atlasmb "Kiss Me Kate" is a film about actors putting on a play about actors putting on a play. This adaptation from Shakespeare is packed with cleverness and talent.Let's start with the music. Cole Porter wrote music for this film in which Cole Porter writes music for a play that is an adaptation of Shakespeare. All that really matters is that Porter's tunes are clever, lively standards.The film's dance sequences are some of the best in film. Ann Miller, Bob Fosse, Tommy Rall, Hermes Pan (and more!) display their joyful, energetic and even prodigious talents. For example, watch for Tommy Rall to virtually explode on stage from the wings in one number.The costumes are colorful and eye catching. In addition, they accent the dancing extremely well.For a light-hearted musical romp filled with action and talent, it is hard to beat "Kiss Me Kate".

jjnxn-1 Sprightly colorful throughly wonderful musical. Keel is perfect in the male lead and Kathryn Grayson in what along with Magnolia in Show Boat is her best role is terrifically loose and animated, a break from her normal persona, a shame than that this was almost the end of her film career. Ann Miller sizzles in "It's Too Darn Hot" even if her being able to perform the full number in someone's living room is a bit of a stretch. Of note are the costumes all of which are designed to take full advantage of the vivid Technicolor by being every color of the rainbow and lordy those mens tights are snug! All the supporting players deliver the goods and while almost every song or dance routine is a terrific "From This Moment On" stands out as an exceptional number. A winner, see it!

Robert J. Maxwell Two divorced performers -- Howard Keel and Kathryn Grayson -- are brought together in a Broadway musical written by Cole Porter. They hate each other. The play is based on Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew" and the stars hate each other on stage as well as off. Sub plots include James Whitmore and Keenan Wynne as two lowbrow hoods hanging around to collect an IOU supposedly written by Keel.The songs are uniformly tuneful and good. Porter could write some clunkers but there aren't any here. "So In Love" is sincere, but most are clever. Sometimes they are underhandedly cute, or am I reading too much into lyrics like "I'm a maid mad to marry/ And will take double-quick/ Any Tom, Dick or Harry,/ Any Tom, Harry or Dick." Maybe -- but I don't think so. Porter's lyrics could be pretty risqué.And what a cast! Keel and Grayson in 1953 were at the top of their form, she with her coloratura soprano and he with his reassuringly wobbly baritone. They're the two singers and aren't required to dance.The dancers include the ingratiatingly vulgar Ann Miller and the splendid Tommy Rall, Bobby Van, and the outstanding Bob Fosse, who put together their final joint number, "From This Moment On," which was a springboard to celebrity. Also in this dance is Carol Haney, who lamentably was featured in only one other film, "The Pajama Game", before dying at an early age. There is a brief glimpse of a sailor flirting with Ann Miller. The sailor is Hermes Pan, for years Fred Astaire's alter ego. Whenever I watch Ralls do his exhilarating comic number in "Why Can't You Behave," I always wind up asking myself, "Why was I never able to do that?" The answer is always the same. Something to do with a paucity of myoneural plates.The wardrobe people deserve some kind of medal, not so much for the women's costumes -- elaborate though they are -- but for the flamboyance of the men's outfits. All the colors of the rainbow, enough to numb the mind if not blind the eye.The acting is okay. Not much more than that. Sometimes Keel, who is supposed to be something of a narcissistic blowhard, carries his 1600 locutions off stage. I don't know whether it was deliberate or just an oversight on director Sidney's part. Anyway, he looks good. The full-figured and blossom-eyed Grayson looks practically edible. For the rest of the cast, well, they're not supposed to be Shakespearian actors and they don't sound like it. The actor who comes off best with Will's dialog is Kurt Kasznar. He sounds as if he's done it before. As a comedy, it's amusing rather than hilarious, but it's altogether engaging. Some harmless gags are given to the two hoods. Someone asks if Grayson is permitted to leave the theater. "She wouldst but she canst." Keel's character, Fred Graham, is always addressed as "Mister Gray-ham." This film must originally have been shot in 3-D. It's curious to see the cast thrusting their faces into the camera, throwing pewter pots and bananas at the audience.

TheLittleSongbird Seriously, Kiss Me Kate is a truly splendid movie. My only complaint is that there are one or two slow scenes in the middle half. People might say it just lacks the energy and pizazz of a musical like Singin' In the Rain, maybe so. Singin' In the Rain is one of those wonderful, energetic and irresistible films. But Kiss Me Kate sparkles in a truly delightful and somewhat unique way, not only in the production values but in its performances, music and choreography.The film looks absolutely fabulous. The cinematography is fluid, the sets colourful and the costumes lavish. Director George Sidney is right at home here, and makes splendid use of his stars by using cleverly disguised long takes. The music and songs by Cole Porter is outstanding, from a musical AND choreographic point of view Too Darn Hot and Brush Up Your Shakespeare have always stood out for me. The plot reads of a musical version of Taming of the Shrew, and is very effective.The choreography is energetic and never pedestrian. And the performances are wonderful. I can never get enough of Howard Keel, he just has a charming screen persona and a beautiful singing voice. Here, as Fred he has rarely been better. As Lisa, Kathryn Grayson looks stunning and acts "difficult" perfectly. Comic gangsters James Whitmore and Keenan Wynn are also great in the saucy waltz Brush Up Your Shakespeare, but with Too Darn Hot it is Ann Miller who steals the show. All in all, splendid. 9/10 Bethany Cox