The Taming of the Shrew *** (1929, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks Sr, Edwin Maxwell) – Classic Movie Review 8633

Douglas Fairbanks Sr and his wife Mary Pickford at their end of their great run of success finally star together – and entertain! – as a virile Petruchio and tempestuous Kate in director Sam Taylor’s short (73 minutes) and lively 1929 early sound movie version of the William Shakespeare comedy play The Taming of the Shrew.

The silent movie megastars never really established themselves in the talkies, and their speaking voices are moderate, but nevertheless they are convincing as physical performers, if prone to exaggerating their gestures and overacting.

Director Taylor, who also helps Shakespeare out with the words (or ‘additional dialogue’), keeps the show on the road, though the film is stagey and immobile, even if the camera is relatively fluid given the enormous technical difficulties involved in making early sound movies. It remains an interesting curio for film historians and antique movie buffs.

Fairbanks Sr apparently behaved badly during filming, as the couple’s marriage was coming to an end. Witnesses said Fairbanks Sr exaggerated Petruchio’s harsh treatment towards Kate to take out his frustrations on Pickford. They married on 28 March 1920, separated in 1933 and divorced on 10 January 1936.

They were billed as ‘the King and Queen of the movies’, but the couple’s reign was coming to an end too, to be ousted by Clark Gable and Joan Crawford.

The Taming of the Shrew premiered in the US on 26 October 1929 and was released on 30 November 1929.

It was shot at the Iverson Ranch, 1 Iverson Lane, Chatsworth, Los Angeles, and at The Lot, 1041 North Formosa Avenue, West Hollywood.

It was a hit. Its budget was $504,000 and it grossed $1,100,000 in the US.

The film was re-released in 1966 in a new cut supervised by Mary Pickford, with additional sound effects, voice dubbing enhanced with newly available technology, and seven minutes cut from the initial print. This version is the only one now available on DVD or VHS.

The cut version runs at 66 minutes.

Also in the cast are Edwin Maxwell, Joseph Cawthorn, Clyde Cook, Geoffrey Wardell and Dorothy Jordan.

The Taming of the Shrew is directed by Sam Taylor, runs 73 minutes, or 66 minutes, is made by Elton Corporation and Pickford Corporation, is released by United Artists, is written by Sam Taylor, based on the William Shakespeare play, is shot in black and white by Karl Struss, is produced by Mary Pickford, is scored by Hugo Riesenfeld, and is designed by William Cameron Menzies and Laurence Irving, with Costume Design by Mitchell Leisen.

Franco Zerffirelli’s 1967 version of The Taming of the Shrew remains the play’s definitive film.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8633

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