Romeo and Juliet (1936)

Director:

George Cukor

Writers:

William Shakespeare (play)
Talbot Jennings (adaptation)

Release Date:

3 September 1936 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Scenes of combat that will stir your pulse...tender haunting romance that will stay ever fresh in your memory...spectacular beauty that will set a feast for your eyes...in the greatest melodramatic romance of all time...presented as it has never been before...the final glorious flower of motion picture achievement.

Plot:

The Montagues and the Capulets, two powerful families of Verona, hate each other. Romeo, son of Montague...

Plot Keywords:

Verona | Love | Nephew | Tragedy | Family Life

Awards:

Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 2 wins

Cast

Norma Shearer	...	Juliet - Daughter to Capulet
Leslie Howard	...	Romeo - Son to Montague
John Barrymore	...	Mercutio - Kinsman to the Prince and Friend to Romeo
Edna May Oliver	...	Nurse to Juliet
Basil Rathbone	...	Tybalt - Nephew to Lady Capulet
C. Aubrey Smith	...	Lord Capulet
Andy Devine	...	Peter - Servant to Juliet's Nurse
Conway Tearle	...	Escalus - Prince of Verona
Ralph Forbes	...	Paris - Young Nobleman Kinsman to the Prince
Henry Kolker	...	Friar Laurence
Robert Warwick	...	Lord Montague
Virginia Hammond	...	Lady Montague - Wife to Montague
Reginald Denny	...	Benvolio - Nephew to Montgue and Friend to Romeo
Violet Kemble Cooper	...	Lady Capulet - Wife to Capulet
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Charles Bancroft	...	Nobleman (uncredited)
Dean Benton	...	Minor Secondary Role (uncredited)
Carlyle Blackwell Jr.	...	Tybalt's Page (uncredited)
John Bryan	...	Friar John (uncredited)
Lita Chevret	...	Minor Secondary Role (uncredited)
Wallis Clark	...	Town Watch (uncredited)
Katherine DeMille	...	Rosaline (uncredited)
Vernon Downing	...	Samson - Servant of the House of Capulet (uncredited)
Harold Entwistle	...	Nobleman (uncredited)
Fryda Gagne	...	Minor Secondary Role (uncredited)
Fred Graham	...	Capulet Guard-Escort (uncredited)
Dorothy Granger	...	Minor Secondary Role (uncredited)
Jeanne Hart	...	Minor Secondary Role (uncredited)
Ronald Howard	...	Minor Secondary Role (uncredited)
Anthony Kemble-Cooper	...	Gregory - Servant of the House of Capulet (uncredited)
Anthony Marsh	...	Mercutio's Page (uncredited)
Lon McCallister	...	Minor Secondary Role (uncredited)
Maurice Murphy	...	Balthasar (uncredited)
José Rubio	...	Nobleman (uncredited)
Frank Whitbeck	...	Trailer Announcer (voice) (uncredited)
Howard Wilson	...	Abraham - Servant of the House of Montague (uncredited)
Ian Wolfe	...	Apothecary (uncredited)

Directed by
George Cukor

Writing credits
William Shakespeare		(play)
Talbot Jennings		(adaptation)

Produced by
Irving Thalberg	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Herbert Stothart

Cinematography by
William H. Daniels		(as William Daniels)

Film Editing by
Margaret Booth

Art Direction by
Cedric Gibbons

Set Decoration by
Cedric Gibbons		(settings)
Oliver Messel		(settings)

Costume Design by
Adrian
Oliver Messel

Art Department
Fredric Hope	....	associate settings
Oliver Messel	....	artistic consultant
Edwin B. Willis	....	associate settings

Sound Department
Douglas Shearer	....	recording director

Special Effects by
Slavko Vorkapich	....	special effects (uncredited)

Stunts
Fred Cavens	....	fencing stunts (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Eugene Joseff	....	costume jeweller (uncredited)

Music Department
Wayne Allen	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Robert Russell Bennett	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Paul Marquardt	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Charles Maxwell	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Leonid Raab	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Clifford Vaughan	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Edward Ward	....	composer: additional music (uncredited)

Other crew
Agnes de Mille	....	dance director
William Strunk Jr.	....	literary consultant (as Professor William Strunk Jr.)
Fred Cavens	....	sword fight arranger (uncredited)
Howard Dietz	....	press representative (uncredited)
John O'Donnell	....	technical advisor: church sequences (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (controlled by Loew's Incorporated)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1936) (USA) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1936) (UK) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1937) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1937) (France) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1962) (USA) (theatrical)
• MGM/UA Home Video (1992) (USA) (VHS)
• Epoca (????) (Argentina) (VHS)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

125 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:G | Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (PCA #2216) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | Argentina:Atp

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

In The Hollywood Revue of 1929 (1929), Norma Shearer plays Juliet in a comedy skit, with then-screen idol John Gilbert as Romeo. In the skit, they are being "directed" by Lionel Barrymore. After performing the famous "balcony scene" together, they get a "phone call" from "The Boss" (i.e. producer Irving Thalberg, Norma's husband), who tells them to jazz up the language in the scene, and try to make it more appealing to modern audiences. Shearer and Gilbert try a version of the balcony scene using 1920's slang (i.e. "Julie, baby, I'm ga-ga over you!"), but quickly agree that you can't improve the original language of Shakespeare.

Quotes:

Juliet:Romeo. Romeo. Wherefore art thou Romeo?

Movie Connections:

Featured in "MGM: When the Lion Roars" (1992)

Soundtrack:

Pavane

Fine Cast & Lavish Production

The fine cast and production make this adaptation of "Romeo & Juliet" a satisfying one, both as a movie and as a realization of Shakespeare's play. Most of the cast is matched up very well with their characters, and the lavish settings provide a good backdrop for the drama.

Although it's soon clear that Leslie Howard and Norma Shearer are quite a bit older than the original characters were, in other respects they are well cast. Shearer's eager innocence and Howard's refinement fit together well, and although they are clearly not the teenage characters of the original, their romance is believable and convincing in itself.

The other roles include some nice casting. Reginald Denny as the loyal Benvolio, Basil Rathbone as the hard-hearted Tybalt, and Edna May Oliver as Juliet's bustling nurse are all enjoyable to watch. But the highlight of the cast is John Barrymore, who steals every scene as the fun-loving, ill-fated Mercutio, a character who is well-suited to Barrymore's strengths. It's a blessing that at least one of Barrymore's numerous Shakespearean roles was captured in a film for posterity.

The script abridges many of the scenes for cinematic purposes, and it does well in fleshing out the basic story with the duels, festivities, and other events, at times also dramatizing developments that in the original text are only mentioned by the characters. Overall, it is a well-conceived, well-executed, and enjoyable movie version of the famous story.