Movie #: Title:   Year: 1953         IMDB mediatype
Genre: Director:     IMDB   Rating:      Box Set? box set?

FileNameRunTimeFileSize(MB)
0938 Kiss Me Kate.mp41:491281

Synopsis

Fred and Lilly are a divorced pair of actors who are brought together by Cole Porter who has written a musical version of The Taming of the Shrew. Of course, the couple seem to act a great deal like the characters they play. A fight on the opening night threatens the production, as well as two thugs who have the mistaken idea that Fred owes their boss money and insist on staying next to him all night.  

More Info

Includes
An all too short featurette on Cole Porter and the making of this movie - this one hosted by Ann Miller, but also featuring snippets from Kathryn Grayson, Howard Keel, Tommy Rall and James Whitmore.

Ann Miller hosts Cole Porter in Hollywood: Too Darn Hot
Music-only track plus a Vintage documentary short "Mighty Manhattan, New York's Wonder City"

Trivia about Kiss Me Kate:
Originally filmed in 3D which is why the actors often throw things (including themselves) at the audience.
Publicity photos on the piano during the "So In Love" number include a shot from the previous Keel/Grayson pairing, Show Boat (1951), but the photo from Annie Get Your Gun (1950) has Kathryn Grayson's face replacing Betty Hutton's.
Several of the Broadway lyrics were considered too "spicy" for a film. For instance, "according to the Kinsey Report" was changed to "according to the weather report" in the song, "Too Darn Hot", and a verse containing bawdy puns was omitted from "Brush Up Your Shakespeare".
The first (and perhaps the only) movie to be shot in widescreen (1:85-1) and 3-D as well as the then-standard 1:33-1 ratio. All three were tested in one city. The widescreen version was so overwhelmingly preferred by audiences that it alone was released. However, the 3-D version has had rare screenings, and apparently a 1:33-1 print was used for the videotape edition.