Shivering Shakespeare
| Shivering Shakespeare | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Directed by | Anthony Mack |
| Produced by |
Robert F. McGowan Hal Roach |
| Written by | Robert F. McGowan |
| Starring |
Norman Chaney Mary Ann Jackson Jackie Cooper Allen Hoskins Bobby Hutchins Edgar Kennedy Gertrude Sutton |
| Music by | Ray Henderson |
| Cinematography | Art Lloyd |
| Edited by | Richard C. Currier |
| Distributed by | MGM |
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Release date
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Running time
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20' 19" |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Shivering Shakespeare is an Our Gang short film directed by Robert A. McGowan under the pseudonym "Anthony Mack". Produced by Hal Roach and released to theaters by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, it was the 95th Our Gang short to be released.
The gang participates, allegedly by force, in a boring play entitled The Gladiator's Dilemma. Written, produced and directed by the wife of Officer Kennedy, her husband is responsible for the special effects and will portray different characters as needed (including a giant named Ursus and an elephant).
A nervous Mrs. Kennedy gives her introduction to the audience as the kids get ready for their performance. Their disgust and lack of enthusiasm show how they feel about the show. During the first act, Mary Ann and Wheezer forget many of their lines and confuse some words for others, so Mrs. Kennedy has to yell them out to them. In the background a tall boy sneezes, causing his fake wig and beard to fall and land on Pete the Pup. Mrs. Kennedy helps Chubby start his line and then prompts her husband to shake a tin sheet, creating thundering noises. When Farina begins saying his line, a goat runs loose and butts him, knocking him down. Getting up, Farina yells, "Forsooth, I think these mountains are full of too many goats!" As Act I is ending, Chubby gets ready to play Nero. He begins writing his lines on his costume in case he forgets one. Mr. Kennedy notices that the costume is inside out and has him put it on correctly.
At the beginning of Act II Jackie delivers his lines and, like the others, forgets several words. Mrs. Kennedy yells them to him, getting more and more nervous. Donald Haines giggles while saying his line about Nero riding an "elephant bathed in perfume." Minutes later Mr. Kennedy comes onstage in an elephant costume (with Chubby on his back). When the curtain accidentally falls in the middle of the scene, his costume's head falls off. The boy in charge of the curtains just sits, so Mrs. Kennedy has to open them for him. Chubby accidentally falls on a bowl of tomatoes, leaving the rear of his costume wet and dirty.
Meanwhile, some teenaged boys (who were kicked out of the cast) seek revenge by throwing eggs at the players. Chubby forgets a line and has to pull up his toga to find out what his next line is (this happens off and on throughout the entire show). His mother and Mrs. Kennedy order him to put it back down, so he asks what he must say. After being given the line, he says, "What ho! Bring on the dancing girls!" A female dancer comes onstage to do her number while the musicians play a sour-note version of "The Blue Danube Waltz". The angry boys find the musical number terrible and throw an egg at the dancer, hitting her in the face.
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