Romeo and Juliet (1936)

It's the classic William Shakespeare directed by George Cukor. The pomp and pageantry is great. It's a big Hollywood production. The Shakespearian dialogue is understandable. The acting ability spans a wide range. There is the greatness of the sunsetting John Barrymore. The leads and most of the cast are reasonably good. There is one or two awkward bad performances. My biggest problem is the age of the star-crossed lovers. They are supposed to be pubescent teens. Norma Shearer is in her mid-30s and Leslie Howard is in his mid-40s. It is very noticeable that Norma is fit to play her mother but it is the thinning hair of an elderly Leslie which is most confounding. I understand the cliche that these teen roles are often played by older actors but they are quite frankly in a different generation. There is a hormonal melodrama to this play that older actors cannot hope to bring to the leading roles. They're not even in their 20's.

Copyright 3 September 1936 by Metro Goldwyn Mayer Corp. New York opening at the Astor 20 August 1936. U.S. release: 16 April 1937 (sic). U.K. release: March 1937. Australian release: 15 December 1936. 127 minutes. NOTES: Romeo and Juliet was nominated for the following prestigious Hollywood awards (actual winners in brackets): Best Picture (The Great Ziegfeld); Norma Shearer, Best Actress (Luise Rainer in The Great Ziegfeld); Basil Rathbone, Best Supporting Actor (Walter Brennan in Come and Get It); Gibbons, Hope and Willis (only!), Best Art Direction (Richard Day for Dodsworth). Number 8 on the National Board of Review's list of the Best American Films of 1936. Number 6 in the Film Daily's annual survey of over 500 American film critics for the Best Films of 1937. COMMENT: It's very tempting simply to laud all aspects of this magnificent production, and let it go at that. But we must face the intrinsic problem of Romeo and Juliet. Are Leslie Howard and Norma Shearer - charismatic though their performances certainly are - miscast? The answer depends entirely on your point of view. From Shakespeare's own viewpoint, the answer is yes - but his reasons will surprise you. Shakespeare would have thought Howard was the right age for the part (even though Romeo is supposed to be a teenage youth) but found his impersonation too under-stated, lacking passion, fire and color. Shakespeare would have preferred John Barrymore in the role. As for Norma Shearer, full marks for her interpretation, but still totally wrong for the part as she is the wrong age and the wrong sex! (In Shakespeare's day, females were not allowed to act on the stage, although it could certainly be argued that the master would have heartily approved a change in the law). Looking at the problem from a modern viewpoint, I tend to agree with the director, George Cukor. Despite the youth of the two protagonists, their ideas, their speech, their imagery is extremely mature and sophisticated. Mind you, really talented young players could possibly bring this off- but I've yet to see them. So let's not argue whether Howard is too old, Shearer too mature. Brilliantly directed by George Cukor, this Romeo and Juliet is easily the finest Shakespeare on film. The master's dialogue has been superbly edited by Talbot Jennings to retain all the essentials. While the beauty of the poetry is preserved, the screen is rarely swamped with words. In fact, the action moves forward at such a rapid pace - and is presented with such pictorial flourishes - that we soon lose all realization (as we should) that the actors are speaking blank verse. It is a weakness of the play that First and Second Acts are livelier than the Third, though Juliet does have a hair-raising speech on the horrors of the charnel house. The sets, the decor, the costumes, the music score are all breathtakingly magnificent. Romeo and Juliet probably ranks as the finest example of M-G-M craftsmanship in that studio's golden thirties.

Norma Shearer and Leslie Howard play Shakespeare's star-crossed young lovers Juliet Capulet and Romeo Montague. As this version of "Romeo and Juliet" is a relatively faithful adaptation of Shakespeare's original play, the ages of the characters are relevant; thus, Ms. Shearer, Mr. Howard, and others are, obviously, too old for the parts. That being said, this is still an entertaining film, well directed by George Cukor, and expertly photographed by William Daniels. The production, sets, and lighting are extraordinary. Shearer is especially well lighted; and, she performs Juliet in earnest. John Barrymore (as Mercutio) and Basil Rathbone (as Tybalt) are more fun than a barrel of Montagues. You live by the sword, die by the sword. ******* Romeo and Juliet (8/20/36) George Cukor ~ Norma Shearer, Leslie Howard, John Barrymore, Basil Rathbone

This film has to be seen for what it does well. Zeffirelli puts his young actors (Hussey and Whiting) against an opulent renaissance background. And that treatment -- along with Michael York's sneering Tybalt -- is why one would watch that film. Castellani dwarfs his actors (Harvey and Shentall) with the architecture of Verona, but Shentall refuses to be crushed and delivers an endearing performance. Luhrmann places his actors (de Caprio and Danes) in the vivid swirl of Mexico City, a place of fabulous wealth and deepest poverty. The lovers race to their doom in a film that captures the rhythms of the script, for all of the ineptitude of the actors. Cukor's black-and-white photography is superb. Look, for example, at Romeo's approach past a reflecting pool to Juliet's balcony. It is wonderfully realized. So what if Juliet's balcony looks like a crow's nest on a battleship? This is a film to be enjoyed for the wordless sequences that the camera creates for us.