As Petruchio, the swaggering suitor who sets out to tame Katharina, Burton sparred gloriously with Elizabeth Taylor.
Franco Zeffirelli’s The Taming of the Shrew (1967) was made for Burton and Taylor at the height of their fame, and their chemistry drives the film. Burton plays Petruchio’s confidence and comic timing with great gusto, against sunlit Italian locations.
It remains a vivid example of a star couple playing to their strengths, and of Burton’s command of classical comedy.
Image credit: Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.