Themes: Star-Crossed Lovers, Feuds, Forbidden Love
Main Cast: Norma Shearer, Leslie Howard, John Barrymore, Edna May Oliver, Basil Rathbone
Release Year: 1936
Country: US
Run Time: 126 minutes
Plot
Director George Cukor and producer Irving G. Thalberg's adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, a lavish production of Shakespeare's tale about two star-crossed lovers, is extremely well-produced and acted. In fact, it is so well-done, that it is easy to forget that Leslie Howard and Norma Shearer are too old to be playing the title characters. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
Review
William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, the classic story of two doomed lovers from rival clans, was a favorite subject of filmmakers throughout the 20th century, with more than a dozen different feature versions. One of the best was MGM's big-budget, glossy production of 1936, overseen by George Cukor, one of Hollywood's most respected directors. It was a pet project of producer Irving Thalberg, who cast his wife, Norma Shearer, as Juliet. Shearer, then 32, was too old for the part, as was 43-year-old Leslie Howard as Romeo (just two years later, he would play a crusty middle-aged professor in Pygmalion). Fredric March, Robert Donat, and Robert Montgomery reportedly all turned down the starring role before it was offered to Howard. But Howard and Shearer used mesmerizing acting to try to overcome the age problem, and Shearer was nominated for an Oscar, as was Basil Rathbone as Tybalt. John Barrymore also steals scenes with a riveting performance as Mercutio. Romeo and Juliet was also nominated for an Oscar as Best Picture, losing to The Great Ziegfeld. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
Cedric Gibbons - Art Director, Agnes de Mille - Choreography, Prof. William Strunk, Jr. - Consultant/advisor, Adrian - Costume Designer, Oliver Messel - Costume Designer, George Cukor - Director, Margaret Booth - Editor, Herbert Stothart - Composer (Music Score), Edwin B. Willis - Production Designer, Frederic Hope - Production Designer, William H. Daniels - Cinematographer, Irving G. Thalberg - Producer, Cedric Gibbons - Set Designer, Oliver Messel - Set Designer, Talbot Jennings - Screenwriter, William Shakespeare - Play Author
On the night of the Los Angeles premiere of the film at the Carthay Circle Theater, legendary MGM producer Irving Thalberg, husband of Norma Shearer, died at age 37. The stars in attendance were so grief-stricken that publicist Frank Whitbeck, standing in front of the theater, abandoned his usual policy of interviewing them for a radio broadcast as they entered, afraid that they might break down. Instead, he simply announced them one by one.[2]
^Higham, Charles (Dec 1994) [1993]. Merchant of Dreams: Louis B. Mayer, M.G.M., and the Secret Hollywood (paperback ed.). Dell Publishing. p. 289. ISBN0-440-22066-1.
