Linbeymusol Wonderful character development!

TrueJoshNight Truly Dreadful Film

Joanna Mccarty Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

Stephan Hammond It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

leethomas-11621 Queen Mab scene is missing! I missed any real feeling of happiness between the young lovers before the real tragedy begins. Some stage-like acting means story is viewed from a distance. But the costuming is stunning and the settings real. I wished Juliet hadn't been played so demurely. The actress seems to always have her gaze averted. I enjoyed Mervyn Johns' Friar Lawrence. We had to wait another 14 years for Zefferelli's definitive version.

adamshl Renato Castellani's rendering of this tragedy is my all-time favorite version. Using on-location settings and magnificent costumes and art direction, this presentation is without peer.Laurence Harvey is perfect as the young Romeo. He brings genuine love and pathos to his character that is heart-rending.Susan Shentall's gives the most intelligent and moving execution of this challenging role I've ever witnessed. She, like Harvey, overcome minor matters of age to make these characters their own.Who could be a better nurse than the great Flora Robson, or Norman Wooland a finer Paris? Roman Vlad's original score is wonderful, and he's composed a Gallilard that becomes a haunting motif as it's reprised throughout in different variations.If only a digitalized restoration could be done on this great work, that would make everything complete.

patrick.hunter Yes, this film has been overpraised by Pauline Kael and others. For its time it was revolutionary, because no previous Shakespeare film had used so many outdoor, realistic locations. Unlike the previous MGM version (which all in all is superior), this version did not use middle-aged actors and made splendid use of technicolor. Black and white cinematography may suit MACBETH, HAMLET, KING LEAR, and other Shakespeare trajedies--but not this one. Since 1954, however, it has been remade in more cinematic and dynamic versions.Nonetheless, it's a very worthwhile movie, especially for Shakespeare fans. I personally think Laurence Harvey is a terrific Romeo. Yes, he's a bit of a simp, but that's the character. In fact, Harvey is the screen's best Romeo; he's a lot more passionate than Leslie Howard in the MGM version, and he speaks the verse better than either DiCaprio or Leonard Whitting in the two subsequent versions. The locations, better than any version, remind us of just how thin the streets were in Verona during the time of the play, and the high, thick, stone walls serve as a symbol of the intransigence of the families.Yes, it does have shortcomings, but don't dismiss its virtues, which are many, especially to those of us who want more than the MTV-type Shakespeare that the DiCaprio version offers.

Albert Sanchez Moreno Highly praised by critic Pauline Kael, and absurdly over-rated by most other critics, this is undoubtedly one of the worst English-language, talking film versions of Shakespeare ever made. It makes the ridiculous casting of Dick Powell in the 1935 "Midsummer Night's Dream" seem absolutely inspired.It isn't that the actual casting is bad, just that a lot of the acting is.With all due respect to gay people everywhere, I can safely say that Laurence Harvey, normally an excellent actor who can make even badly written roles seem memorable (such as his Col.Travis in John Wayne's "The Alamo"), is by far the swishiest Romeo imaginable, making you wonder what Juliet sees in him. He makes Leslie Howard in the 1936 "Romeo" look like Clark Gable as Rhett Butler carrying Scarlett up that staircase. He has a moony-eyed smile on his face during the balcony scene which makes you want to say,"Snap out of it!"Susan Shentall is a beautiful but bland Juliet, Flora Robson is just OK as the nurse, especially in comparison with Pat Heywood in Zeffirelli's 1968 version. Worst of all, director Renato Castellani has made an awesomely stupid decision in cutting the roles of Mercutio and Tybalt to shreds and casting two unknown, barely competent Italian actors with dubbed English-speaking voices as these colorful characters.The very minor role of Benvolio is beefed up for Bill Travers. The brawls and duels are miserably done (there is actually no duel in this version between Romeo and Tybalt; Romeo simply rushes up to him and stabs him!), especially in comparison to both the MGM 1936 version and the Franco Zeffirelli 1968 film. Only Sebastian Cabot (better known as Mr. French in TV's "Family Affair") comes out unscathed---he is a brilliant Lord Capulet. The movie is the first "Romeo" in color, and filmed in Italy, but no match for Zeffirelli's version.