Of the many adaptations of Romeo And Juliet both on film, television and stage one version stands out-Franco Zeffirelli's.
The movie had been nominated for Best Picture and Best Director in the Academy Awards but only won for Best Cinematography (Pasqualino De Santis) and Best Costume Design (Danilo Donati).
Before all that, what had made the movie what it was-was the exceptional leads, the faces that would give life to the Shakesperian tragedy. Zeffirelli took a chance, making the biggest gamble in his career when he took two virtually unknow actors to play his leads despite the clamor of known personalitites, and hundreds upon hundreds auditioning for the role. In Franco Zeffirelli's autobiography, it had stated that at one point Paul McCartney had been considered for the role of Romeo.
The leading roles of the star crossed lovers went instead to fairly green actor Leonard Whiting, and stage actress Olivia Hussey. The gamble paid of, these fair youths were well-received by both audiences and critics alike.
Leonard Whiting and Olivia Hussey gave vibrant performances. The both of them subsequently winning the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year - Actor and Actress.
Though viewers and critics alike responded to their Romeo and Juliet feeling that there was a beautiful honesty in their ages closely matching the characters they were playing. (They were only 18, and 17), they were still met with some complications when shooting some pivotal scenes in which 16 year old Hussey had to be topless- For that one scene in Romeo and Juliet (1968), director Franco Zeffirelli had to get special permission.
Ironically she was not legally able to attend the London premiere of Romeo and Juliet because she was still a minor and the film contained a nude scene -- even though she was the one who was nude.
Both Husssey and Whiting went on to do other films and branched out in to other things, other roles; Hussey most recently playing Mother Teresa in the made for television movie Mother Teresa of Calcutta. She has also been nominated for an Annie for her voice acting work, lending her voice to the animated series Batman Beyond. Whiting went on to an establish a career in theater, focusing in more behind the scenes work as a writer before retiring. He was once deemed the next Laurence Olivier.
Film critic Roger Ebert has written: "I believe Franco Zeffirelli's "Romeo and Juliet" is the most exciting film of Shakespeare ever made"
It is according to imdb.com, it was the last Shakespeare film (to date) to have its American television premiere on commercial network television rather than cable. Peter Brook's King Lear (1971) was never shown on commercial TV networks, and by the time Kenneth Branagh released his version of Henry V (1989), virtually every film was shown on cable TV before it went to the commercial networks.
The movie Romeo and Juliet 1969 is a treasure that has somehow been forgotten but like all classics it has only become more valuable and beautiful over time.
