Romeo and Juliet

The only thing remotely interesting is the landscape. The lighting is appalling, the play is shredded up with important and beautiful lines being cut and useless lines kept while other lines were just changed outright to have more obvious meanings. The language is spoken tediously and full of pauses and lacks almost any sound of poetry at all which drags and drags. It seems the focus was so much on the religion of the play it lacked any passion whatsoever. Utterly unwatchable. There was a superior version filmed in 1936 and 1996 looks glowing by comparison.

A poorly edited screenplay; terrible transitions; mistaken lead casting; stilted, leaden direction - oh let me count the ways this director let down his good supporting characters with a film that's well dressed and no date to show at the ball. The worst presentation of Shakespeare I've seen in a decade of so many films with poor respect for film (the 50's.....) and a preoccupation with imperial propaganda.

Queen Mab scene is missing! I missed any real feeling of happiness between the young lovers before the real tragedy begins. Some stage-like acting means story is viewed from a distance. But the costuming is stunning and the settings real. I wished Juliet hadn't been played so demurely. The actress seems to always have her gaze averted. I enjoyed Mervyn Johns' Friar Lawrence. We had to wait another 14 years for Zefferelli's definitive version.

I saw this film as a child of 10 or ll. I loved it. I was able to see it again a few years ago, thinking that maybe it would not have the same appeal as when I was a child, but I loved it again, only more appreciatively so. The casting was brilliant and modern versions of this film bear no comparison. I do wish I could obtain it on DVD so my grandchildren could watch it. Apart from anything else, it featured the wonderful actors and actresses of that era who deserved to be remembered. It made an impression on a young child and encouraged further interest and research into the works of Shakespeare. This version of the film is, in my opinion the best interpretation of the author's original play.

Renato Castellani's rendering of this tragedy is my all-time favorite version. Using on-location settings and magnificent costumes and art direction, this presentation is without peer. Laurence Harvey is perfect as the young Romeo. He brings genuine love and pathos to his character that is heart-rending. Susan Shentall's gives the most intelligent and moving execution of this challenging role I've ever witnessed. She, like Harvey, overcome minor matters of age to make these characters their own. Who could be a better nurse than the great Flora Robson, or Norman Wooland a finer Paris? Roman Vlad's original score is wonderful, and he's composed a Gallilard that becomes a haunting motif as it's reprised throughout in different variations. If only a digitalized restoration could be done on this great work, that would make everything complete.