenly, Lilli appears on stage and recites Katherine's speech about how women should surrender to their husbands, ("I'm Ashamed That Women Are So Simple"). Fred is bowled over, and the show reaches its triumphant finale ("Kiss Me Kate") giving the impression that Fred and Lilli will once again get together permanently.

Cast

• Kathryn Grayson as Lilli Vanessi / 'Katherina (Kate)'
• Howard Keel as Fred Graham / 'Petruchio'
• Ann Miller as Lois Lane / 'Bianca'
• Tommy Rall as Bill Calhoun / 'Lucentio'
• Keenan Wynn as Lippy
• James Whitmore as Slug
• Bobby Van as 'Gremio'
• Kurt Kasznar as 'Baptista'
• Bob Fosse as 'Hortensio'
• Ron Randell as Cole Porter
• Michael Dugan as Stretcher bearer
• Carol Haney as Specialty dancer
• Jeanne Coyne as Specialty dancer

Musical numbers

1. So in Love - Lilli and Fred
2. Too Darn Hot - Lois
3. Why Can't You Behave - Lois
4. Kiss Me, Kate - MGM Studio and Orchestra Chorus
5. Wunderbar - Lilli and Fred
6. So in Love (Reprise) - Lilli (with tears of crying soft)
7. We Open in Venice - Lilli, Fred, Lois, Bill
8. Tom, Dick or Harry - Lois, Gremio, Bill, Hortensio
9. I've Come to Wive it Wealthily in Padua - Fred
10. I Hate Men - Lilli
11. Were Thine That Special Face - Fred
12. Finale Act One (Kiss Me, Kate) - Chorus
13. Where Is the Life That Late I Led - Fred
14. Brush Up Your Shakespeare - Slug and Lippy
15. From This Moment On - Lois, Bill, Hortensio, Gremio
16. Finale - Fred and Chorus

Comparison with stage version

The film does not differ greatly from the stage version, but there are some significant changes.

The opening scene in Fred's apartment, and the brief appearance of an actor playing Cole Porter, is added; it provides more of the background to Lilli and Fred's troubled relationship.

Nearly all of Porter's rather risqué lyrics had to be "cleaned up" to avoid the wrath of the censors, thus dulling much of the comedy and making the results rather bland. "Brush Up Your Shakespeare", the most suggestive song in the score, was cut in half, and its position changed. In the stage version, the gangsters, Slug and Lippy, inadvertently find themselves on stage, and entertain the audience with their tribute to Shakespeare. In the movie, they sing the song while backstage to cheer up a depressed Fred following the departure of Lilli.

"Too Darn Hot" was also sanitized, and its position changed. It was originally sung by a group of chorus actors relaxing backstage between the two acts of the musical, and had no bearing on the plot. In the movie, it is sung by the show's Bianca, Ann Miller, in the opening scene, where it is claimed that it was originally intended for the stage musical, but was cut.

"So in Love" is sung as a duet by Fred and Lilli in the opening scene, in the stage version they sing it individually at later stages. In the film, Lilli's new fiance is a naive Texas cattle baron, in the stage version he is a domineering east coast government official. The song "From This Moment On" is originally sung by Lily and Tex, happily anticipating their marital bliss. In the film, it is sung by the newly wed Bianca and Lucentio, and her rejected suitors.

Some of these changes may seem surprising to present sensibilities e.g. in "Too Darn Hot" the line "according to the Kinsey Report" becomes "according to the latest report". In the stage version the word "bastard" is used a handful of times, but this is deleted in the film, replaced with e.g. "you louse". However they did retain the scene where Fred spanks Lilli, which some might now consider controversial.

Reception

The movie had a mostly positive reception. Although Kiss Me Kate is often referred to as the first 3-D musical, Those Redheads From Seattle, also a 3-D musical, was released by Paramount Pictures on October 16.