The 1967 Franco Zeffirelli film of The Taming of the Shrew had all the ingredients to make it a high point in Shakespearian cinema. In Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor it starred the most bankable couple in Hollywood history as the sparring leads in the Bard's quick-firing comic battle of the sexes; and in Zeffirelli, it had a director with a Shakespearian pedigree second to none. But the reality is that this is Burton's picture all the way. His Petruchio is a weighty performance of such intelligence that the whole film is thrown off-kilter whenever he is on screen and the other performers just can't keep up. Apart from Michael Hordern's wonderfully distracted Baptista, Burton is the only actor in total, effortless command of the language. Taylor's bosomy glamour and fiery spirit are ample compensations for her occasionally murderous treatment of Katharina's verse. Whether or not she is really tamed by the end is another matter: those legendary violet eyes suggest otherwise. Ultimately it's a rich, bawdy and colourful romp, with Burton at the peak of his powers.
The DVD includes the theatrical trailer, a "making-of" featurette and filmographies. --Piers Ford
Movie Database
DVD Home
Buy this DVD on Amazon.co.uk