SnoopyStyle It's the classic William Shakespeare directed by George Cukor. The pomp and pageantry is great. It's a big Hollywood production. The Shakespearian dialogue is understandable. The acting ability spans a wide range. There is the greatness of the sunsetting John Barrymore. The leads and most of the cast are reasonably good. There is one or two awkward bad performances. My biggest problem is the age of the star-crossed lovers. They are supposed to be pubescent teens. Norma Shearer is in her mid-30s and Leslie Howard is in his mid-40s. It is very noticeable that Norma is fit to play her mother but it is the thinning hair of an elderly Leslie which is most confounding. I understand the cliche that these teen roles are often played by older actors but they are quite frankly in a different generation. There is a hormonal melodrama to this play that older actors cannot hope to bring to the leading roles. They're not even in their 20's.

JohnHowardReid Copyright 3 September 1936 by Metro Goldwyn Mayer Corp. New York opening at the Astor 20 August 1936. U.S. release: 16 April 1937 (sic). U.K. release: March 1937. Australian release: 15 December 1936. 127 minutes. NOTES: Romeo and Juliet was nominated for the following prestigious Hollywood awards (actual winners in brackets): Best Picture (The Great Ziegfeld); Norma Shearer, Best Actress (Luise Rainer in The Great Ziegfeld); Basil Rathbone, Best Supporting Actor (Walter Brennan in Come and Get It); Gibbons, Hope and Willis (only!), Best Art Direction (Richard Day for Dodsworth). Number 8 on the National Board of Review's list of the Best American Films of 1936. Number 6 in the Film Daily's annual survey of over 500 American film critics for the Best Films of 1937. COMMENT: It's very tempting simply to laud all aspects of this magnificent production, and let it go at that. But we must face the intrinsic problem of Romeo and Juliet. Are Leslie Howard and Norma Shearer - charismatic though their performances certainly are - miscast? The answer depends entirely on your point of view. From Shakespeare's own viewpoint, the answer is yes - but his reasons will surprise you. Shakespeare would have thought Howard was the right age for the part (even though Romeo is supposed to be a teenage youth) but found his impersonation too under-stated, lacking passion, fire and color. Shakespeare would have preferred John Barrymore in the role. As for Norma Shearer, full marks for her interpretation, but still totally wrong for the part as she is the wrong age and the wrong sex! (In Shakespeare's day, females were not allowed to act on the stage, although it could certainly be argued that the master would have heartily approved a change in the law). Looking at the problem from a modern viewpoint, I tend to agree with the director, George Cukor. Despite the youth of the two protagonists, their ideas, their speech, their imagery is extremely mature and sophisticated. Mind you, really talented young players could possibly bring this off- but I've yet to see them. So let's not argue whether Howard is too old, Shearer too mature. Brilliantly directed by George Cukor, this Romeo and Juliet is easily the finest Shakespeare on film. The master's dialogue has been superbly edited by Talbot Jennings to retain all the essentials. While the beauty of the poetry is preserved, the screen is rarely swamped with words. In fact, the action moves forward at such a rapid pace - and is presented with such pictorial flourishes - that we soon lose all realization (as we should) that the actors are speaking blank verse. It is a weakness of the play that First and Second Acts are livelier than the Third, though Juliet does have a hair-raising speech on the horrors of the charnel house. The sets, the decor, the costumes, the music score are all breathtakingly magnificent. Romeo and Juliet probably ranks as the finest example of M-G-M craftsmanship in that studio's golden thirties.

Robert J. Maxwell It's always interesting to see familiar faces in unfamiliar roles. I saw just enough of this version of Romeo and Juliet to find it an enjoyable curiosity. Where else can you see Sherlock Holmes -- I mean Basil Rathbone -- playing Tybalt, and doing a damned good job of it. At least he sounds as if he'd read the play, and he gets to do the unidimensional mean shtick that was his forte before he became a detective.Other memorable performances are by C. Aubrey Smith, Reginald Denny, and Edna May Oliver, whose old-fashioned New England is easily transposed into Elizabethan English via fair Verona.The two leads -- Leslie Howard as Romeo and Norma Shearer as Juliet -- are problematic. For one thing they're too old for the parts. One of the reasons Romeo is not a particularly bright kid is that he's inexperienced. He's still mooning over Rosaline when -- one glance at Juliet and it's love at first sight, at second sight, at ever and ever sight. "He jests at scars, that never felt a wound," broods Romeo, but he hasn't the slightest idea of what wounds lay inevitably ahead for any human being. (Howard delivers the line as a kind of jokey wisecrack, though.) Norma Shearer ought to be a teeny bopper instead of the wife of somebody who's important at the studio. In her close ups, George Cukor seems to have wrapped the lens in silk stockings. And she's less convincing than Leslie Howard, but that may be only because British accents seem so much more fitting.John Barrymore as Mercutio is WAY too old for the part but is nevertheless in a class by himself. Whether it's a performance "by" John Barrymore or "of" John Barrymore, it seems to work, in its own quietly overwhelming way. The other players seem to stand back when Barrymore has any lines.The only embarrassment is Andy Devine, who belongs behind six horses.The set dressing by Cedric Gibbons and wardrobe by Adrian of the Big Shoulders is colorful and evocative. I'm not sure why anybody but Tchaikovsky got credit for the musical score.The plot of the play is pretty loopy but this presentation is nothing to be ashamed of. I can't comment on the last half, which I wasn't able to watch.

wes-connors Norma Shearer and Leslie Howard play Shakespeare's star-crossed young lovers Juliet Capulet and Romeo Montague. As this version of "Romeo and Juliet" is a relatively faithful adaptation of Shakespeare's original play, the ages of the characters are relevant; thus, Ms. Shearer, Mr. Howard, and others are, obviously, too old for the parts. That being said, this is still an entertaining film, well directed by George Cukor, and expertly photographed by William Daniels. The production, sets, and lighting are extraordinary. Shearer is especially well lighted; and, she performs Juliet in earnest. John Barrymore (as Mercutio) and Basil Rathbone (as Tybalt) are more fun than a barrel of Montagues. You live by the sword, die by the sword. ******* Romeo and Juliet (8/20/36) George Cukor ~ Norma Shearer, Leslie Howard, John Barrymore, Basil Rathbone