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OPEN CLASSIC CINEMA · 1133

The Taming of the Shrew

190817 minUnited States
Comedy

Synopsis

Petruchio pursues the combative Katherina despite her determined resistance. After carrying her away from the wedding, he turns meals, clothing and household authority into instruments of control. Their contest makes the treatment of servants as well as the marriage itself part of the film's physical action.

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Video edition
Wikimedia Commons
Original language
No spoken dialogue. Intertitles: not identified.
This copy runs
17:51
Subtitles
No subtitle track in this language

No spoken dialogue. Intertitles: not identified. No subtitle track in this language.

Languages and subtitles

No subtitle track in this language

Wikimedia Commons · D. W. Griffith · Public domain

Cast

DirectorsD. W. Griffith

Inspirations

Griffith compresses Shakespeare's play into a short silent adaptation. Without the full verbal exchanges of the stage work, gestures, blows and withheld comforts carry much of the conflict.

Sources and availability

General references identify the work and its copy. A reference beside an editorial section is linked to the claims checked in that section.

Wikipedia — film referenceWikidata — film identity and credits

Work catalogued as public domain in the United States.

The public-domain references concern the original films in the United States. Rights can differ for other countries, editions, restorations, music or translations. Sources are listed on each film page.

Availability checked on September 15, 2026.

Photograph credit

Photographs cropped, resized and optimized as WebP, displayed in monochrome.

  • Florence Lawrence — Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research; http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/whi/fullRecord.asp?id=4236 · Public domain
  • Arthur V. Johnson — Unknown author Unknown author; Filmland favorites; being the autographed photographs with biographical sketches of the leading photo play stars (1915). Book available online at: https://archive.org/details/filmlandfavorite00losa · Public domain
  • Linda Arvidson — No photographer credited; Image of "Linda Griffith" published in The Moving Picture News (New York, N.Y.), 16 August 1913, p. 11; digital copy from Internet Archive (San Francisco, California): https://archive.org/details/movingpicturenew81unse/page/n250/mode/2up · Public domain
  • Harry Solter — Unknown author Unknown author; A pictorial history of the silent sceen · CC0
  • Gene Gauntier — Unknown author Unknown author; The Moving Picture World , July 13th, 1912, Vol. 13, No. 2, p. 153, Internet archive ID# moviwor13chal · Public domain

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