Romeo and Juliet (1954 film) Romeo and Juliet (1954 film) Romeo and Juliet is a 1954 film adaptation of William Shakespeare's play of the same name. It was directed by Renato Castellani and stars Laurence Harvey as Romeo, Susan Shentall as Juliet, Flora Robson as the Nurse, Mervyn Johns as Friar Laurence, Bill Travers as Benvolio, Sebastian Cabot as Lord Capulet, Ubaldo Zollo as Mercutio, Enzo Fiermonte as Tybalt and John Gielgud as the Chorus. The film won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, and was named the best foreign film by the National Board of Review, which also named Castellani as best
Romeo and Juliet words, Shakespeare "invented the formula that the sexual becomes the erotic when crossed by the shadow of death". Of Shakespeare's works, "Romeo and Juliet" has generated the most—and the most varied—adaptations, including prose and verse narratives, drama, opera, orchestral and choral music, ballet, film, television, and painting. The word "Romeo" has even become synonymous with "male lover" in English. "Romeo and Juliet" was parodied in Shakespeare's own lifetime: Henry Porter's "Two Angry Women of Abingdon" (1598) and Thomas Dekker's "Blurt, Master Constable" (1607) both contain balcony scenes in which a virginal heroine engages in bawdy wordplay. The play directly influenced