Critics reviews

The movie, fluidly directed by George Sidney (a largely overlooked figure in the Freed Unit's stable of filmmakers), throws lots of crap in the audience's face, to be sure, but the most effective moments of depth are the close-ups and medium shots, where I was constantly wowed by the strange spectacle of huge, colour, moving, realistic heads and shoulders in living three dimensions. It was a bit like the outsize photorealist sculptures of Ron Mueck, come to life.

My ability to focus on the aesthetic uses of stereoscopy was somewhat derailed by the off putting misogynistic humiliation of central character Lilli Vanessi, the stand in for, and actress playing the role of, Katherina in The Taming of the Shrew. While scholars might argue that Shakespeare was ironic in his treatment of Katherina in his play, Kiss Me Kate seems to ignore any potential irony and delights in using bullying slapstick.

Predictably, the ‘right eye/left eye' 3D drops leggy Miller right in your lap and most all the cast members visibly have a good time throwing stuff at the camera and the audience. It's almost enough to distract from a tired backstage plot and by-the-book direction from musical genre specialist George Sidney.

Adapted by Dorothy Kingsley from the successful 1948 Cole Porter stage musical and directed by the underrated George Sidney, this 1953 feature does interesting things with mirrors, windows, and the relationship between stage and audience, playing on the differences between theatrical and film space and, paradoxically, exploiting 3-D as an artificial and antirealistic effect.