The Taming of the Shrew (1967 film)

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The Taming of the Shrew
The Taming of the Shrew (1967 film) poster.jpg
Original film poster
Directed by Franco Zeffirelli
Screenplay by
Based on The Taming of the Shrew
by William Shakespeare
Produced by Elizabeth Taylor
Starring
Cinematography Oswald Morris
Edited by Peter Taylor
Music by Nino Rota
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release dates
  • February 27, 1967 (1967-02-27)(Royal Film Performance)
  • March 8, 1967 (1967-03-08)(U.S.)
  • March 23, 1967 (1967-03-23)(Italy)
[1]
Running time
122 minutes
CountriesItaly
United States
United Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget$4 million
Box office$8,000,000 (North America)
$12,000,000 (worldwide)

The Taming of the Shrew is a 1967 period romantic comedy film directed by Franco Zeffirelli, based on William Shakespeare's play about a courtship between two strong-willed people in 16th-century Italy. The film stars Elizabeth Taylor (who also produced) as Kate and Richard Burton as Petruchio, who were both nominated for BAFTA Awards for their acting. It features Cyril Cusack, Michael Hordern, Michael York, and Victor Spinetti in supporting roles.

Contents

The Taming of the Shrew premiered with a Royal Film Performance on 27 February 1967. At the 40th Academy Awards, it was nominated for Best Costume Design and Best Art Direction - Set Decoration. Burton was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Comedy or Musical, and the film was nominated for Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical. Burton and Taylor also received BAFTA nominations.

This was one of three Shakespearen film adaptations directed by Zeffirelli, followed by Romeo and Juliet in 1968, and Hamlet in 1990.

Plot

Baptista Minola is attempting to marry off his two daughters; however, he will marry off his youngest, Bianca only if someone will marry his eldest, Katherina. Katherina is an ill-tempered shrewish woman but a lusty young nobleman, Petruchio, takes on the challenge of taming and marrying her. A subplot involves the wooing of Bianca by several suitors including handsome Lucentio, foppish Hortensio, and elderly Gremio.

Cast

Sources: [2] [3]

Production

The film was originally intended to be a vehicle for Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni. Taylor and Burton put over a million dollars into the production and, instead of a salary, took a percentage of profits. It was shot entirely at Dino De Laurentiis' studios in Rome.

Unlike her husband, Taylor had never performed Shakespeare before, and she was said to be very nervous prior to the beginning of the shoot. As she found her way into the role, and became more confident, she asked Franco Zeffirelli if she could shoot everything from the first day of shooting again, as she did not think her performance was up to scratch. Zefferilli assured her it was, but she was persistent, and on the last day of principal photography, the entire first day was shot again.

Rotislav Doboujinsky was Head of the film's Specialist Design Department. [4]

Release

The film's premiere was the Royal Film Performance at the Odeon Leicester Square in London on February 27, 1967, attended by Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon. [1] [5] It had its US premiere at the Coronet Theatre in New York City on March 8, 1967, starting its regular run the following day. [1] [6]

Reception

Box office

The Taming of the Shrew grossed $8 million in North America, [7] earning $3,540,000 in theatrical rentals during 1967, [8] making it the 25th highest grossing picture of 1967. The film grossed $12 million worldwide. [9]

Critical reception

The film received positive reviews from modern critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 83% of professional critics gave the film a positive review, based on 23 reviews with an average rating of 7.5/10. The website's critical consensus states: "It may not be reverent enough for purists, but this Taming of the Shrew is too funny – and fun – for the rest of us to resist." [10]

Awards and nominations

Award [11] CategoryNominee(s)Result
Academy Awards Best Art Direction Lorenzo Mongiardino, John DeCuir, Elven Webb, Giuseppe Mariani, Dario Simoni, Luigi Gervasi Nominated
Best Costume Design Danilo Donati, Irene Sharaff Nominated
British Academy Film Awards Best British Actor Richard Burton Nominated
Best British Actress Elizabeth Taylor Nominated
British Society of Cinematographers Best Cinematography Oswald Morris Won
David di Donatello Awards Best ProductionThe Taming of the ShrewWon [lower-alpha 1]
Best Foreign Actor Richard BurtonWon [lower-alpha 2]
Best Foreign Actress Elizabeth TaylorWon [lower-alpha 3]
Golden Globe Awards Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy The Taming of the ShrewNominated
Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy Richard BurtonNominated
Nastro d'Argento Best Costume DesignDanilo DonatiWon
Best Production DesignGiuseppe MarianiNominated
National Board of Review Awards Top Ten Films The Taming of the ShrewWon

Comparison to source material

The film screenplay cuts most of the subplot of Lucentio and Bianca, and the entire Christopher Sly framing device. Other scenes are trimmed of dialogue, or have lines moved from one to another. The film also adds additional scenes, with little or no dialogue, focusing on Kate and Petruchio.

Taylor plays Kate's final, controversial speech without any obvious irony (such as Mary Pickford's wink in the 1929 film); however, her taming is apparently undercut by her quick exit from the banquet, which forces Burton's Petruchio to chase after her amid jeers from the other men. According to Harold Bloom's take on the play, Katherina is "advising women how to rule absolutely, while feigning obedience". [12]

See also

Notes

Related Research Articles

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Catharine and Petruchio is a reworking of William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew by British playwright and actor David Garrick. It was written in 1754 and was performed far more often than the original The Shrew through the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

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The Taming of the Shrew is an opera in three acts by composer Vittorio Giannini. The work uses an English language libretto by Dorothy Fee and the composer which is based on William Shakespeare's play of the same name. The opera premiered at the Cincinnati Music Hall on January 31, 1953 in a concert performance starring Dorothy Short as Katharina, Robert Kircher as Petruchio, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, and conductor Thor Johnson. Considered Giannini's most popular work, it was one of three finalists named for the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1953.

<i>Vinegar Girl</i> 2016 novel by Anne Tyler

Vinegar Girl is a 2016 novel by American author Anne Tyler. It is the third book of Random House's "Hogarth Shakespeare" project, in which contemporary novelists retell stories from Shakespeare's plays. Interviewed by Ron Charles in The Washington Post, Tyler said " 'The Katherina in Shakespeare’s play is insane... She’s shrieking at Petruchio from the moment she meets him. And he’s not much better. So you know I had to tone them down. I’m sure that somebody is out there, saying, ‘This isn’t a shrew at all.’ "

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katherina (Kate) Minola</span> Fictional character

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References

  1. 1 2 3 The Taming of the Shrew at the American Film Institute Catalog
  2. "AFI|Catalog". catalog.afi.com. Retrieved 2021-12-02.
  3. "The Taming of the Shrew (1967)". BFI. Archived from the original on April 3, 2016. Retrieved 2021-12-02.
  4. Doboujinsky, Rotislav (1987). "CV pour inscription a la Maison Des Artistes" (Document). Personal Collection of Claudie Gastine.
  5. "Royal Film Show Yields $100,800". Variety . 8 March 1967. p. 7.
  6. "B'way Hurt by Rain, Snow; 'Dutchman' Big $19,000; 'Deadlier' OK 16G, 2d; 'Oh Dad' Fine 28G; 'Tobruk' 21G, 4th". Variety . 8 March 1967. p. 9.
  7. "The Taming of the Shrew". The Numbers . Nash Information Services. Retrieved 8 March 2012.
  8. "Big Rental Films of 1967". Variety . Variety, Inc. 3 January 1968. p. 25. Retrieved 5 July 2018. Please note these figures refer to rentals accruing to the distributors.
  9. "The Taming of the Shrew (1967): Business". IMDb . Retrieved 8 March 2012.
  10. "The Taming of the Shrew (1967)". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media . Retrieved 5 July 2018.
  11. "The Taming of the Shrew (1967): Awards". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times . 2010. Archived from the original on 9 February 2010. Retrieved 27 December 2008.
  12. Bloom, Harold (2005). "An Essay by Harold Bloom". The Taming of the Shrew. The Annotated Shakespeare. New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 161. ISBN   9780300109825.