The Taming of the Shrew (1980)

The swaggering Petruchio agrees to marry the spitting hellcat, Katherine.

Director:

Jonathan Miller

Writer:

William Shakespeare (play)

Stars:

Simon Chandler, Anthony Pedley, John Franklyn-Robbins

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Simon Chandler	...	Lucentio
Anthony Pedley	...	Tranio
John Franklyn-Robbins	...	Baptista
Frank Thornton	...	Gremio
Sarah Badel	...	Katherine
Jonathan Cecil	...	Hortensio
Susan Penhaligon	...	Bianca
Harry Waters	...	Biondello
John Cleese	...	Petruchio
David Kincaid	...	Grumio
Bev Willis	...	Baptista's Servant
Angus Lennie	...	Curtis
Harry Webster	...	Nathaniel
Gil Morris	...	Philip
Leslie Sarony	...	Gregory

Storyline

Baptista has two daughters: Kate and Bianca. Everyone wants to wed the fair Bianca, but nobody's much interested in problem child, Kate. Baptista declares that he won't give Bianca away in a marriage until he's found a husband for Kate, so all the suitors begin busily hunting out a madman who's willing to do it, and they find Petruchio: a man who's come to wive it wealthily in Padua. And Petruchio marries Kate with a plan to tame her, while everybody else begins scheming to win Bianca's hand.

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Plot Keywords:

male female relationship | resentment toward sister | shakespeare's the taming of the shrew | based on play | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Certificate:

TV-14

Did You Know?

Trivia

Jonathon Miller was determined that the adaptation not become a farce, and in that vein, two keys texts for him during production were Lawrence Stone's The Family, Sex and Marriage in England: 1500-1800 and Michael Walzer's The Revolution of the Saints, which he used to help ground his interpretation of the play in recognisably Renaissance-esque societal terms; Petruchio's actions are based on accepted economic, social and religious views of the time, as are Baptista's.

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Connections

Version of Studio One in Hollywood: The Taming of the Shrew (1950)

User Reviews

This film isn't boring, it's true to Shakespeare

I recently studied this play in Brit Lit, and I definitely think that even though this version might be a little slower than the Zefferelli version, it is better. The Zefferelli version reverts back to the physical, cheap humor that Shakespeare obviously steers clear of, because in his day there were a number of those kinds of plays out there, but they were cheap, superficial plays. Also, Zefferelli leaves out the falcon soliloquey. I think that John Cleese is just a genius with comedy, and I am also a big fan of Frank Thorton. Besides that, I think that the makers of this film understood the real themes of Taming, and tried to portray them in the movie, as opposed to Zefferelli, who added extraneous things to make it more "amusing", but thus led it further away from Shakespeare's true meaning.

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 October 1980 (UK)

Also Known As:

A makrancos hölgy

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Time-Life Television Productions

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1