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IMDbPro

Romeo and Juliet

  • 19361936
  • PassedPassed
  • 2h 5m
IMDb RATING
6.5/10
2.1K
YOUR RATING
Romeo and Juliet (1936)
Official Trailer
Play trailer3:36
1 Video
60 Photos
DramaRomance
Young love is poisoned by a generations long feud between two noble families.Young love is poisoned by a generations long feud between two noble families.Young love is poisoned by a generations long feud between two noble families.
IMDb RATING
6.5/10
2.1K
YOUR RATING
    • George Cukor
    • William Shakespeare(play)
    • Talbot Jennings(adaptation)
  • Stars
    • Norma Shearer
    • Leslie Howard
    • John Barrymore
    • George Cukor
    • William Shakespeare(play)
    • Talbot Jennings(adaptation)
  • Stars
    • Norma Shearer
    • Leslie Howard
    • John Barrymore
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 52User reviews
    • 15Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 4 Oscars

    Videos1

    Romeo and Juliet
    Trailer 3:36
    Watch Romeo and Juliet

    Photos60

    Leslie Howard and Norma Shearer in Romeo and Juliet (1936)
    Leslie Howard and Norma Shearer in Romeo and Juliet (1936)
    John Barrymore in Romeo and Juliet (1936)
    Leslie Howard in Romeo and Juliet (1936)
    Ralph Forbes and Norma Shearer in Romeo and Juliet (1936)
    John Barrymore, Leslie Howard, and Reginald Denny in Romeo and Juliet (1936)
    Edna May Oliver and Norma Shearer in Romeo and Juliet (1936)
    John Barrymore, Leslie Howard, Andy Devine, Ralph Forbes, and Edna May Oliver in Romeo and Juliet (1936)
    Norma Shearer in Romeo and Juliet (1936)
    John Barrymore, Basil Rathbone, and Reginald Denny in Romeo and Juliet (1936)
    Edna May Oliver and Norma Shearer in Romeo and Juliet (1936)
    Leslie Howard and Norma Shearer in Romeo and Juliet (1936)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Norma Shearer
    Norma Shearer
    • Juliet - Daughter to Capulet
    Leslie Howard
    Leslie Howard
    • Romeo - Son to Montague
    John Barrymore
    John Barrymore
    • Mercutio - Kinsman to the Prince and Friend to Romeo
    Conway Tearle
    Conway Tearle
    • Escalus - Prince of Verona
    Ralph Forbes
    Ralph Forbes
    • Paris - Young Nobleman Kinsman to the Prince
    Henry Kolker
    Henry Kolker
    • Friar Laurence
    Robert Warwick
    Robert Warwick
    • Montague
    Virginia Hammond
    Virginia Hammond
    • Lady Montague - Wife to Montague
    Reginald Denny
    Reginald Denny
    • Benvolio - Nephew to Montgue and Friend to Romeo
    C. Aubrey Smith
    C. Aubrey Smith
    • Capulet
    Violet Kemble Cooper
    Violet Kemble Cooper
    • Lady Capulet - Wife to Capulet
    Basil Rathbone
    Basil Rathbone
    • Tybalt - Nephew to Lady Capulet
    Edna May Oliver
    Edna May Oliver
    • Nurse to Juliet
    Andy Devine
    Andy Devine
    • Peter - Servant to Juliet's Nurse
    Charles Bancroft
    • Nobleman
    • (uncredited)
    Dean Benton
    • Minor Secondary Role
    • (uncredited)
    Carlyle Blackwell Jr.
    Carlyle Blackwell Jr.
    • Tybalt's Page
    • (uncredited)
    John Bryan
    • Friar John
    • (uncredited)
      • George Cukor
      • William Shakespeare(play)
      • Talbot Jennings(adaptation)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The film contains the only on-screen sword fight that expert swordsman Basil Rathbone won in his entire film career.
    • Quotes

      Juliet - Daughter to Capulet: My bounty is as boundless as the sea, My love as deep. The more I give to thee, The more I have, for both are infinite.

    • Connections
      Featured in Master Will Shakespeare (1936)
    • Soundtracks
      Romeo and Juliet
      (1869) (uncredited)

      Written by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

    User reviews52

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    6/10
    "I will make thee think thy dove a crow"
    Although there were a number of silent versions of Shakespeare plays, and the first direct screen adaptation of his work was in 1929 with the (incidentally very entertaining) Fairbanks/Pickford Taming of the Shrew, it wasn't until the mid-1930s that Hollywood really set its sights on the Immortal Bard™. The industry had emerged triumphant from the coming of sound, the worst years Depression and the enforcement of the production code, and now was the time to scale new heights.

    Now, Shakespeare was great, and 30s Hollywood was also great, but in a very different way. The two were not entirely incompatible, but there was certainly a lot of scope to get things wrong. And one of the worst things to go wrong in this particular example is casting. A year earlier Warner Brothers had thrown decorum to the winds and simply lined up their usual rogues gallery of wisecrackers for a wild and surprisingly effective edition of A Midsummer Night's Dream. MGM however seemed keener to preserve a sense of theatrical propriety and chose actors for their credentials and experience.

    Experience comes with age, and that is really the biggest single problem with these two star-crossed lovers. Norma Shearer gives a powerful and emotionally realistic performance, but she has the demeanour of a woman who has seen a bit of life, as opposed to a girl embarking on her first romance. Lesley Howard would actually make quite a good Romeo, he has the right honest bearing and simple handsomeness, but really he would have to be at least ten years younger. One might argue that if their acting is strong enough, surely we can stretch the imagination a little and overlook their years. This can and does work in some pictures (for example Anne Bancroft only being a little older than Dustin Hoffman in The Graduate), but for Romeo and Juliet it essential that we get that impression of flighty, passionate young lovers whose eventual demise is a tragic waste of life.

    But there is worse yet than Shearer and Howard. The very acme of bad casting is here represented by John Barrymore as Mercutio. Don't get me wrong, Barrymore is comically eccentric, but Mercutio is supposed to be a sly young rake, not some jolly middle-aged lecher. And remember the character was named after his mercurial temperament (meaning quickly changing mood), yet Barrymore is just incessantly merry. Mercutio's greatest moment – the Queen Mab speech – is reduced to a wittering ramble. Another mistake of the casting couch was Andy Devine as Peter the servant. Devine is funny, and could even have been an asset in a Shakespearean comedy, but he is not right here. There are meant to be a few laughs in Romeo and Juliet, but not from some inept twerp. His inclusion in the opening brawl (the lines he speaks here belong to another character) is ridiculous, and sets absolutely the wrong tone.

    This was an Irving Thalberg production, and Thalberg was probably the finest of the old-style producers, having a real knack for putting together the right team and then graciously leaving them to it. It's unlike him to make so many blunders with principle casting, but at least he got a decent crew. George Cukor was a good choice for director, as he was already the best when it came to stage-to-screen adaptations. He fills the earliest scenes with all sorts of bustle and background movement, then makes everything simplified and stripped down as the drama intensifies, focusing everything on the performers. William Daniels's cinematography is stunning, rich in light and shadow, the standout being the dance scene in which Howard is crisply black and Shearer shimmering white, with the background figures a wash of grey. Even on the acting front it's not all bad. Edna May Oliver is spot-on as the nurse, with her almost guttural delivery complementing the character's lewdness. And Basil Rathbone gives a calm, calculated performance, keeping all Tybalt's aggression simmering below the surface.

    It was around this time that Laurence Olivier claimed Shakespeare could never work on screen, saying, "The shot is too big for the cannon". Of course, he would soon swallow his words and become the foremost actor, director and producer of Bard movies. His statement was born from the snobbishness of a naïve young theatre devotee, but one can't help thinking that such lukewarm offerings as this Romeo and Juliet only served to back up his opinion.
    helpful•5
    3
    • Steffi_P
    • Mar 19, 2010

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • September 3, 1936 (United States)
      • United States
      • English
    • Also known as
    • Filming locations
      • Stage 15/Gary Martin Soundstage, Sony Pictures Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA
    • Production company
      • Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • 2 hours 5 minutes
      • Black and White

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