Silents Talk: Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford in Taming of the Shrew 1929

A clip from 1929's "Taming of the Shrew", starring superstar silent film couple Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford. This was Mary's second talkie after Coquette, and Doug's first. The film opened shortly before the stock market crashed, and subsequently did not do as well as hoped (though it wasn't a total flop).

Mary and Doug would go on to make a handful of talkies separately, both retiring by 1934. Their marriage began to crumble with the making of this film, and they divorced in 1933. For more information see http://www.forgetthetalkies.com/2009/09/unfortunate-story-of-taming-of-shrew....

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Douglas Fairbanks
• Mary Pickford
• Taming of the Shrew
• 1929
• talkies
• silents
• forget the talkies
• silents talk

[theposhone]

@manuelherrera777 and @Pie2 : this film has not been restored, the sounds on most of Mary's talkies needs restored badly. In Kiki you can barely hear anyone talk in the opening. And this film it is obvious. I hope they do restore the films to their full glory someday.

[TheKimdunn]

@sneezepal Don't you love that credit?

[TheKimdunn]

I think they're pretty good together.In fact I'd like to see the whole movie.The only thing is once Mary hit the talkies,still was still acting as though still in silent movies.She never toned down her acting.But that was true of alot of actors trying to make the transition.Still love them both.

[Pie2]

@manuelherrera777 well this movie is from the beginning of sound so it is to be expected. There were also many things going on behind the scenes that contributed to the less than stellar performances.

[manuelherrera777]

They are not bad actors, but the scenes seem unfinished and unpolished. Above all the movie sounds incredible hollow, every step, huff, and slap seems to echo off the set walls, there is a clear need of a musical score to help accent the mood and dialog.

[Faust1950]

¿Porqué no es edita en DVD en versión remasterizada?

[sneezepal]

". . .by William Shakespeare, with additional dialogue by Sam Taylor."