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 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