Dwarfed by the -superior- version of Zephirelli (1968),this Riccardo Freda movie in not devoid of interest ;the two principals who were 23 and 20 , were closer to the heroes'age in the play than the Cukor ones ,Leslie Howard (42!) and Norma Shearer (35!).
Geronimo Meynard who plays Romeo is youthful and rather cute ,but his performance is a bit monotonous -it was to be his very last movie- ;The same goes for Rosemary Dexter who is a lovely Juliet ,but we find it hard to believe that these two are eaten with desire and passion.
On the other hand ,the cinematography is splendid indeed ,with superb landscapes and the lovers are nicely filmed ;the movie is rather short,and all happens quickly ,perhaps too quickly ,with scenes too hurried for comfort,but there's never a dull moment;Freda ,who was good at horror movies ,suceeds in making the last scene in vault perfectly gruesome . Good use of classical music .
Geronimo Meynard who plays Romeo is youthful and rather cute ,but his performance is a bit monotonous -it was to be his very last movie- ;The same goes for Rosemary Dexter who is a lovely Juliet ,but we find it hard to believe that these two are eaten with desire and passion.
On the other hand ,the cinematography is splendid indeed ,with superb landscapes and the lovers are nicely filmed ;the movie is rather short,and all happens quickly ,perhaps too quickly ,with scenes too hurried for comfort,but there's never a dull moment;Freda ,who was good at horror movies ,suceeds in making the last scene in vault perfectly gruesome . Good use of classical music .
