Product Details

• Actors: Norma Shearer, Leslie Howard, John Barrymore, Edna May Oliver, Basil Rathbone
• Directors: George Cukor
• Writers: Talbot Jennings, William Shakespeare
• Producers: Irving Thalberg
• Format: Black & White, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
• VHS Release Date: December 4, 1992
• Run Time: 125 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6302308313
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #278,986 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The lovers of Shakespeare's tragi-romance are brought to suitably quivering life by Norma Shearer and Leslie Howard in this glossy 1936 MGM take on the play. And yes, they're a tad older than the headstrong youths of Shakespeare's story (Howard was 43!), but they make up for that with sheer fervor. Shearer's performance looks like Great Lady acting at times, but she commits completely to Juliet's passion, and Howard is a delight. Basil Rathbone and Edna May Oliver are slam-dunk casting as Tybalt and the Nurse, respectively, and if John Barrymore is too weathered for Mercutio, he nevertheless works up an antic, sarcastic energy in the role. The production was supervised by MGM boy wonder Irving Thalberg (Shearer's husband), and it's an utterly lavish affair; the courtyard for the balcony scene looks exactly as expansive and studio-moon-drenched as your romantic imagination tells you it should. The film went the way of many such prestige productions: director George Cukor later said it lost a million dollars. (This was the same year he made Sylvia Scarlett, another box-office flop that has aged well.) It may be Shakespeare Lite, but the film zips along on the back of a love story that has been, to say the least, quite durable over the years. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the beauty of the language, March 16, 2002

By 

Alejandra Vernon "artist & illustrator" (Long Beach, California) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Romeo & Juliet [VHS] (VHS Tape)

this is a lavish, wonderful production, with a cast that is so comfortable with the language. They bring out the beauty of the words, and clarity to their meaning.

Norma Shearer, despite being more than twice Juliet's age, plays her exquisitely...I find her to be the loveliest and most graceful of the screen Juliets I've seen.
Leslie Howard, who was 42 at the time, is splendid. With his perfect musical voice and enunciation, he's a joy to watch and listen to...what a pity that he didn't film more Shakespeare...a Howard "Hamlet" (which he had a huge success with on Broadway), would have certainly been a film treasure.
Also great is John Barrymore's flamboyant Mercutio, and Edna May Oliver is my all-time favorite Nurse.

Though I think the imaginitive and slightly bizarre Baz Luhmann/Leonardo DiCaprio version is fabulous and a must-see (as is the fight scene in the Zeffirelli production !) what makes this George Cukor version so special is the poetry of the language...if you want to hear the words spoken as I'm sure Shakespeare intended, give this film a try.

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Better Than You'd Think, January 24, 2002

By 

Sandy McLendon (Atlanta, GA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Romeo & Juliet [VHS] (VHS Tape)

It's amazing how often the legendary Irving Thalberg was allowed to make M.G.M. "prestige pictures" that produced awed reviews and spotty box-office receipts. It's even more amazing how often he required his wife, actress Norma Shearer, to star in them, to the eventual detriment of her career. As good as Shearer was, she acquired a reputation as a star of stately, dull movies made to please no one but her husband.

The notable exception to Thalberg's run of worthy Shearer failures was "Romeo and Juliet". Although it conformed to the norm by not making much money, it was a very fine film, far better than most filmed Shakespeare.

Norma was 36 when the movie was shot, and it was feared she was a bit old for the part. The problem was tackled by hiring an even older Romeo, 43-year-old Leslie Howard. The supporting cast was the best in the business- John Barrymore as Mercutio, Basil Rathbone as Tybalt, Edna May Oliver as the Nurse, Reginald Denny as Benvolio, and Violet Kemble-Cooper as Lady Capulet. George Cukor was tapped as director, and Agnes de Mille choreographed the period dance that is the highlight of the lovers' first meeting.

Production values were extraordinary, even for a Shearer movie. The creamily lit photography flattered the stars, and the props and sets were magnificent. The exterior set for the balcony scene took up all of M.G.M's Stage Sixteen, then the largest soundstage in the world; there was so much real vegetation that the building began producing its own weather. The costumes were a bit over-the-top; those for the supporting cast are highly theatrical, and the star wardrobe is intended to flatter at the expense of authenticity (Shearer's hairstyle is that of a boy of the period, not a young woman).

All the lavishness in the world would not have mattered if the cast and crew hadn't delivered, but they did. Under the tutelage of Constance Collier, Shearer turned in a touchingly tender Juliet, actually getting the best contemporary reviews of any cast member. Howard's Romeo was a bit perfunctory, but still managed a nice sense of mischief in the early scenes. Basil Rathbone's prideful Tybalt was the part he was born to play, and Oliver's Nurse crammed the maximum of bawdiness and fun into a part badly cut to comply with the demands of the censors. The surprise casting- and performance- of the film was Andy Devine as Peter, the Nurse's servant. It should have been wildly incongruous, but Devine's raspy voice and simple demeanour were perfect for the part.

Two scenes stand out in the memory. One is the stately pavane being danced when Romeo first spies Juliet. Shearer's timing and subtlety serve her well here; she interacts with her nominal dancing partner, Paris, and with Romeo on the sidelines, keeping time to the dance and losing it, sending messages of love with her eyes while her body attempts vainly to maintain an appearance of propriety.

The other is Barrymore's turn as Mercutio; it's said he was drunk during much of the filming, and that the take of his biggest scene used in the final cut was the only usable one. None of Barrymore's problems show on film; his hooting, larky performance is a miracle of comic timing and not to be missed.

The film has its small problems; no one was able to lick the story's inherent lack of action at the end, and the vitality of the film lapses into talkiness in a few later stretches. There is a lapse of judgement in one place where Romeo and Juliet kiss; the otherwise original music switches to Tchaikovsky's "Romeo and Juliet", dragging the scene into cliche. And director Cukor later bemoaned the lack of "garlic and the Mediterranean" in the film's look and feel.

It's still something very rare on film: Shakespeare that is well and respectfully adapted for the screen, accessible to any viewer, and beautifully played. Of all the versions of "Romeo and Juliet" on film, this is the one that tells the story best.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Close Tie With The 1968 Version, January 21, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Romeo & Juliet [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I actually saw this classic 1936 version staring Norma Shearer AFTER seeing the 1968 film with Olivia Hussey, and I have to say this one is also special in it's own way, and I would recommend it as worthy of viewing at least once. It features very beautiful sets and scenes, like the masked ball where Juilet dances as Romeo spies her the first time. Some of the acting is even better, like the role of Juliet's nurse(more believable). Although the two lead actors were in fact two old for the parts, I have read that during filming a white guaze type material was placed over the camera lens, to supposedly help mask the actors apparent ages. It's possible this may have been removed by film restorers who mistook it for distortion/age, but I'm not sure. Again If you enjoyed the 60's version, this one is close behind.