The Taming of the Shrew
The Taming of the Shrew
| 10 November 1976 (USA)
The Taming of the Shrew Trailers

San Francisco's prize-winning American Conservatory Theater's rowdy commedia dell'arte production incorporates slapstick, pratfall and earthy humor into William Shakespeare's comedy about the two unmarried daughters of a wealthy Italian merchant. While daughter Bianca is genteel and popular, daughter Kate is foul-tempered and strong-willed. No one dares to marry Kate, until Petruchio arrives in Padua and tries his hand at courtship.

Reviews
AboveDeepBuggy Some things I liked some I did not.
SparkMore n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.
Griff Lees Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.
Aryana Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.
Thilwen I happened to order online a DVD version of The Taming of the Shrew. When I received the packet the day before yesterday, I found out that it was not the film directed by Franco Zeffirelli that I originally wanted, but some stage production by whoever... I was disappointed that I had made such a silly mistake with ordering something else than I wanted. However, only after a minute or two of watching the performance, I was not entirely sure if it was really a mistake, and when Petruchio stepped on the scene, I suddenly realised that this was actually the luckiest choice of DVD I have ever made. Petruchio and Kate are both so lively and wilful. (I do not want to say that the other actors did not do their best - they are ALL wonderful, but Petruchio and Kate are my favourite characters.) When Kate is weary and sad, Fredi Olster has tears in her eyes... The whole cast are playing for the audience, not for the stage, and they do not miss a chance to communicate with the people. It must have been an exceptional and unforgettable experience to see this performance live. For me, it was exceptional even on the screen, and I am sure I will not forget it - I have already seen it twice...
TPK This ACT version of "Taming of the Shrew" is very different from most of the overproduced movies made from Shakespeare plays--in this stage production, there are no huge set pieces or elaborate props. It's reduced to actors having fun with rich, descriptive language.The trouble with a number of movies made from Shakespeare plays--say, Kenneth Branagh's schizoid, interminable "Hamlet" or Baz Luhrman's MTV-ized version of "Romeo and Juliet"--is that, being movies, they try to make the material more visual. They show, rather than tell, what is going on. As a result, Shakespeare's powerful descriptive passages are reduced, cut, or worse, blazed through as quickly as possible and shoved aside to make room for more eye candy.There's no such difficulty here. This "Shrew" is almost performed on a bare stage, in commedia dell'arte style, with minimal accoutrements and some sound effects for laughs. Everything depends on Shakespeare's rich, inventive language, and the production is the better for it.
AALA I saw this production in a theatre class back in the late 70's and have never forgotten it -- this was the first time I'd seen a production of "Taming of the Shrew" that didn't offend my feminist sensibilities! It was fast paced (as Shakespeare's comedies should be), physical and fun, well directed and acted.
billwwr This was a terrific, fun performance of Taming of the Shrew that ran on Great Performances on PBS. It's still owned by WNET in New York, but they won't release it on video so that I can buy it. This was a high energy production in which dance played an important role along with the words. It's an awful shame that WNET won't release it.