| Cole Was Never Better |
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| written by fred3f |
September 19, 2004 - 8:55 AM PDT |
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2 out of 2 members found this review helpful
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This is Cole Porter in his top form. When you look back at the "golden age" of broadway musicals, many come off today as overly sentimental, overly wholesome or unrealistic ("Oklahoma," for example). Even those that have lasting merit were often converted to film as thinly disguised "filmed plays" with the addition of a mega budget for sets, costumes, extras etc. The result of such misguided efforts is that they seem slow and ponderous ("My Fair Lady," "Hello Dolly" for example - both excellent plays and lousy films).
"Kiss me Kate" manages to avoid these pitfalls. To begin with, the play is witty and does not portray a false morality which many of the golden age musicals tend to do. The filming, while not exceptional is at least competent. The music is top notch for its genre, and the acting is excellent. There is also a considerable amount of talent on the screen. Kathryn Grayson, aside from having a great voice is extreemly well suited for the role. In a never to be forgotten moment when she belts Howard Keel (also well voiced and perfectly suited), she does it with conviction. The comedy is witty, fast and entertaining.
The only reason this is not a 10 is because it is not in 3D. I was lucky enough to see this in 3D at a rerun house many years ago. Seeing Ann Miller (this is probably her finest role) dance on a table in 3D is something that is not easily forgotten. So as this is an election year, write both Bush and Kerry and tell them you are going to vote for the opposition unless they make issuing the 3D version on DVD part of their campaign. In fact you may, like a certain prominent star, want to live outside the US until this grossly unfair situation is corrected. |
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