KISS ME, KATE
Next On November 27 (Tuesday after next) we'll see the film musical, Kiss Me, Kate. We'll explore the musical from the point-of-view of rhetoric, defined by Aristotle as "the art of persuasion by available means." We'll observe different means of persuasion, including
In the meantime, study the complete lyrics to Kiss Me Kate to familiarize yourselves with them (the film's dialogue has subtitles, but not the songs—among the greatest in Broadway theatre).
Several songs (especially "Brush Up Your Shakespeare") were censored for the film version, since they were considered too risky for movie audiences (Broadway audiences were allowed greater liberties, since mainly adults went to Broadway shows). Today we laugh at the studio's concern over such harmless lyrics, but Hollywood studios were sensitive about
Kiss Me, Kate is famous for being one of the few major studio releases to be filmed in the new 3-D format. 3-D was an attempt to lure audiences away from their TV screens back to movie theatres.
It gave viewers a three-dimensional effect of objects or people coming close (see examples above). Because of the cost (movie exhibitors had to install expensive new equipment) this fad quickly passed.
So Kiss Me, Kate was never exhibited in 3-D, though it was filmed in this format. Though evidence of 3-D effects can be seen in the examples above, the full effect required special 3-D glasses (see attached Study Picture, showing composer Cole Porter watching the 3-D version of Kiss Me, Kate).
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