Romeo and Juliet on screen the story have also been filmed, most notably "West Side Story", Prokofiev's ballet "Romeo and Juliet" and "Romanoff and Juliet". Several theatrical films, such as "Shakespeare in Love" and "Romeo Must Die", consciously use elements of Shakespeare's plot. Producer Irving Thalberg pushed MGM for five years to make a "Romeo and Juliet", in the face of the studio's opposition: which stemmed from Louis B. Mayer's belief that the masses considered the Bard over their heads, and from the austerity forced on the studios by the depression. It was only when Jack L. Warner announced his intention to film Max Reinhardt's
Romeo and Juliet (1916 Fox film) Romeo and Juliet (1916 Fox film) Romeo and Juliet is a 1916 American silent romantic drama film directed by J. Gordon Edwards and starring Theda Bara. The film was based on Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" and was produced by the Fox Film Corporation. The film was shot at the Fox Studio in Fort Lee, New Jersey. This film and other Shakespeare-oriented pictures were released in 1916, the 300th anniversary of William Shakespeare's death. This film went up against direct competition from another feature-length "Romeo and Juliet" film from Metro Pictures starring Francis X. Bushman and Beverly Bayne. In a recorded