Romeo And Juliet (1968)

Set in the Italian city of Verona, two warring families are warned by the city's Prince (Robert Stephens) that any future violence will have harsh consequences. When the son (Leonard Whiting) and the daughter (Olivia Hussey) from opposing families fall in love, it will lead to tragedy. Based on the play by William Shakespeare and directed by Franco Zeffirelli (TEA WITH MUSSOLINI). Quite possibly the most popular Shakespeare film adaptation (at least in terms of box office success), the movie is lush and rich thanks to Pasqualino De Santis' cinematography, Danilo Donati's costumes, Nino Rota's lovely score and Zeffirelli's staging of the ball where Romeo and Juliet meet and the swordfights are excellent. When an actress lamented that she never played Juliet and was now too old, Dame Sybil Thorndike once said, "You can never be too old to play Juliet, just too young" and that's the problem here. Quite simply, although they are the perfect ages (Whiting was 17, Hussey was 16), they are inadequate in the acting department. This is a Shakespearean tragedy but they read their lines without seeming to comprehend the intensity of passion and the poetry of the language. This isn't a tragedy, it's Shakespeare puppy love. With Michael York, John McEnery (in the film's best performance), Milo O'Shea, Pat Heywood, Natasha Parry and Paul Hardwick.