Taming of the Shrew, The

Synopsis: Fiction film version of The Taming of the Shrew directed by D.W. Griffith with Florence Lawrence as Kate and Arthur Johnson as Petruchio. The film omits the Christopher Sly framing and much reduces the Bianca sub-plot.
Country: United States
Medium: Film
Technical information: Black-and-white / Silent
Year of release: 1908
Recording date: 10 Nov 1908
Duration: 11 mins; 1048 feet

Director

Cinematographer

Cast

Notes: The copy held by the Library of Congress is 16mm produced from the paper roll.

Available on DVD (region 1 only) as an extra on Buchowetski’s OTHELLO (1922).
History: The film was copyrighted November 11, 1908
Reviews: Ball, Robert Hamilton. Shakespeare on Silent Film: A Strange Eventful History. London: George Allen and Unwin, 1968 (pp62-6, 67, 286, 315). Ball writes, p 62, ‘The Taming of the Shrew opened up no new vistas; it belongs to the fumbling experiments to express himself [Griffith] in a new form’.

Moving Picture World (November 28 1908) - ‘A rather confused film, presented on an overcrowded stage. I cannot say that the film was well received by the audience, and it is a rather brutal subject in which the lash has too much play. The last scene calls for a special mention, as the most beautiful composition with very fine photographic effects’.

Shakespeare, "Taming of the Shrew, The". https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/shakespeare/search/index.php/title/av68550 (Accessed 26 Nov 2024)

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