Taylor and Burton

 Before Romeo and Juliet, there was Petruccio and Kate.

"The Taming of the Shrew" (1967) was originally intended to be a vehicle for Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni. After "Cleopatra" (1963) had failed at the box office, nearly bankrupting Twentieth Century Fox, when writer and director Franco Zeffirelli suggested casting Elizabeth Taylor and Burton in this movie, he was told it would never happen by Fox executives. However, Zeffirelli was persistent, and in the end, he was able to convince Fox that the couple still had box-office potential. Ultimately, he was proven correct, as this movie was a huge box-office success.

Taylor and Burton put over a million dollars into the production and, instead of a salary, took a percentage of profits.

Unlike her husband at the time, Taylor had never performed Shakespeare before, and she was said to be very nervous prior to the beginning of the shoot. As she found her way into the role, and became more confident, she asked Zeffirelli if she could shoot everything from the first day of shooting again, as she did not think her performance was up to scratch. Zefferilli assured her it was, but she was persistent, and on the last day of principal photography, the entire first day was shot again.

In his memoirs, Zeffirelli said that making this movie was the most fun he had in his entire career. However, Burton and Taylor developed an intense dislike for Zeffirelli while making this film. In his diaries, Burton wrote that Taylor "now really loathes him largely because he is a ruthless selfish multi-faced ego-mad COWARD. It is this last that both of us find most objectionable. I am by no means heroic morally but I can make decisions and accept advice. This chap can do neither."