Taming of the Shrew, The (1967)

Having scandalised polite society when they got together on the set of the 1963 epic Cleopatra – while they were both married to other people – Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor (who had wed each other in 1964) clearly understood the appeal of their famously tempestuous romance to cinema audiences.

Known for their extravagant lifestyle and ‘performative’ fighting that kept them on the front pages, the couple had no compunction about choosing roles that let them play out their demons in public.

Their 1966 hit, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, saw the pair tear strips off each other as George and Martha, a bitter, alcoholic married couple, in Mike Nichols’ Oscar-winning adaptation of the Edward Albee stage play.

But whereas that film, described by one critic as “an emotional horror story”, shone a light on the darker aspects of the volatile couple’s relationship, Franco Zeffirelli’s rollicking adaptation of Shakespeare’s comedy The Taming of the Shrew, set in medieval Italy, is altogether more upbeat.

The story follows a wealthy merchant, Baptista (Michael Hordern), who refuses to let his sweet, younger daughter Bianca (Natasha Pyne) marry until someone takes his unruly, headstrong eldest daughter, Katharina (Taylor), off his hands.

Enter Petruchio (Burton), a loud, fortune-hunting gentleman from Verona who accepts the challenge of wooing the fiery Katharina for her substantial dowry.

What follows is a physical, high-octane battle of wits and a contentious struggle for dominance

Originally intended as a vehicle for Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni, Zeffirelli’s Shrew must have seemed like light relief to Burton and Taylor, who were so enamoured with the project that they sank more than $1 million of their own money into the production and waived their salaries, opting instead for a share of any profits. But while Burton was a seasoned Shakespearean actor, on both stage and screen, Taylor had no previous experience of performing the Bard’s words and was extremely nervous.

She only found her way into the part as the production went on and was unhappy with her work at the start of the shoot.

She complained to Zeffirelli, who said he was satisfied with her performance as the furious Katharina. Nevertheless, perhaps because of her role as a producer on the film, she was able to insist the first day’s filming be entirely redone.

If Shakespeare’s elaborate Elizabethan language proved taxing for Taylor, it was the strenuous nature of the role that challenged Burton, who said he was “permitted to do extreme physical things that wouldn’t have been allowed with any other actress” – chasing Taylor up and down stairs and over rooftops.

The star was already beginning to suffer from the effects of the chain-smoking and heavy drinking that would lead to his death from a stroke in 1984, aged just 58.

Still, the pair clearly had a lot of fun, and although Zeffirelli casually omitted much of Shakespeare’s dialogue, leaving purists fulminating, punters flocked to see the movie.

Casting Burton and Taylor, who eventually divorced in 1974, only to remarry the following year before parting for good nine months later, had been a stroke of genius.

Katharina
Elizabeth Taylor
Petruchio
Richard Burton
Grumio
Cyril Cusack
Baptista
Michael Hordern
Tranio
Alfred Lynch
Gremio
Alan Webb
Priest
Giancarlo Cobelli
Pedant
Vernon Dobtcheff
Tailor
Ken Parry
Haberdasher
Anthony Gardner
Bianca
Natasha Pyne
Lucentio
Michael York
Hortensio
Victor Spinetti
Biondello
Roy Holder
Vincentio
Mark Dignam
The Widow
Bice Valori
Nathaniel
Alberto Bonucci

Director
Franco Zeffirelli

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