University of Virginia Library

Taming Of The Shrew

Movie Too Too Good

By Boozley Crowther

"The Taming of the Shrew,"
which runs through last Friday
at the University Theatre, unquestionably
ranks with the finest and
most unforgettable motion pictures
of this week.

Elizabeth Taylor is too too
beautiful for mortal eyes in the
costumes that Irene Sharaff designed
for her, and the brilliance
of her performance recalls last
year's "Virginia Woolf," for which
she won her second Oscar. If occasionally
her voice falls short
of what The Bard might expect,
she is always convincing. That she
has mastered the role of Kate
so well in a first Shakespearean
performance is proof of
her great Big versatilities.

Richard Burton's Petruchio is
exactly what one expects from the
finest actor of our generation-flawless.
His dreamy voice is so so
superb that he could please
an audience by reading a...
telephone directory! And he moves
freely and sexy with the changing
temperaments of the play. This
performance is destined to bring
Burton a big Award! Whoopee!

The rest of the cast is drawn
from some of England's finest stage
and screen stars. Burton declared
that the set looked like "old home
week at the Old Vic." Cyril Cussack
portrays Petruchio's servant
Grumio, and Michael Holdern,
who appeared with the Burtons
in "Cleopatra," is Kate's father,
Baptista. He's good too.

The secondary lovers Lucentio
and Bianca, are skillfully handled
by Michael York and Natasha
Pyne. York appeared in Zeffirelli's
production of "Much Ado about
Nothing" at the National Theatre
of London. Both actors have had
numerous early successes, and, in
these roles, they really live up to
their past performances. Zeffy
handles Lizzy pretty good too.

The sets and costumes have all
the richness and sumptuous color
of a sixteenth century tapestry. To
reconstruct "ancient" Padua, Mr.
Zeffirelli chose Europe's largest
and most modern studio complex,
the De Laurentis Studios, twelve
miles south of Rome, which I
am familiar with. The street scenes,
with elaborate building exteriors
and shops, completely filled the
very tallest sound stage in the
world.

Mr. Franco Zeffirelli is the
genius behind the camera (and
behind the scenes heh, heh). He
is equally at home with Shakespeare
and Puccini and has won
acclaim for his stage direction on
two continents.

This is truly one motion picture
that everyone should see. "The
Taming of the Shrew" is a grand
and too, too unforgettable experience,
one of those rare
moments when cinema comes
through at its best and in all
its glory. Its simply elegant!