Poster Post: Romeo and Juliet

This is the classic Romeo and Juliet story adapted for the Great Depression.  Romeo is the son of a poor movie owner, whose dad despises the banks for not giving loans to upgrade his theatre.  Juliet is the daughter of a rich banker, whose misunderstands the poor and because of it generally dislikes them.  Romeo and Juliet meet at the theatre one time and instantly fall in love despite different wealth class and parents dislike of each other.  This story is neither pro or anti banks, but rather a why can't we work together type movie.  

The genre of the movie is a romantic-drama because the children fall in love while society, represented by their fathers, is trying to stop it. 

We decided to pic MGM as our studio.  We chose this because Romeo and Juliet is a character focused movie.  MGM during the 1930's had the biggest stars and a big name for both Romeo and Juliet makes for a financially successful movie.  

For our cast we casted Jeanette MacDonald as Juliet and Robert Montgomery as Romeo.  This choice was made since both these actors were popular, young, and attractive.  We had Victor Flemming directing it since in 1934, he directed Treasure Island so he knows how to adapt classic writings into movies.  All three actors/director are a part of the MGM family which made it easy to join this movie.  We would focus on lighting showing both the dads in darker lighting with more shadows to show a stubbornness to compromise and Romeo and Juliet in positive bright lighting to show that this is the right way.  

Obviously in a explicit story both in the violence and sexual regard the Hays Code definitely affected this adaption of Romeo and Juliet.  We choose to have zero violence to uphold the Hays Code and ended the movie with Romeo and Juliet living happily ever after opposed to the double suicide.  Also there would be no sex scenes in Romeo and Juliet, only a passionate kiss during the balcony scene and another to end the movie.  This does cripple the shock-and-awe of the Romeo and Juliet story, but the Hays Code would accept it and it has a better message.

We decided to use the technology of technicolor in an interesting manner.  The movie would be black and white up to the point of Romeo and Juliet making eye contact projecting the movie to turn into  technicolor.  We did this as an artistic expression of how the whole world changes when you meet the person you're in love with.