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sabotai · 01-12-2010, 12:08 AM

The Taming of the Shrew (1929)

Directed by: Sam Taylor
Starring: Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford
Length: 63 min
Genre: Comedy
Based On: William Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew"

And so the beginning of the end for two of the most iconic figures of the silent era.

Katherine (Mary Pickford) is a well known....hate-filled bitch, to put it in modern terms. Her younger sister, however, is a perfectly fine lady that is unable to wed by her father's command until her older sister is married. Petruchio (Douglas Fairbanks) takes up the challenge of marrying Katherine.

The movie is 90% them fighting. It gets a bit funny near the end when Katherine starts turning the tables on Petruchio and starts agreeing with everything he says. But overall, not funny. A pretty bad movie.

The film was originally shot as a silent movie, and the sound effects and dialogue were added later. Why the two of them picked this junk to make their one and only dual venture is beyond me. In searching the web, I find a lot of people actually like the movie. For only being 60 minutes long, I had enough right around 15 minute mark, after what must have been Fairbanks' 40th or 41st from-the-belly laughing fit.

Which, in a way, is what I think they were trying to bring to audiences. For over a decade, people got to see Fairbanks laugh on screen. So much so that it became a part of his image. But they never got to hear it. Perhaps they had enough of it by the end of this movie too. Those who saw it anyway. The film was a massive flop. Both Fairbanks and Pickford only have a few years left. They are both gone from the movies by 1934. Which is a shame, because despite how bad this one film was, neither has a voice that is unsuitable for the "talkies".

My Rating: 4/10
IMDB: 7.2/10 (218 Votes)

01-12-2010, 12:08 AM	#196
sabotai General Manager Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: The Satellite of Love	The Taming of the Shrew (1929) Directed by: Sam Taylor Starring: Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford Length: 63 min Genre: Comedy Based On: William Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew" And so the beginning of the end for two of the most iconic figures of the silent era. Katherine (Mary Pickford) is a well known....hate-filled bitch, to put it in modern terms. Her younger sister, however, is a perfectly fine lady that is unable to wed by her father's command until her older sister is married. Petruchio (Douglas Fairbanks) takes up the challenge of marrying Katherine. The movie is 90% them fighting. It gets a bit funny near the end when Katherine starts turning the tables on Petruchio and starts agreeing with everything he says. But overall, not funny. A pretty bad movie. The film was originally shot as a silent movie, and the sound effects and dialogue were added later. Why the two of them picked this junk to make their one and only dual venture is beyond me. In searching the web, I find a lot of people actually like the movie. For only being 60 minutes long, I had enough right around 15 minute mark, after what must have been Fairbanks' 40th or 41st from-the-belly laughing fit. Which, in a way, is what I think they were trying to bring to audiences. For over a decade, people got to see Fairbanks laugh on screen. So much so that it became a part of his image. But they never got to hear it. Perhaps they had enough of it by the end of this movie too. Those who saw it anyway. The film was a massive flop. Both Fairbanks and Pickford only have a few years left. They are both gone from the movies by 1934. Which is a shame, because despite how bad this one film was, neither has a voice that is unsuitable for the "talkies". My Rating: 4/10 IMDB: 7.2/10 (218 Votes)