Kiss Me Kate (1953), 8 Color

An ex-husband and wife team star in a musical version of 'The Taming of the Shrew'; off-stage, the production is troublesome with ex-lovers' quarrels and a gangster looking for some money owed to them.
1h 49min | Comedy, Musical, Romance | 5 November 1953 | Color
Director: George Sidney
Stars: Kathryn Grayson, Howard Keel, Ann Miller, Keenan Wynn, Bobby Van, Tommy Rall, James Whitmore, Kurt Kasznar, Bob Fosse, Carol Haney, Jeanne Coyne.
Hermes Pan ... choreographer
Bob Fosse ... choreographer (uncredited)
Alex Romero ... assistant choreographer (uncredited)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045963/

In the Tap! Appendix for Jeanne Coyne, Bob Fosse, Carol Haney, Ann Miller, Tommy Rall, Bobby Van.

This film was produced in 3D, and they throw things and/or jump at the camera a lot. However, this print is not 3D, and MGM produced non-3D versions for theatres at the time.

Songs performed (36 chapters with menu):

• ch3. So in Love, Sung by Kathryn Grayson and Howard Keel 
• ch4. Too Darn Hot, Sung/danced by Ann Miller 
• ch7. Why Can't You Behave, Sung by Ann Miller, danced by Ann Miller, Tommy Rall 
• ch9. Wunderbar, Sung by Howard Keel and Kathryn Grayson 
• ch11. So in Love (reprise), Sung by Kathryn Grayson 
• ch13. We Open in Venice, Sung by Kathryn Grayson, Howard Keel, Ann Miller and Tommy Rall 
• ch15. Tom, Dick or Harry, Sung/danced by Ann Miller, Tommy Rall, Bobby Van and Bob Fosse 
• ch16. I've Come to Wive It Wealthily in Padua, Sung by Howard Keel 
• ch18. I Hate Men, Sung by Kathryn Grayson 
• ch19. Were Thine That Special Face, Sung by Howard Keel 
• ch25. I've Come to Wive It Wealthily in Padua (reprise), Sung by Howard Keel 
• ch28. Where Is the Life That Late I Led?, Sung by Howard Keel 
• ch30. Always True to You in My Fashion, Sung/danced by Ann Miller and Tommy Rall 
• ch32. Brush Up Your Shakespeare, Sung/danced by Keenan Wynn and James Whitmore 
• ch33. From This Moment On, Sung by Ann Miller, Tommy Rall, Bob Fosse and Bobby Van, danced by them and Carol Haney, Jeanne Coyne.
• ch35. Kiss Me Kate (reprise), Sung by Howard Keel, Kathryn Grayson and Chorus 

A highly enjoyable film, mostly for the dancing. But it's also good to see KG act temperamental (she's usually so sweet). But I don't care for the shrew story, neither the consistently bad behavior of the woman, nor the method of cure and attitude of the man. The Cole Porter score is delightful and well-staged.

I wonder how the choreography worked. It's stated that Fosse got to design his small segment with Carol Haney in ...Moment, but the athleticism of all 3 male dance leads, and the rapid tapping of AM is nothing like Hermes Pan's work with F.Astaire or B.Grable. To what extent do the dancers themselves contribute to the design?

MGM, dir. Sidney; 8