How many times has Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet been made into a movie?

Answer 1

Many times. For example D.W. Griffith made a short silent version in 1908. It has been done for television many times and many live performances have been recorded. Two Hollywood versions and one made-for-TV version really stick out, though. One was made in 1929 with Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks. It was one of the earliest talkie movies and shows some signs of the silent treatment. Its treatment of the "taming" is that it is a game between Kate and Petruchio, and that once Kate figures out the rules, she outplays him. Knowing that she can still hold her own while playing this game helps her abandon her earlier antisocial behaviour.

The second movie was made in 1967 and stars Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, and was directed by Franco Zeffirelli. Like most of Zeffirelli's films the setting and costumes are rich with colour and exuberant detail. This movie is at greater length than the 1929 one and comes to the conclusion that ultimately it is Kate's desire to be a "normal" wife and mother that "tames" her, not Petruchio's behaviour.

The TV movie was part of the BBC project to record all of Shakespeare's plays. Petruchio is played by John Cleese of Monty Python fame. In this version, Kate has got herself into an emotional and psychological dead end, resenting her sneaky sister and the fact that her father (and everyone else) seems to like Bianca better, and finding that her straightforward and somewhat violent responses only make matters worse. Petruchio's medicine may be somewhat strong, but Kate eventually realizes that he has a genuine affection for her and that she has other and more acceptable options for her social behaviour.

Answer 2

Twice I believe one was in 1974 and the other in 1994. One starred Leonardo DiCaprio in it (1994).

Four times, first in 1908 a silent film. Then in 1936, and in 1968 in Italy. Then in 1996 with Leonardo DiCaprio.

Thirty-one times: 1900, 1908, 1908 again, 1911, 1912, 1916, 1916 again, 1918, 1936, 1939, 1942, 1943, 1947, 1951, 1954, 1955, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1971, 1976, 1978, 1980, 1982, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1996 again. This does not count the operas, ballets, spinoffs and love stories which steal the Romeo and Juliet name. A lot of them are foreign language adaptations. You are only ever likely to run into the 1936 (Shearer/Howard), 1954 (Shentall/Harvey), 1968 (Hussey/Whiting), 1976 (Hasson/Neame), 1978 (Saire/Ryecart), 1993 (Follows/Cimolino), 1994 (Somerville/Firth) and 1996 (Danes/diCaprio)

Answer 3

The IMdb lists almost 800 films which credit William Shakespeare as a writer. These include silent movies, black-and-white movies, TV movies, films of live performances of plays, films adapted from live productions, films which use Shakespeare's dialogue, films which use some of the plot elements of Shakespeare's plays but make up their own dialogue, and films which resemble Shakespeare's plays in some respect.

The question talks about plays being "converted", not new plays written on the same theme, so I assume we are talking about films which use Shakespeare's actual words. At the same time the word "converted" suggests a transformation; not just the filming of a stage production, but the creation of a screenplay with film in mind from the outset.

Finally, how "modern" is "modern"? Any answer is going to be fairly arbitrary, so I will list only major releases since the second World War.

Hamlet: Olivier 1948; Mel Gibson 1991; Kenneth Branagh 1996

Romeo and Juliet: Zeffirelli 1968, DiCaprio and Danes 1996

Othello: Fishburne and Branagh 1995

Julius Caesar: Marlon Brando 1953

Macbeth: Polanski 1971

Titus Andronicus: Julie Taymor & Anthony Hopkins 2000 (under title "Titus")

Henry V: Olivier 1944, Branagh 1989

Richard III: Olivier 1955, Ian McKellen 1995

Much Ado About Nothing: Branagh 1994

Twelfth Night: Imogen Stubbs & Helena Bonham-Carter 1997

Midsummer Night's Dream: Kevin Kline & Michelle Pfeiffer 1999

The Merchant of Venice: Al Pacino 2004

Love's Labour's Lost: Branagh 2000

As You Like It: Branagh 2006

Taming of the Shrew: Zeffirelli 1967 (with Richard Burton and Liz Taylor)

That's about 15 different plays.

Answer 4

The Internet Movie database lists 24 movies which were based directly on Shakespeare's play (that is, Shakespeare gets a writing credit) They list some 34 movies called Romeo and Juliet (some of which are ballets and some of which are original scripts) plus 23 more spinoffs, one of which is really the play, but called "The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet." That's 57 movies altogether.

Of course if you are looking for movies which use Shakespeare's text AND are readily available on DVD you are probably down to eight: 1936 (Norma Shearer/Leslie Howard), 1954 (Susan Shentall/Lawrence Harvey), 1968 (Olivia Hussey/Leonard Whiting), 1976 (Ann Hasson/Christopher Neame), 1978 (Rebecca Saire/Patrick Ryecart), 1993 (Megan Porter Follows/Antoni Cimolino), 1994 (Geraldine Somerville/Jonathan Firth), and 1996 (Claire Danes/Leonardo DiCaprio) A new one (Hailee Steinfeld/Douglas Booth) is in the works.

Answer 5

All of Shakespeare's plays except The Two Noble Kinsmen were produced for TV by the BBC in the late '70s and early '80s so the other 37 plays have all been produced for TV or movies at least once. But productions of the plays, excerpts from the plays, rewrites of the plays, spinoffs of the plays etc. etc. number in the hundreds and are approaching a thousand different productions.

The attached link gives a list of Shakespeare movies and TV productions.

Answer 6

It depends on how you define "movies". The BBC made a point of recording a performance of every one of Shakespeare's plays (except for The Two Noble Kinsmen which was not accepted by them as canon) and these are readily available. The Two Noble Kinsmen remains the only Shakespeare play now accepted as canon of which no video recording is available. But these were of course intended for television, not for the big screen. The number of plays which have been adapted for the big screen is smaller but still quite large, as film versions of the plays have been made since 1899 when Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree was filmed performing a scene from Shakespeare's King John. Are we to count this and other silent treatments? Do we count low-budget indie films as well as big-budget feature productions? Here is a summary:The Two Noble Kinsmen: No video recording available.The Tempest: Frequently made as a feature film, usually with major changes, most recently by Julie Taymor. The plot has been borrowed as well.The Two Gentlemen of Verona: BBC TV version only.The Merry Wives of Windsor: BBC TV version only. There is an opera based on the plot.Measure for Measure: Has been made into an indie film.The Comedy of Errors: BBC TV version only. The plot has been adapted as a musical by both Hollywood (The Boys from Syracuse) and Bollywood.Much Ado About Nothing: Two stunning feature films, one by Branagh and one by Joss Whedon.Love's labour's Lost: Branagh made a feature film of this one.A Midsummer Night's Dream: Frequently made as a feature film, most recently in 2000.The Merchant of Venice: Frequently made as a feature film, most recently by Robert deNiro.As You Like It: Frequently made as a feature film, most recently by BranaghThe Taming of the Shrew: Frequently a feature, famously with Mary Pickford in 1929 but not since Zeffirelli in 1968. The plot has also been frequently borrowed (Kiss Me Kate, 10 Things I Hate About You).All's Well That Ends Well: BBC TV version only.Twelfth Night: Occasional big screen versions: Klara Luchko (1955) and Imogen Stubbs (1996)The Winter's Tale: Only one TV version apart from the BBC one.King John: Just the BBC TV version and the Beerbohm Tree silent from 1899.Richard II: TV versions and one indie film.Henry IV Parts One and Two: Orson Welles made a film of the two parts mashed into one. It has been recorded for TV a number of times. The plot has been used in operas.Henry V: Frequently made into feature films.Henry VI, Parts 1, 2, and 3: BBC TV version only.Richard III: Frequently made into feature films.Henry VIII: BBC TV version only.Troilus and Cressida: BBC TV version only.Coriolanus: Has been made into a feature film with Ralph Fiennes. Titus Andronicus: Made into a feature film by Juliet Taymor.Romeo and Juliet: Done and redone and redone. The conceit has been used as the basis for thousands of love stories.Timon of Athens: BBC TV version only.Julius Caesar: Made into a feature film in 1953 with Marlon Brando. There is less interest in it these days.Macbeth: Made into a feature film by Polanski in 1971. Loads of TV versions have been made, and its plot has been stolen a million times.Hamlet: A jillion films of this one, from every conceivable perspective.King Lear: Frequently recorded for TV but not as a feature. Peter Brook's grim version ought probably to be considered as an indie effort.Othello: Frequently filmed for TV and as a feature. The plot has been borrowed as well ("O")Antony and Cleopatra: Cleopatra shows have been features, but not those based on Shakespeare's plays since the silent era. There are several TV treatments.Cymbeline: Up until recently, only the BBC treatment was available, but a feature film has now been made (directed by Almerayda)Pericles: BBC TV version only

Answer 7

The movie Ten Things I hate About You was adapted from William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew.