The Taming of the Shrew (1929)

Director:

Sam Taylor

Writers:

William Shakespeare (play)
Sam Taylor (adaptation)

Release Date:

30 November 1929 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

All Talking! All Laughing!

Plot:

Adapted from Shakespeare's play: Baptista Minola, a wealthy resident of Padua, is the father of Katherine and Bianca...

Plot Keywords:

Verona Italy | Padua Italy | Marriage | Padua | William Shakespeare

Cast

Mary Pickford	...	Katherine
Douglas Fairbanks	...	Petruchio
Edwin Maxwell	...	Baptista
Joseph Cawthorn	...	Gremio
Clyde Cook	...	Grumio
Geoffrey Wardwell	...	Hortensio
Dorothy Jordan	...	Bianca

Runtime:

63 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:G | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Iverson Ranch, Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Elton Corporation

Trivia:

Douglas Fairbanks' and Mary Pickford's marriage had deteriorated so badly by the time they made this film that many onlookers said that Fairbanks exaggerated Petruchio's harsh treatment towards Katharina in order to take out his own frustrations on Pickford.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "The American Experience: Mary Pickford (#17.6)" (2005)

Far From Perfect, But Enjoyable as Light Entertainment

While it's far from perfect either as a movie or as an adaptation of Shakespeare, this version of "The Taming of the Shrew" is enjoyable as light entertainment. It also offers a rare chance for silent film fans to see Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks together, in a sound feature no less. Fairbanks has a role much more suited to him than does Pickford, but it's still good to see them together.

Petruchio really is quite a suitable role for Fairbanks, and his buoyant confidence works well. His portrayal seems to be pretty close to the kind of character that Shakespeare intended. The role of Katherine doesn't give Pickford a chance to use her greatest strengths. She does project good energy, and has plenty of charm when it is called for, but at times her portrayal doesn't seem to fit the original conception of the character, and the role definitely did not give Mary the chance to display her wide range of talents with more subtle material.

The story is a rather loose, jaunty adaptation of the original, and there would be little point in making detailed comparisons. As a movie, most of it works all right aside from the occasional instances of awkwardly-paced dialogue and the like that are characteristic of so many films of the early sound era. Fairbanks does help make some of these moments less noticeable with his obvious good humor. There are certainly a number of obvious ways in which it could have been better, and it's fair to point them out. Yet it still has enough of the classic story, plus enough of its own energy, to make it worth seeing as long as you know what to expect.