Rating: PG
Genre: Drama
Theatrical Release: 10/19/1968(Italy)
Release Date: 05/23/2000
SubTitles: English
Dubbed: English
Sound: 1/5.1
Run Time: 138 Minutes
Flags: Mild Violence, Adult Situations, Suitable for Teens
Distributor/Studio: Paramount

Director Franco Zeffirelli's 1968 version of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet was touted at the time of its release (successfully, if the box-office receipts are any indication), as something of a "youth trip" movie. This is because Zeffirelli broke the long-standing tradition of casting over-aged, sometimes grey-haired players in the title roles. Seventeen-year-old Leonard Whiting plays Romeo, with 15-year-old Olivia Hussey as Juliet. The youthfulness and inexperience of the leading players works beautifully in the more passionate sequences (some of these breaking further ground by being played in the nude). Among the younger players are Michael York as Tybalt and John McEnery as Mercutio. The duel between Romeo and Tybalt starts out as a harmless, frat-boy exchange of insults, then escalates into tragedy before any of the participants are fully aware of what has happened. Photographed by Pasqualino DeSantis on various locations in Italy, Romeo and Juliet was one of the most profitable film adaptations of Shakespeare ever produced. Its most lasting legacy is its popular main theme music, composed by Nino Rota.

~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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Cast:
Olivia Hussey - Juliet
Leonard Whiting - Romeo
Milo O'Shea - Friar Laurence
Michael York - Tybalt
John McEnery - Mercutio
Pat Heywood - The Nurse
Natasha Parry - Lady Capulet
Robert Stephens - Prince Of Verona
Keith Skinner - Balthazar
Richard Warwick - Gregory
Dyson Lovell - Sampson
Ugo Barbone - Abraham
Bruce Robinson - Benvolio
Paul Hardwick - Lord Capulet
Antonio Pierfederici - Lord Montague
Esmeralda Ruspoli - Lady Montague
Roberto Bisacco - Count Paris
Roy Holder - Peter
Aldo Miranda - Friar John
Dario Tanzini - Page to Tybalt

Production:
Franco Zeffirelli - Director
Lord John Brabourne Anthony Havelock-Allan - Producer
Nino Rota - Composer
Reginald Mills - Editor
Franco Brusati Franco Zeffirelli Masolino D'Amico - Screen Writer
Christine Edzard - Set Designer
Luciano Puccini - Art Director
Richard Goodwin - Associate Producer
Pasqualino De Santis - Cinematographer
Danilo Donati - Costume Designer
Lorenzo Mongiardino - Production Designer
Eugen Walter - Songwriter
Henry Mancini - Songwriter
William Shakespeare - Play Author

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Romeo & Juliet
    1954

1968 Directors Guild of America

1968 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie

1968 Golden Globe

1968 National Board of Review