Romeo and Juliet *** (1936, Leslie Howard, Norma Shearer, John Barrymore, Basil Rathbone, Edna May Oliver, C Aubrey Smith) – Classic Movie Review 6298

In a lavish labour of love, MGM producer Irving Thalberg miscasts his wife Norma Shearer and a poetic Leslie Howard as the star-crossed lovers Romeo and Juliet for director George Cukor’s careful and intelligent 1936 film version of the William Shakespeare play.

The performances from the way over-age leads (aged 36 and a stonking 43 respectively) are honourable if starchy. But, as so often happens, especially in Romeo and Juliet, it is the acting from the supporting cast that lifts the whole movie. John Barrymore’s Mercutio, Basil Rathbone’s Tybalt, C Aubrey Smith’s Lord Capulet and Edna May Oliver’s Nurse all give admirable performances, despite the handicap of most of them, too, being far too old.

Also in the cast are Henry Kolker (as Friar Laurence), Violet Kemble Cooper (as Lady Capulet), Robert Warwick (as Lord Montague), Virginia Hammond (as Lady Montague), Reginald Denny (Benvolio), Ralph Forbes (as Paris), Andy Devine, Conway Tearle, Charles Bancroft, Ian Wolfe, Anthony Kemble Cooper, Anthony March, Jeanne Hart, Dorothy Granger, Vernon Downing, Wallis Clark, Katherine DeMille and Lita Chevret.

It is written by Talbot Jennings (adaptation), shot in black and white by William H Daniels, produced by Irving Thalberg, scored by Herbert Stothart and Edward Ward, and designed by Cedric Gibbons.

Despite four Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Shearer as Best Actress, Rathbone as Best Supporting Actor, and Cedric Gibbons, Fredric Hope and Edwin B Willis for Best Art Direction, it won no awards and proved to be a costly flop when it was met by both critical and public indifference.

But the play has proved a tough nut to crack on film. The 1954 version with Laurence Harvey and Susan Shentall is terrible. When Franco Zeffirelli finally cast teenagers Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting in his 1968 Romeo and Juliet, their inexperience slightly showed, though Zeffirelli’s double-Oscar winning film is a gorgeous and glorious affair. However, Baz Luhrmann finally got it exactly right (though of course not for purists) in 1996 with William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet.

© Derek Winnert 2017 Classic Movie Review 6298

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