The Washington times., 1929-09-07
PICKFORD FILM
BURLESQUE0N
SHAKESPEARE
Rx nOROTHY HERZOG


ronvrirht. 1873 Premier Syndicate
HOLLYWOOD, Sept. with
Mary Pickford and Douglas FAIR.
banks safely out Of town, Europe
bound, they sanctioned preyieW
OF their current joint effort, Tam
ing of the Shrew."
The preView was absolutely Sc.
cret. Hence, all Hollywood came
10 this impromptu opening night.
The nonprofessional section OF the
audience had no idea what pic.
ture would be run. other than q
United Artists production. When
Mary's and Doug's name flashed
on the sereen--in the order name
the house staged spontaneous
demonstration.
"Taming OF the Shrew" may go
under the editorial knife as
result of last evenings preyiew,
so 1t wouldn't be fair to pen
critiuue. Suffice to say, how.
ever. that the genteel comedy OF
Shakespeare yields to bolster
business bordering on burlesdue.
The story has been boldly tam.
pered with from the middle of
the picture to the end which, one
might remark, fades In with be.
wfidering abruptness following
the merry antic opinion OF Holly,
woodites was: ITS Mary and
Doug" And IL In. A beautiful
Mary. Almost too beautiful and
charming for a good old-fashioned
shrew: A splendid Doug. Doug.
in his first talky, ,surpasses the
Doug of silent drama days. His
voice has a curious electrical
quality and swings along dynam-
ically. First honors to Fair.
banks. He irnpresses this corre'
spondent as being more OF
Petruchio than Mary Is a Kath-
crime.
. Director Sam Taylor has re-
written large measure OF
Shakespeare's dialogue. A daring
thing to do, IL you know what
mean. The film has been beau
tifully staged and the sets ere
gorgeous.
framing of the Shrew" will
stimulate much laughter. Bitter
comments from Shakespearean
students and adherents. But
Mary and Doug emote together
and that spells a box office
nugget.
It was Tom Geraghty who spoke
the classic of the evening when
he remarked: Now / know where
Mack Sennett got his ideas"
Letter Box
Pens Carey Wilson: Dear Dor.
othy: Your column yarn about
Bob Blossoms pants which were
tight reminds me of Erich Won
Stroheim's crack to me in answer
to my query az to how he got
his to fit sd-s0-thoroughly!
Won answered: T tell my tailor
IL I can get into 'em i won't
take emf
Writes J. B.: "I am, herewith
serving notice upon you that
shall refuse 'absolutively' to read
your column from this date on il
you persist in using by the by
and 'yclept. You wouldn't want
me to do that, would you? II you
and Louella Parsons don't stop
numbering these phrases and
adjectives, I'll have to do some
thing drastic. And--that's ALL"
Aw, J. B., be good guy. I'm
crazy for yelept. And as for good
English-well, bigosh. 1t isn't in
my contract.
Says J. L. Stearns: Last week
I read a note in Variety apropos
Mr.. Ed Lewis, night watchman at
Paramount. Today, I read the
same note in your column. Must
you steal items from other publi-
cations without even crediting
them? There go the Paramount
publicity bins getting by with re-
hashing again. / shouldn't be so
trusting.) And for heavens sake,
desist for a while anyhow from
using 'um,' 'yclept' and we viii
lage.' Think of a few new words
and phrases-or consider the die
tionary II your brain won't func-
ton"
1t Is a thought
Near Tragedy
Whonnea acffnu On HT lilies nf