''The Taming of the Shrew'' is a 1967 period romantic comedy film directed by

Franco Zeffirelli Gian Franco Corsi Zeffirelli (12 February 1923 – 15 June 2019), was an Italian stage and film director, producer, production designer and politician. He was one of the most significant opera and theatre directors of the post-World War II era, ...

, based on

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

’s play about a courtship between two strong-willed people in 16th-century Italy. The film stars

Elizabeth Taylor Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was a British-American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 1950s. ...

(who also produced) as

Kate Kate name may refer to: People and fictional characters * Kate (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or nickname * Gyula Káté (born 1982), Hungarian amateur boxer * Lauren Kate (born 1981), American autho ...

and

Richard Burton Richard Burton (; born Richard Walter Jenkins Jr.; 10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) was a Welsh actor. Noted for his baritone voice, Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s, and he gave a memorable pe ...

Petruchio Petruchio (an anglicisation of the Italian name Petruccio; ) is the male protagonist in Shakespeare's '' The Taming of the Shrew'' (c. 1590–1594). Petruchio is a fortune seeker who enters into a marriage with a strong-willed young woman ...

, who were both nominated for

BAFTA Award The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cer ...

s for their acting. It features

Cyril Cusack Cyril James Cusack (26 November 1910 – 7 October 1993) was an Irish stage and screen actor with a career that spanned more than 70 years. During his lifetime, he was considered one of Ireland’s finest thespians, and was renowned for his in ...

Michael Hordern Sir Michael Murray Hordern Commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE (3 October 19112 May 1995)Morley, Sheridan"Hordern, Michael Murray (1911–1995)" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004, online e ...

Michael York Michael York OBE (born Michael Hugh Johnson; 27 March 1942) is an English film, television and stage actor. After performing on-stage with the Royal National Theatre, he had a breakthrough in films by playing Tybalt in Franco Zeffirelli's ''Ro ...

, and

Victor Spinetti Vittorio Giorgio Andre "Victor" Spinetti (2 September 1929 – 19 June 2012) was a Welsh actor, author, poet, and raconteur. He appeared in dozens of films and stage plays throughout his 50-year career, including the three 1960s Beatles films ...

in supporting roles. ''The Taming of the Shrew'' premiered with a Royal Film Performance on 27 February 1967. At the

40th Academy Awards The 40th Academy Awards honored film achievements of 1967. Originally scheduled for April 8, 1968, the awards were postponed to two days later, April 10, 1968, because of the assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. Bob Hope ...

, it was nominated for Best Costume Design and Best Art Direction - Set Decoration. Burton was nominated for the

Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of ...

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,

, 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

Production

The film was originally intended to be a vehicle for

Sophia Loren Sofia Costanza Brigida Villani Scicolone (; born 20 September 1934), known professionally as Sophia Loren ( , ), is an Italian actress. She was named by the American Film Institute as one of the greatest female stars of Classical Hollywood ci ...

and

Marcello Mastroianni Marcello Vincenzo Domenico Mastroianni (28 September 1924 – 19 December 1996) was an Italian film actor, regarded as one of his country's most iconic male performers of the 20th century. He played leading roles for many of Italy's top di ...

. 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 Agostino "Dino" De Laurentiis (; 8 August 1919 – 10 November 2010) was an Italian-American film producer. Along with Carlo Ponti, he was one of the producers who brought Italian cinema to the international scene at the end of World War II. He ...

’ studios in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. 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 didn't 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.

Release

The film's premiere was the Royal Film Performance at the

Odeon Leicester Square The Odeon Luxe Leicester Square is a prominent cinema building in the West End of London. Built in the Art Deco style and completed in 1937, the building has been continually altered in response to developments in cinema technology, and was the ...

in London on February 27, 1967, attended by

Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, (Margaret Rose; 21 August 1930 – 9 February 2002) was the younger daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, and the younger sister and only sibling of Queen Elizabeth ...

. It had its US premiere at the Coronet Theatre in New York City on March 8, 1967, starting its regular run the following day.

Reception

Box office

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

Critical reception

The film received positive reviews from modern critics. Review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

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."

Awards and nominations

Comparison to source material

The film screenplay cuts most of the subplot of Lucentio and Bianca, and the entire

Christopher Sly Christopher Sly is a minor character in William Shakespeare's ''The Taming of the Shrew.'' He is a drunk man who is easily dominated by women, set up as a foil to Petruchio, the central male character in the play. Role ''The Taming of the Shrew' ...

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 Gladys Marie Smith (April 8, 1892 – May 29, 1979), known professionally as Mary Pickford, was a Canadian-American stage and screen actress and producer with a career that spanned five decades. A pioneer in the US film industry, she co-founde ...

’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 Harold Bloom (July 11, 1930 – October 14, 2019) was an American literary critic and the Sterling Professor of Humanities at Yale University. In 2017, Bloom was described as "probably the most famous literary critic in the English-speaking worl ...

's take on the play, Katherina is “advising women how to rule absolutely, while feigning obedience”.

Notes

References

External links

* * * * *
eNotes Article

Phoenix Cinema Article
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taming of the Shrew, The 1967 films 1967 romantic comedy films 1967 directorial debut films American romantic comedy films American historical comedy films Italian romantic comedy films Italian historical comedy films Columbia Pictures films Romantic period films Films scored by Nino Rota Films directed by Franco Zeffirelli Films based on The Taming of the Shrew Films set in the 16th century Films set in Italy Films with screenplays by Suso Cecchi d'Amico Films with screenplays by Paul Dehn British romantic comedy films British historical comedy films Films shot in Rome 1960s English-language films 1960s American films 1960s British films 1960s Italian films