Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto

Philip's Commentary On

Shakespeare In Hollywood by Ken Ludwig

OBERON MEETS HOLLYWOOD

Max Reinhardt staged A Midsummer Night's Dream thirteen times between 1905 and 1934 . . . After he fled Germany he devised a more spectacular outdoor version at the Hollywood Bowl, in September 1934. . . . Warner Brothers signed Reinhardt to direct a filmed version, Hollywood's first Shakespeare event since Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford's Taming of the Shrew (1929).  [14 year old Mickey] Rooney (Puck) and [18 year old Olivia]De Havilland (Hermia) were the only hold-overs from the cast.
—Excerpted from a Wikipedia article on A Midsummer Night's Dream

When and Where:

NOTE: Because of conflict with Hotel de Zink we will meet off-campus this month as follows:
On Monday September 10 we will meet at the home of Fred Hawley, 3410 Kenneth Dr. Palo Alto CA 94303.
On Tuesday, September 25 we will meet at Philip Hodge’s , 580 Arastradero Road, Apt. 701, Palo Alto, 94306.

What:   SHAKESPEARE IN HOLLYWOOD by KEN LUDWIG
Who:    UUCPA Thespians
Why:    To start the Church Year off with a laugh.

A perfectly good comedy play could have been written about the real production of that film.  The director Max Reinhardt spoke no English and had never directed a movie; the music was adapted by Erich Korngold – his first movie.  Mickey Rooney disrupted the shooting schedule by breaking his leg while skiing; Jack Warner was furious and threatened to kill him and then break his other leg. 

Warner Bros. studio was previously known only for gangster and other hard-boiled urban pictures.  Reinhardt’s forest was so dark and realistic that there wasn’t enough light to shoot a movie; the cinematographer Hal Mohr solved the problem with lots of aluminum paint and metallic spangles and won an Oscar for it – the only “write-in” Oscar winner in the history of the awards. 

Two of the stars were juveniles: Mickey Rooney at 14 and Olivia De Haviland at 18 making her first major appearance.  Other veteran stars such as Jimmy Cagney, Joe E. Brown, and Dick Powell had zero Shakespearean experience.  The resulting picture got violently mixed reviews and was a financial disaster.  In their later recollections Powell admitted he never understood his lines; Cagney recalled whispering “Somebody ought to tell him [Reinhardt]”; Brown wrote “I really believe Shakespeare would have liked the way we handled his low comedy and I’m sure the Minsky brothers did. The Bard’s words have been spoken better but never bigger or louder.”  Oh, yes.  Will Hays did threaten to stop production because of “witchcraft and bestiality”, but backed down for reasons unknown.  {Some of the material for this paragraph was taken from “New  York State Writers Institute Film Notes” for the picture, available at www.albany.edu/writers-inst/fns98n5.html.}

BUT author Ken Ludwig wanted more so he postulated that Puck made a wrong turn in his spell to transport him and Oberon to Athens to participate in Theseus’s marriage in mythological times as recorded by Shakespeare in  A Midsummer Night’s Dream.  Instead they landed on the Warner Brothers lot in Hollywood in 1934.  Further, he made Mickey’s accident worse and had Victor Jory quit, thus opening the way for Oberon and Puck to play themselves in the WB picture.  And themselves they are, turning Bottom into an ass, and causing all sorts of romantic mis-matches with their magic flower.  My vote for the funniest one is Will Hays looking into a mirror and falling in love with himself, but you may well have a different favorite.

Anyhow, don’t miss the opportunity to take part in reading this delightful comedy.  Let me know you’re coming or just show up.  You’ll be glad you did.

Philip Hodge, Chair.