Watching it now, I can't even fathom how they decided to make this film 3-D. It's the oddest property for 3-D. Is there a back-story behind the crazy who thought a musical in 3-D would be a great idea?
The 3-D craze at that time was driven by the thought that movies needed to offer something extra to compete with the new medium of TV. Without new features in movies, why would people leave home to still go to the theater?
It's actually fantastic in 3-D. The Film Forum here occasionally shows it. I couldn't say who thought it was a great idea for 3-D treatment, but KMK is great fun when you see it that way and certain shots and moments suddenly make sense, like Ann Miller throwing ribbons at the screen, or that unit that Howard Keel is standing on for "Where Is The Life That Late I Led?" And Tommy Rall's ass looks great in three dimension.
Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop.
Saw it in #D at the local revival house a few years ago; I agree, not much reason to do it in #D, but DAMN the depth perception you get in some shots is amazing.
Like backstage scenes where both the foreground and the background action (onstage) are in focus!
It was a gimmick to get people in the theaters, and away from their fancy new televisions. I've never seen any reason why Kiss Me Kate was chosen, but George Sidney certainly did a great job with it. And the wardrobe department held nothing back where it came to Kathryn Grayson and the mens' costumes, hmm? It's said that Kathryn couldn't watch it all the way through, back when it was released, in 3-D. The glasses made her nauseous.
It's like writing "Norma Shearer for the win!" in a Joan Crawford biography.
It really is a pretty good movie, though I'm not crazy about the extra storyline with Cole Porter. Still, I get the giggles everytime Ann Miller starts throwing ribbons at me. I'd love to see it in 3-D sometime.
At the time it was believed that every picture would be in 3D, even Hitchcock used it. A little trivia about "Kiss Me Kate". It open at Thanksgiving at Radio City Music Hall flat for technical reasons. The process needed more light than the regular prints and the Hall was so big and the projectors so far up in the back of the auditorium, there wasn't enough light to get the 3D effect through out the screen. That Christmas the picture did open wider throughout the NY are in 3D.
M-g-M might have thought that a 3-D film of a Broadway show might communicate more of a live theatre experiences to movie fans.
Can you imagine SWEENEY TODD in 3-d???
Cast albums are NOT "soundtracks." Live theatre does not use a "soundtrack." If it did, it wouldn't be live theatre!
I host a weekly one-hour radio program featuring cast album selections as well as songs by cabaret, jazz and theatre artists. The program, FRONT ROW CENTRE is heard Sundays 9 to 10 am and also Saturdays from 8 to 9 am (eastern times) on www.proudfm.com
The British Film Institute show it every year or so at their huge purpose build IMAX/3D theatre in Londons Waterloo if you ever fancy seeing it in when your in London. They publish their schedules a good way in advance. It looks stunning in 3D but rather lame on TV.
A young actress with Noel coward after a dreadful opening night performance said to him 'Well, i knew my lines backwards this morning!''
Noels fast reply was ''Yes dear, and thats exactly how you said them tonight'!'