1936 – Norma Shearer
Romeo and Juliet
Norma Shearer was a fantastic actress. Not even this bizarre version of the Shakespeare play could diminish that. Shearer, as always, did a great job, turned in a powerful performance, and gave the role some real emotion. None of that was lost on me. However… that being said, she was totally wrong for the part. Hear me out! Never-mind that the character of Juliet was supposed to be 13 years old, and Norma was about 33 when the movie was filmed. That is a good enough reason, but it wasn’t my only one.
One of the qualities of Norma Shearer’s acting is that she seems so completely at ease on the screen, like she was born to be there in front of the camera. There normally isn’t a bit of nervousness or tension in her performance. It is one of the things I love about her in every other movie in which I’ve ever seen her. But here, because of the difficult Shakespearian language, there was a forced affectation in her delivery that didn’t always translate well on the screen. That natural ease of hers, in about 50% of her performance, was gone.
And lastly, I wasn’t convinced of her on-screen chemistry with Leslie Howard. However, in hind-sight, that may have been Howard’s fault, and not Shearer’s. There were times when the two were supposed to be in love that felt a little disconnected. I can’t put my finger on exactly what the problem was, but there was an almost imperceptible unease between them.
And though the director, George Cukor, made some weird choices like putting Andy Devine in the movie, or giving Juliet a bow and arrow in her opening scene, or dressing some characters in clothes that didn’t look like they belonged in a Shakespeare play. But the only choice he made that affected Shearer’s acting was the scene in which Juliet drinks the Friar’s potion. She speaks of her fears that something might go wrong, but then her eyes get wide and crazy, and she brought her hands up to her face in terror, as if she was a silent movie actress being too over-the-top with her emotions. It was a strange moment that I think I have to attribute to the director. It stood out, and not necessarily in a good way.