Kiss Me Kate 3D Blu-ray (1953) [Region Free]

[bavanut]

I must weigh in as one who also likes Kiss Me Kate very, very much. I've been well acquainted with it for going on 30 years now, having videotaped it off The Movie Channel when I was still a teenager. (I may have been the only South Carolina linthead of my day watching any sort of M-G-M musical, come to think of it.) I had to get used to the operetta singing styles of Howard Keel and Kathryn Grayson, but almost every other aspect of the film plays well even today. It's lighthearted, colorful, energetic, and has a very attractive cast, particularly Ann Miller. Va-va-voom! Most of the songs I find kind of catchy; by now I know all the words by heart, and sometimes sing along. And last of all, the stereo cinematography really has to be one of the top-drawer examples not only of the 1950s, but of all time.

I am the last person in the world to second guess Greg, except that I seem to remember a big deal being made in 2006, at Expo II, that we were privileged to see the reinserted "gimmick sequence" for the first time in ages. That footage could have been present in '03 as well; I was distracted at that earlier screening and might have forgotten its inclusion. The place was packed to the gills, and I, a festival pass holder, had to sit way back up in the rafters on the very last row of the balcony, while some of my dearest friends-- a married couple, fellow South Carolinians and devoted fans of M-G-M musicals-- had to crane their necks up at the screen from the very front row. I went down at intermission to offer one of them my spot, but they said they were fine. That cannot necessarily be trusted: polite South Carolinians will almost always tell you they are fine, regardless of circumstances. :-)