Romeo and Juliet (1954 film) by a novelist. Critics responded to the film as a piece of cinema (its visuals were especially admired in Italy, where it was filmed) but not as a performance of Shakespeare's play: Robert Hatch in "The Nation" said "We had come to see a play... perhaps we should not complain that we were shown a sumptuous travelogue", and "Time"′s reviewer added that "Castellani's "Romeo and Juliet" is a fine film poem... Unfortunately it is not Shakespeare's poem!" Commercially response to the film was underwhelming. One journalist described it as the "unchallenged flop of the year". Romeo and Juliet (1954 film)
Romeo and Juliet (1936 film) role of Peter is enlarged, and played by Andy Devine as a faint-hearted bully. He speaks lines which Shakespeare gave to other Capulet servants, making him the instigator of the opening brawl. The film includes two songs drawn from other plays by Shakespeare: "Come Away Death" from "Twelfth Night" and "Honour, Riches, Marriage, Blessing" from "The Tempest". Clusters of images are used to define the central characters: Romeo is first sighted leaning against a ruined building in an arcadian scene, complete with a pipe-playing shepherd and his dog; the livelier Juliet is associated with Capulet's formal garden, with its decorative