Romeo and Juliet (1968/I)

Director:

Franco Zeffirelli

Writers:

William Shakespeare (play)
Franco Brusati (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

8 October 1968 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

The 1968 Royal Film Performance [UK Theatrical]

Plot:

When the now famous "star crossed lovers" of two enemy families meet, forbidden love ensues.

Plot Keywords:

Tragedy | Forbidden Love | Sexual | Loss Of Virginity | Banishment

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 13 wins & 13 nominations

Cast

Leonard Whiting	...	Romeo
Olivia Hussey	...	Juliet
John McEnery	...	Mercutio
Milo O'Shea	...	Friar Laurence
Pat Heywood	...	The Nurse
Robert Stephens	...	The Prince of Verona
Michael York	...	Tybalt
Bruce Robinson	...	Benvolio
Paul Hardwick	...	Lord Capulet
Natasha Parry	...	Lady Capulet
Antonio Pierfederici	...	Lord Montague
Esmeralda Ruspoli	...	Lady Montague
Roberto Bisacco	...	Paris
Roy Holder	...	Peter
Keith Skinner	...	Balthazar
Dyson Lovell	...	Sampson
Richard Warwick	...	Gregory
Roberto Antonelli
Carlo Palmucci
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ugo Barbone	...	Abraham (uncredited)
Salvatore Billa	...	Undetermined role (uncredited)
Bruno Filippini	...	Leonardo (uncredited)
Maria Fracci	...	(uncredited)
Aldo Miranda	...	Friar John (uncredited)
Laurence Olivier	...	Narrator (voice: English version) (uncredited)
Dario Tanzini	...	Page to Tybalt (uncredited)

Directed by
Franco Zeffirelli

Writing credits
William Shakespeare		(play)
Franco Brusati		(screenplay) &
Masolino D'Amico		(screenplay) &
Franco Zeffirelli		(screenplay)

Produced by
John Brabourne	....	producer
Richard B. Goodwin	....	associate producer (as Richard Goodwin)
Anthony Havelock-Allan	....	producer

Original Music by
Nino Rota

Cinematography by
Pasqualino De Santis		(lighting cameraman)

Film Editing by
Reginald Mills

Casting by
Dyson Lovell		(uncredited)

Production Design by
Lorenzo Mongiardino		(as Renzo Mongiardino)

Art Direction by
Emilio Carcano
Luciano Puccini

Costume Design by
Danilo Donati

Makeup Department
Mauro Gavazzi	....	makeup artist
Luciano Vito	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Giuseppe Bordogni	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Isa Bartalini	....	assistant director
Dyson Lovell	....	assistant director
Bert Pearl	....	assistant director
Rinaldo Ricci	....	assistant director

Art Department
Christine Edzard	....	set dresser
Italo Tomassi	....	set designer (uncredited)

Sound Department
Sash Fisher	....	sound mixer
Pat Foster	....	assistant dubbing editor
Mike Hopkins	....	dubbing editor (as Michael Hopkins)
Maurice Askew	....	sound re-recording mixer (uncredited)
Peter Maxwell	....	adr mixer (uncredited)
Lionel Strutt	....	sound re-recording mixer (uncredited)

Stunts
Nicolo Perno	....	fight arranger (as Nicolo' Perno)

Camera and Electrical Department
David Harcourt	....	camera operator
Dudley Lovell	....	camera operator

Editorial Department
John Rushton	....	assistant editor
Giorgio De Vincenzo	....	assistant editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Glen Weston	....	singing voice: Leonardo (uncredited)

Other crew
Gabriella Bernardi	....	production secretary
Anna Davini	....	production assistant
Pio De Vito	....	production accountant
Sue Huskisson	....	production secretary
Liselotte Kloncka	....	production secretary
Lamberto Pippia	....	production assistant
Alberto Testa	....	choreographer
Giorgio Albertazzi	....	voice dubbing: John McEnery (Italian version) (uncredited)
Roberto Bertea	....	voice dubbing: Paul Hardwick (Italian version) (uncredited)
Pino Colizzi	....	voice dubbing: Michael York (Italian version) (uncredited)
Dhia Cristiani	....	voice dubbing: Pat Heywood (Italian version) (uncredited)
Marina Dolfin	....	voice dubbing: Natasha Parry (Italian version) (uncredited)
Sergio Fantoni	....	voice dubbing: Robert Stephens (Italian version) (uncredited)
Mario Feliciani	....	voice dubbing: Milo O'Shea (Italian version) (uncredited)
Giancarlo Giannini	....	voice dubbing: Leonard Whiting (Italian version) (uncredited)
Anna Maria Guarnieri	....	voice dubbing: Olivia Hussey (Italian version) (uncredited)
Massimo Turci	....	voice dubbing: Bruce Robinson (Italian version) (uncredited)

Production Companies

• BHE Films
• Verona Produzione (made with)
• Dino de Laurentiis Cinematografica (made with)

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1968) (USA) (theatrical)
• Paramount Pictures (1973) (USA) (theatrical) (reissue)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1980) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• CIC Vídeo (19??) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Paramount Filmes do Brasil (Brazil) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Cinecittá Studios  filmed at (as Cinecittà Studios - Rome)

Also Known As:

William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet (UK) (complete title) (USA) (complete title)
Romeo e Giulietta (Italy)

Runtime:

138 min

Country:

UK | Italy

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) (1987) | Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | South Korea:12 | USA:G (original rating) (Approved No. 21756) | Australia:PG | Finland:K-12 | Sweden:11 | West Germany:12 | USA:PG (edited for re-rating) (1973) | Argentina:Atp

Filming Locations:

Artena, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

BHE Films

Trivia:

According to Olivia Hussey, the camera used for filming, Arriflex, was very loud. As a result, the dialog had to be looped, and recorded separately later.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Romeo runs to find Tybalt after Mercutio dies, Balthazar runs after him and loses his hat in the square. But when he catches up with Romeo, his hat is back on.

Quotes:

Juliet: [spoiler] Yea noise. Then I'll be brief. Oh, happy dagger, this is thy sheath; there rust and let me die.
[/spoiler]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Freaks and Geeks: Discos and Dragons (#1.18)" (2000)

Soundtrack:

What Is a Youth

Zeffirelli the esthete.

There were not many directors like Zeffirelli around during those golden years -sixties and seventies -of the Italian cinema.Because he was not part of the champagne socialists,because he made movies completely devoid of social concerns,he was generally dismissed by the European critics (and his fellow colleagues) as non-hip and reactionary. When you see these movies today,you realize how much they have worn well,and how much his detractors were wrong:Zeffirelli has never tried to change the world,but he has given beautiful movies which have stood the test of time quite well,perhaps because they are timeless.Even an epic and absorbing -and diametrically opposite to Zeffirelli's cinema - political work like Bertolucci's "Novecento" (1976) displays cheesy gauchism so trendy before the eighties in Europa .

This is the second of the three Zeffirelli screen adaptations of Shakespeare -as a matter of interest,the others are "taming of the shrew"(1967 with E Taylor and R Burton) and "Hamlet" (1990 with M.Gibson and G.Close)-and it 's probably the best:Zeffirelli's genius was to cast actors of (about) the same age of the heroes as the leads.And Leonard Whiting and Olivia Hussey,both very beautiful,make up for their lack of experience with their youth,their innocence and the intensity of their looks.They are far better than Leonardo Di Caprio and Claire Danes in the drag queens cum west side story Luhrmann's 1996 version.Besides they get strong support from dark-haired Mickael York as Tybalt and John MCEnnery as Mercutio.The colors are,as always in a Zephirelli movie (see taming,and his made-for-TV Jesus)dazzling.Two scenes stand out:the ball and the lovers death in the Capulet tomb.

Filmed on location in Verona,we never have the feeling that we are watching filmed stage production,not a small feat.This is the definitive screen version of the Elizabethan classic.Sir Laurence Olivier is the narrator.