CIVIC

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 976, 20 May 1930, Page 14

CIVIC

I “THE TAMING OF THE SHlflr Auckland had an opportunity yesterday to see for themselvea *►. much heralded “Taming of the Shre* in which Mary Pickford and Fairbanks appear for the first time i, co-stars. It was truly an event of fe. portance and the crowds at the Civ. ; Theatre attested the success of the great combination. It is only fair to say that adva&e* reports of the film were not ezatte ated. Here is a rollicking coJJec that brought gales of laughter tar * kept the audience at a high piteh r enthusiasm from the opening scene u the final one. While “Taming of the ShreV a S from the master pen of Shakespear* it Is so modern in handling and y human in plot that it might Jtk u well have been the product of a contemporaneous playwright. Directs Sam Taylor, who also wrote the 1& adaptation, never lost a single bit c Shakespeare’s delicious comedy and fact, contributed many bits of bmhKa that added to the liilarious proceedings. Mary Pickford as Katherine, the shrew, gave a performance wil stand as the high water mark of dnmatic perfection. She wore her gorgeous costumes with grace and eon*, how seemed more beautiful than eve. The ebullient Douglas Fairbtiita was his own self as Petruchio. It j a part that suits him admirably k every aspect, and in addition to tfe usual audacious rascal that he ahrs-t manages to make of every part, :• contributes some of the finest conec that has ever reached the screen The play is supposed to he laid : Padua, Italy, in the fifteenth center but would have lost nothing if it h: been laid in the twentieth century. Outstanding on the brilliant aq> porting programme are the rntmci. selections by both Ted HenkeTfe orchestra and by Fred Scholl at a organ.