Additional dialogue by Sam Taylor

For the longest time I had heard the legend of this most self-serving credit on the 1929 version (Fairbanks/Pickford) of “The Taming of The Shrew.” It supposedly went something like: Based on the play by William Shakespeare, Additional Dialogue by Sam Taylor. I think that was the guy’s name.

Anyway, I recently purchased a copy of the video of this film… and it ain’t there.

Was this an urban (Hollywood) legend or did Mr. Taylor get so derided that he had the credit wiped off all prints, or what?

Thanks,

Sir

I’ve never heard it ever debunked as an Urban Legend. It’s possible that either the credit was taken off, or you just missed it.

When in doubt, consult the imdb. Actually, they do give Sam a writing credit for “adaptation.”

FWIW, if you look in the user comments, you find this:

But if you look at the Maltin review for the movie, Leonard says,

So who to believe? Anyone want to email Maltin and ask where he heard it?

Thanks guys,

It is definitely not on the print that was used for my video copy, though it is indeed the 1966 restoration copy. Until I hear differently, I’m going to assume that perhaps the film was released with the "additional"crdit in 1929 and ol’ Sam got hounded and perhaps he (or his estate) later asked that the credit be taken off to spare him further ridicule.

Thanks again,

Sir

I don’t know why Mr. Taylor’s credit was removed in the version that the original poster saw, and I’ve not seen that version of the play, so I don’t know which brilliant lines were the ones that Mr. Taylor “enhanced” the play with :rolleyes:, but I CAN add that the “additional dialogue by Sam Taylor” credit was referenced in the book “The Golden Turkey Awards”.