Shakespeare Plays Available in Video Format
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All’s Well That Ends Well
Antony and Cleopatra
As You Like It
The Comedy of Errors
Coriolanus
Cymbeline
Hamlet
Henry IV, part 1
Henry IV, part 2
Henry V
Henry VI, part 1
Henry VI, part 2
Henry VI, part 3
Henry VIII
Julius Caesar
King John
King Lear
Love’s Labour’s Lost
Macbeth
Measure for Measure
The Merchant of Venice
The Merry Wives of Windsor
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Much Ado About Nothing
Othello
Pericles
Richard II
Richard III
Romeo and Juliet
The Taming of the Shrew
The Tempest
Timon of Athens
Titus Andronicus
Troilus and Cressida
Twelfth Night
Two Gentlemen of Verona
The Winter’s Tale
Shakespeareana

Available versions

1929: Sam Taylor

1967: Franco Zeffirelli

1976: Kirk Browning

1980: Jonathan Miller

1982: Peter Dews

1983: Peter Dews/John Allison

1988: Richard Monette

2013: Toby Frow

2017: Barry Avrich


Adaptations

1953: Kiss Me, Kate

1958: Kiss Me, Kate

1994: Aida Zyablikova (animated)

1999: 10 Things I Hate About You

2003: Kiss Me, Kate

2005: ShakespeaRe-Told: The Taming of the Shrew


Related

2015: Shakespeare Uncovered, Season 2, Episode 1


Kiss Me, Kate
1953: George Sidney

It’s hard to say whether this should be considered an adaptation of The Taming of the Shrew or something else: it’s the classic Cole Porter musical about a production of The Taming of the Shrew (more or less) in which the principal actors (Fred Graham and Lilli Vanessi) resolve their own peculiar differences following the breakup of their marriage.

This musical is the source for a number of phenomenally successful songs in their day (“Wunderbar”, “It’s Too Darn Hot”, etc.), and was perhaps the high point of Porter’s musical career (though others might debate such an assessment). Of particular interest here, it’s the source of the very funny “Brush Up Your Shakespeare”, which makes glancing and irreverent reference to a majority, if not all, of Shakespeare’s plays.

This version, starring Howard Keel and Kathryn Grayson, is cleaned up somewhat for language from the original stage play, to meet the standards of Hollywood censorship in 1953; it also rearranges many plot points and musical numbers for reasons of its own. The lead performances are nonetheless quite engaging, and Keel and Grayson were at the peak of their powers. The large production number that normally begins the second half (“It’s Too Darn Hot”) is given to Ann Miller, who dances it spectacularly, but more or less alone. Those wanting something closer to what was originally presented on stage are referred to the more recent Broadway revival version (2003). To add even one more layer of self-reference to the piece, Cole Porter is himself represented (though by an actor who looks almost completely unlike Porter).


’Baptista’: Kurt Kasznar

Bill Calhoun ’Lucentio’: Tommy Rall

Cole Porter: Ron Randell

Fred Graham ’Petruchio’: Howard Keel

’Gremio’: Bobby Van

’Hortensio’: Bob Fosse

Lilli Vanessi ’Katherine’: Kathryn Grayson

Lippy: Keenan Wynn

Lois Lane ’Bianca’: Ann Miller

Paul: Claud Allister

Ralph: Dave O’Brien

Slug: James Whitmore

Specialty Dancer: Carol Haney

Specialty Dancer: Jeanne Coyne

Suzanne: Ann Codee

Tex Callaway: Willard Parker