Cheap Taming of the Shrew (Video) (Sam Taylor) Price

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Customer Reviews of Taming of the Shrew

NOT WITHOUT MERIT.
While certainly not up to the lusty, vigourous 1967 Taylor-Burton masterpiece, this 1929 Pickford-Fairbanks curio is surprisingly entertaining. The two silent screen stars pose and preen so much in this satire on the Shakespearean classic, that it becomes fun if you accept it for what it is: an antique early sound comedy which is played strictly for laughs. Katherine falls in a muddy pig-sty dressed in her wedding gown & when she and Petruchio meet, they trade insults before tumbling down the stairs. The film is widely regarded to have the most ludicrous of all credit lines: "Written by William Shakespeare; additional dialogue by Samuel Taylor". Fact or fiction? There's only one way to find out!

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Witty, Charming, and Funny -- Watch For Yourself
I don't understand the negative reviews "The Taming of the Shrew" has received. It is a witty, energetic, charming movie. Douglas Fairbanks is perfectly cast as the blustering, swaggering Petruchio -- as is Mary Pickford as the spirited Kate. Together, they do an admirable job of bringing Shakespeare's text to life with humor and sophistication. Without a doubt, the movie is certainly superior to much of the tripe Hollywood produces these days.
One word of warning: the Hollywood Classics version is recorded in EP mode, not SP mode, so the picture is not as clear and sharp as it could be. On my TV, there were lines and fuzziness at the top & bottom of the screen that I couldn't get rid of.

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Much better than expected
This must surely be the most maligned film of its generation. Generally written off as the failure that ended both the careers and the marriage of Douglas Fairbanks, few people have had much good to say of it.

And yet it holds up quite well. By no stretch of the imagination is this good Shakespeare, but its a fun film. Doug is better than Mary; his persona suits the character far better. Mary looks great but only occasionally springs to life - not surprisingly that is when she doesn't speak.

Sam Taylor lets the film down badly with an unimaginative, stagey, literal approach. But a few facts should be aired. The film was neither a critical nor a box office failure in 1929. It earned a tidy profit and received, if anything, more praise than it deserved. (The New York Times put it on its Ten Best List for the year.) The famous credit "with additional dialogue by Sam Taylor" is also pure myth. There was never any such credit line.

Try and give this film a fresh, objective viewing. But don't expect anything beyond a fun time killer.