Page 35 - Shakespeare in the Movie From the Silent Era to Shakespeare in Love

24 / Shakespeare in the Movies

screamed, shrieked, and screeched without taking a truly strong
stance against Petruchio, which would have allowed her to embody
the prefeminist leanings of Shakespeare's Kate. "At best," Vogue
complained, "Taylor can only turn the Great Shrew into a minor
nag." Making her performance all the more difficult to accept was
the presence of the stage-trained Burton, whose line readings were
impeccable. Critics and audiences alike delighted when he gleefully
eyed Kate, giving an X-rated implication to the G-rated line "Oh,
how I long to have some chat with her!"
The film did ring true in its closing scene, when the reformed
Kate dutifully explains a wife's necessary devotion to, and happy
enslavement by, her husband. Zeffirelli's version was fashioned even
as the modern women's movement emerged in the public con-
sciousness; women were challenging the necessity and wisdom of
subscribing to such wifely virtues. Cleverly, Zeffirelli coaxed Taylor
into reading the lines with a trace of irony, suggesting Kate may now
actually gain the upper hand at that moment when Petruchio
believes he has finally won. In 1967 the pendulum swung once again
as, due to the era's youth movement, society embraced liberal
values, however temporarily. Zeffirelli included such radical ideas
in his interpretation, making his version the polar opposite of Sam
Taylor's.

Variations on a Theme

Part of what allows Shakespeare to continue in popularity, even as
other once-revered works become dated and fall out of favor, is that
his comedies, tragedies, and histories allow for numerous interpre-
tations. Moreover, they can be effectively adapted to current trends
in entertainment and ideology. The Taming of the Shrew became
the basis for numerous films only peripherally related to the original.
The first was Elstree Calling (British International, 1930; Adrian
Brunei/Alfred Hitchcock), an early talkie in which Kate Minola
(Anna May Wong) tosses furniture at her preening male husband
(Tommy Handley), halting the tirade only when Will Shakespeare
(Gordon Begg) enters and intervenes.
Kiss Me Kate, a popular stage musical, was brought to the screen
in 1953. (For details, see chapter 14, "Playing Shakespeare.") Vari-
ous vehicles for the team of Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy,
including the beloved Adam's Rib (1949), draw on Shakespeare's
battle of the sexes. John Ford, America's greatest director after Grif-