The Lovers of Verona (1949)

Angelo, a glass-blower from Murano, and Georgia Maglia, the pretty daughter of a fallen fascist magistrate, are chosen to be the stand-ins for the stars of a film version of "Romeo and ... See full summary »

Director:

André Cayatte

Writers:

William Shakespeare (play), André Cayatte

Stars:

Serge Reggiani, Anouk Aimée, Pierre Brasseur

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Serge Reggiani	...	Angelo (Romeo)
Anouk Aimée	...	Giorgia Maglia (Juliette)
Pierre Brasseur	...	Raffaele
Louis Salou	...	Ettore Maglia
Martine Carol	...	Bettina Verdi
Roland Armontel	...	Blanchini
Charles Dechamps	...	Sandrini
René Génin	...	Le gardien du tombeau
Solange Sicard	...	Lucia Maglia
Claudye Carter	...	Clio
Marcel Pérès	...	Domini
Guy Favières	...	Le grand-père
Frédéric O'Brady	...	Un tueur
Max Dalban	...	Un tueur
Charles Blavette	...	Le patron de la verrerie

Storyline

Angelo, a glass-blower from Murano, and Georgia Maglia, the pretty daughter of a fallen fascist magistrate, are chosen to be the stand-ins for the stars of a film version of "Romeo and Juliet" being shot on location in Venice and Verona. It is not long before they fall in love and their romance parallels that of Shakespeare's timeless heroes. Indeed their union is threatened by the schemings of Raffaele, the Maglia family's dubious tout...

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Plot Keywords:

female nudity | breast | female full rear nudity | magistrate | fascist | 

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Taglines:

An exquisite re-telling of the Romeo and Juliet story in terms of today.

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Genres:

Drama

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Finnish censorship visa register # 33159 delivered on 29-12-1949.

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Connections

Referenced in Arena: All the World's a Screen - Shakespeare on Film (2016)

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Soundtracks

Song by Marguerite Monnot

User Reviews

Grandly entertaining

Andre Cayatte was the director of many tiresome pictures in which he took moral positions on capital punishment (Nous sommes tous des assassins), the yellow press (Il n'y a pas de fumee sans feu), and just about any other issue that came to his attention. Now, we could dismiss him as just a French Stanley Kramer if he hadn't made films like this one in his younger days. It's a very highly-colored version of Romeo and Juliet in which Jacques Prevert's script dispenses with most of the play's story to concentrate on political comment. The Maglias are a very disturbed family indeed. Not only is the head an ex-fascist but the brother, played by Dalio, is hallucinating pretty freely (he had a bad war, we are told). Only Georgia, Ettore's daughter, played by the 16-year-old Anouk Aimee, has any quality of humor and generosity. The Romeo is played by Serge Reggiani, looking somehow a lot younger than he did in Casque d'or.

When we add Pierre Brasseur to the mix, things really get wild. He's playing a sort of Satanic figure, a demon of hate and revenge, as if trying to top his portrayal of the thug in Quai des brumes. There's a wierd sado-masochistic character to his relationship with the Maglias that I can't recall seeing before in film. He won't stop at murder to have Georgia as his wife. Cayatte's direction has pace and the lighting is especially fine--Alekan's camera really caresses the lover's faces.

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

7 March 1949 (France)

Also Known As:

The Lovers of Verona

Filming Locations:

Fondamenta delle Case Nove, Murano, Venice, Veneto, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Compagnie Industrielle et Commerciale Cinématographique (CICC)

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1