Romeo and Juliet (1936)

Almost everyone in this version of Romeo and Juliet, nominated for Best Picture of 1936, is miscast. Norma Shearer, who plays Juliet, was already 34 years old. Leslie Howard, playing Romeo, was 47. And John Barrymore, trying gamely to have some fun as Mercutio, was already 54 years old! Add to the mix Edna May Oliver, who is usually pretty good for comic relief, as the Nurse and Andy Devine (yes, that Andy Devine, of Westerns fame) as Peter, the Nurse's servant, and you've got a pretty surefire guarantee for disaster. Poor Oliver delivers her lines as if she must single-handedly save the cast from boredom, and Devine retains that distinctive and distracting twang/drawl of his.

I'm sure this version of Shakespeare's classic has its fans, but this is meant to be a story of young lovers, people in the throes of the first real passions of their lives. It's not meant to be a mid-life crisis for Romeo (Howard has wrinkles, for heaven's sake!), and it certainly isn't meant to make Juliet seem to be a desperate spinster whose family has been unable to marry her off until she's in her mid-30s. And I don't even want to start in on poor Barrymore and his attempts to wield a sword in the heat of battle.

I'm willing to accept the beauty of the set design and the costumes as evidence of the quality of this production. And, to be fair, Shearer and Howard do the best they can with the roles despite their obvious unsuitability. Both are talented actors; they just aren't able to make anyone believe they're young enough to behave in this way. I even enjoyed watching Basil Rathbone as Tybalt, but he was almost as old as Howard when this film was made. I suppose there's some comfort in knowing that all of the performers were at least of the same age.

There is, of course, another version of this play that was also nominated for Best Picture. That's the one from 1968 featuring two actual teenagers, Leonard Whiting and Olivia Hussey, in the lead roles. I can't wait to watch that one again. Maybe it will help me to erase the memory of this earlier, feebler attempt.