Kiss Me Kate (film) - Plot

Plot

The show opens with Fred Graham (Howard Keel) and Lilli Vanessi (Kathryn Grayson), a divorced couple, meeting at Fred's apartment to hear the score for the Cole Porter (Ron Randell) musical version of "The Taming of the Shrew". Lois Lane (Ann Miller), who is to play Bianca, arrives and sings "Too Darn Hot". Lilli almost decides against performing in the show, as she fears it might interfere with her honeymoon. But when she overhears Cole and Fred promising Lois the part, she decides to play Katherine after all.

Lois' boyfriend, Bill Calhoun (Tommy Rall), is playing Lucentio in the ("Shrew") musical but in between rehearsals, he leads a gambling lifestyle, which results in him owing a local gangster $2,000, but he has signed the IOU in Fred's name. Lois laments Bill's bad-boy lifestyle ("Why Can't You Behave?"), but Bill's winsome charm soon wins her over, and she forgives him. Meanwhile, after a fiery confrontation during rehearsals, Fred (who is also directing the show) and Lilli get together in Lilli's dressing room, and reminisce about happier times, singing "Wunderbar" from a show they did together. Fred later sends flowers to Lois but his butler gets confused and gives them to Lilli instead. Lilli is overcome by this romantic gesture and falls back in love with Fred, ("So In Love (Reprise)").

The show gets underway, with Fred, Lilli, Lois and Bill dressed as a group of traveling entertainers, ("We Open In Venice"). The main body of the play is their enactment of Shakespeare's, "The Taming of The Shrew"- the script is largely the same as Shakespeare's, but interspersed with Cole Porter's songs. In the play, Bianca, the younger daughter of Baptista, a Paduan merchant, wishes to marry, but her father will not allow it until his elder daughter, Katherine, is married. Bianca has three suitors – Gremio, Hortensio and Lucentio – and each of them try to persuade her to choose him as her husband. She is prepared to marry anyone, ("...any Tom, Dick or Harry...").

Lucentio's friend Petruchio arrives in Padua, seeking a wife, ("I've Come To Wive It Wealthily In Padua"), and when he hears of Katherine, he resolves to woo her. Katherine, however, hates the idea of getting married, ("I Hate Men"). Petruchio serenades Katherine ("Were Thine That Special Face"). Lilli is so moved by Fred's heartfelt delivery of the song, that she can't resist reading the card that came with the flowers, having placed it next to her heart. She sees that it is addressed to Lois, and attacks Fred mercilessly on stage, ad-libbing verbal abuse. As the curtain comes down, Fred has had enough, and spanks Lilli.

Lilli resolves to leave the theatre with her fiancé, Tex Calloway (Willard Parker); she phones him and tells him to pick her up, preferably with an ambulance. Meanwhile, Lippy and Slug, a pair of gang enforcers, arrive to collect Bill's IOU from Fred. Fred decides to accept the IOU and convinces Lippy and Slug that he needs them to help keep Lilli from leaving so that the show will be successful enough for Fred to afford the debt. Lois, in the meantime, learns that Fred has taken responsibility for the IOU and she comes to thank him, but each time she begins to thank him for not being angry about Bill forging his name, Fred kisses her passionately to prevent Lippy and Slug from learning about his deception. Lilli and Bill both walk in on this little scene and become furious.

In order to keep Lilli from leaving the show, Slug and Lippy appear on stage, disguised as Petruchio's servants, keeping an eye on Lilli. They have no acting ability, but still manage to amuse the audience. There is much less singing from this point onwards in the musical. In the play, Petruchio sets about "taming the shrew", by refusing to let Katherine eat, or sleep in a comfortable bed. Petruchio, however, is unhappy with his new married life, and reminisces about his days of philandering, and his many previous girlfriends, ("Where Is The Life That Late I Led?").

At Lilli's request via the phone earlier in the evening, Tex arrives with an ambulance, and Lilli finally escapes her tormentors and the pair prepare to leave. But Fred befriends Tex in the hopes of delaying their departure. Tex is recognized by Lois, with whom he once went on a date. Although Tex claims she has mistaken him for someone else, Bill is angered by Lois' behavior. Lois admits that though she loves Bill, she cannot resist the advances of other men ("Always True To You In My Fashion"). It turns out her morals are even looser than Bill's.

Fred's (Bill's) gambling debt is resolved by the untimely death of Mr. Hogan, Slug and Lippy's boss. Lilli succeeds in leaving the theatre, saying a surprisingly civil farewell to Fred. Fred thinks that she belongs in the theatre, and tries in vain to stop her from leaving. After her departure, Fred is dejected, but Slug and Lippy manage to cheer him up, ("Brush Up Your Shakespeare").

The last part of the play begins with Bianca finally getting married to Lucentio. Gremio and Hortensio are put out, but two other girls appear and each of the three couples has their own dance sequence in the next song, ("From This Moment On"). At the finale, the show is halted when Lilli's understudy, Jeanie, who is mentioned several times in the musical but never appears, goes missing. Suddenly, Lilli appears on stage and recites Katherine's speech about how women should surrender to their husbands, ("I'm Ashamed That Women Are So Simple"). Fred is bowled over, and the show reaches its triumphant finale ("Kiss Me Kate") giving the impression that Fred and Lilli will once again get together permanently.