Speak. How low am I? I am not yet so low. But that my nails can reach unto thine eyes!
Jean Muir and Olivia de Havilland as Helena and Hermia at each other’s throat in Reinhardt & Dieterle’s 1935 A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
On the right, eavesdropping, is Mickey Rooney’s Puck.
As a smallish woman, I’ve had a lot of fun calling taller friends painted maypoles, when height came into consideration. Taller and English-speaking: I fear that the Italian equivalents “Albero di Maggio” or (more roughly) “Albero della Cuccagna” are unwieldy and not half as effective…
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