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 and Criseyde". There was a trend among writers and playwrights to publish works based on Italian "novelles"—Italian tales were very popular among theatre-goers—and Shakespeare may well have been familiar with William Painter's 1567 collection of Italian tales titled "Palace of Pleasure". This collection included a version in prose of the "Romeo and Juliet" story named ""The goodly History of the true and constant love of Romeo and Juliett"". Shakespeare took advantage of this popularity: "The Merchant of Venice", "Much Ado About Nothing", "All's Well That Ends Well", "Measure for Measure", and "Romeo and Juliet" are all from Italian "novelle". "Romeo