Page 55 - Shakespeare in the Movie From the Silent Era to Shakespeare in Love

44 I Shakespeare in the Movies

down the Bard. Cautiously, he embarked on a two-year period of
preparation. Thalberg decided that the film's words must be entirely
Shakespearean; he would dare incorporate lines from other plays to
provide necessary transitions as well as a song from Twelfth Night.
He also allowed an expansion of the business Shakespeare could only
allude to. Tybalt, having exited following Mercutio's death, returns
to the square simply because Shakespeare's "unworthy scaffold"
couldn't allow Romeo to chase after him. The cinema nicely accom-
modates such stuff; also, Thalberg could show the busy street life
of Verona, filled with knights, friars, donkey carts, salesmen, and
working girls. The exquisite interiors of the Capulets' palace would
include dancing staged by Agnes de Mille. Thalberg's avowed inten-
tion was to "make the production what Shakespeare would have
wanted had he possessed the facilities of cinema."
To ensure that his images would ring true, Thalberg dispatched
researchers to Verona. Some photographed old buildings, returning
with references for art director Cedric Gibbons. Others diligently
copied Renaissance paintings (Botticelli, Carpaccio, Bellini, Gozzoli)
as well as surviving fifteenth century church frescoes to provide cos-
tume designer Oliver Messel with a sense of the era's clothing. Thal-
berg hired two experts, Prof. William Strunk Jr. of Cornell and Prof.
John Tucker Murray of Harvard. Flown to Hollywood, they were
given carte blanche to criticize any inaccuracies. George Cukor,
already famed as "the women's director," was the one and only
choice; Thalberg wanted Shearer to dominate the proceedings.
Experienced stage performers could be imported from New York,
or Thalberg might go the same route as Warners, allowing his
studio's popular stars to enact classic characters. Ultimately, he set-
tled on an approach that represented the worst of both worlds. Thal-
berg did turn over all parts to screen players: Leslie Howard (then
forty-five) as Romeo, John Barrymore as Mercutio, Basil Rathbone
as Tybalt, Edna May Oliver as the Nurse, popular clown Andy
Devine as Peter. Then the producer hedged, importing drama
coaches from New York to school the performers. The esteemed
Mrs. Frances Robinson Duff was assigned to work with Shearer, who
had never stepped out on a stage. Instead of providing confidence,
the approach intimidated the actors, explaining why many perfor-
mances are stilted; stars adored for their naturalism were guided into
awkwardly stylized theatrics.
Three months were allowed for construction of studio sets, a four-
acre re-creation of Verona gradually taking shape on M-G-M's back