I currently do not have any Rita Hayworth or S.Z. Sakall movies on my watchlist, so I decided to take yesterday and the day before off and do as much work as possible, so I have more time for movies during the rest of the month. I know there are going to be days I want to see A LOT (tomorrow, for example), but today I watched just one movie. Unfortunately, it was…
Kiss Me, Kate (1953). dir. George Sidney
Yeah, let’s just say it like it is: The Taming of the Shrew, which is Shakespeare’s most misogynistic play, is not exactly the kind of story I would like to watch in a cheerful musical – unless there was some interesting view on the original text presented. There isn’t one in George Sidney’s film [SPOILER: They keep Katherine’s final monologue, ugh], but what is the most upsetting, is that I just do not like the musical numbers that much and I find the film rather boring.
This is a story within a story, art imitating life, if you will, where two actors who were once married but are now feuding, are now to play the main roles in the musical version of The Taming of the Shrew (songs by Cole Porter who is actually one of the characters in the movie).
Ann Miller was our star today, she plays „Bianca” and if there is any silver lining, to me she is the best part of the film. One of the first things that she does when she comes on the screen, is the „Too Darn Hot” number and it’s pretty great (this is one of the songs I actually liked, others being „I Hate Men” -although, with all due respect to Kathryn Greyson, I prefer other versions than the one here – and „From This Moment On” which is an actually good musical number but for some reason very brief, I felt). Maybe if there was more Ann Miller in it just dancing, everything would have been better.
Side-note: I think I need to research Howard Keel more. It seems to me like he is not considered an icon these days, but when I was watching the movie I realized how often I see him (and hear his baritone) in those MGM musicals (he was in, I want to say, most of them).
Home Improvement S02E16, „Dances with Tools”
I did only watch one Ann Miller film today, but I also checked out the episode of Home Improvement she appeared on. I have actually never watched this show before and I don’t think I will, because the humour seemed… not for me. Ann plays a dance instructor (the main characters want to learn ballroom dancing for their anniversary) and it was nice to see her in her later years, still looking great and moving amazing.
(Interesting thing I noticed: even though the show is laugh-track heavy, there was no pause for applause/applause when Ann first appeared on the screen, it was as if she was just any other actress, not a cameo from an Old Hollywood legend. Huh).
BTW, did you know that Ann Miller’s father was a lawyer who represented Bonnie and Clyde?
Swingin' at the Seance 