Shakespeare in performance works were plundered for these scenes. Among the drolls taken from Shakespeare were "Bottom the Weaver" (Bottom's scenes from "A Midsummer Night's Dream") and "The Grave-makers" (the gravedigger's scene from "Hamlet"). At the Restoration in 1660, Shakespeare's plays were divided between the two newly licensed companies: the King's Company of Thomas Killigrew and the Duke's Men of William Davenant. The licensing system prevailed for two centuries; from 1660 to 1843, only two main companies regularly presented Shakespeare in London. Davenant, who had known early-Stuart actors such as John Lowin and Joseph Taylor, was the main figure establishing some continuity with
A Midsummer Night's Dream Mary Pickford's "Taming of the Shrew" in 1929. Rooney (Puck) and De Havilland (Hermia and Zara) reprised their roles from the Hollywood Bowl cast. James Cagney starred, in his only Shakespearean role, as Bottom. Other actors in the film who played Shakespearean roles just this once included Joe E. Brown and Dick Powell. Erich Wolfgang Korngold was brought from Austria to arrange Mendelssohn's music for the film. He not only used the "Midsummer Night's Dream" music but also several other pieces by Mendelssohn. Korngold went on to make a Hollywood career, remaining in the US after Nazi Germany annexed Austria.