Press Release Criterion Press Release: Romeo and Juliet (1968) (Blu-ray) (1 Viewer)

[Ross Gowland]

No such thing as bad publicity - this would sell more now.

Not always. How many records does Gary Glitter sell these days? Or Rolf Harris?

 

[JPCinema]

In a 2018 interview with Variety, Hussey defended the nude scene. "Nobody my age had done that before," she said, adding that Zeffirelli shot it tastefully. "It was needed for the film."

 

[B-ROLL]

You have to be pretty skilled with fast-forwarding to get "past the boobs" because it really is a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment.

One of the guys from TMZ said his teacher put Post-It Notes (TM) over the nudity on the monitor. I know the town where I went to college banned the from theater(s) because the actors were underage.

In Sophomore English the play was in our textbooks but a great deal of the dialogue has been expunged. Our teacher told us so.

Besides, if you wanted to see nudity all you had to do was get a copy of

National Geographic ... or so I'm told !

 

[Worth]

You have to be pretty skilled with fast-forwarding to get "past the boobs" because it really is a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment.

It must be. It didn't really register to me as a teenager and those moments usually did.

 

[KPmusmag]

Me too. If memory serves, my teacher fast forwarded past the boobs in R&J but let us watch all of the violence in Macbeth.

Many years ago I was lucky enough to attend a lecture on film given by Jack Lemmon and he stated that in his opinion violence was the true pornography. Reminds me of Robert Preston's line in Victor/Victoria, "You can kill him, but mustn't kiss him."

I do enjoy this version of R&J and will pick up the disc assuming it is released.

 

[Lord Dalek]

If there was a delay Criterion would have announced it by now.

 

[moviebuff75]

I know it is from the play, but it seems odd for a regular 35mm film with a running time of about 2:15 to have an intermission...especially one that was geared towards the youth of the day. Looks like continuous performances would have worked better.

 

[Vincent_P]

I know it is from the play, but it seems odd for a regular 35mm film with a running time of about 2:15 to have an intermission...especially one that was geared towards the youth of the day. Looks like continuous performances would have worked better.

Kubrick's 2001 from the same year is just 5-minutes longer, and it had an intermission.

Not entirely the same, but in Italy it was long common for ALL movies to have an intermission regardless of running time. Even Lamberto Bava's under-90-minutes-long horror film DEMONS had an intermission for its Italian theatrical release in 1985.

Vincent

 

[moviebuff75]

From what I am reading, the general release probably didn't have an intermission. I am unsure about premiere engagements.

 

[mskaye]

Kubrick's 2001 from the same year is just 5-minutes longer, and it had an intermission.

Not entirely the same, but in Italy it was long common for ALL movies to have an intermission regardless of running time. Even Lamberto Bava's under-90-minutes-long horror film DEMONS had an intermission for its Italian theatrical release in 1985.

Vincent

But damn, isn't 2001's intermission timed so perfectly? It's like a "mic drop" at such an amazing revelation in the film's narrative.

 

[Vincent_P]

But damn, isn't 2001's intermission timed so perfectly? It's like a "mic drop" at such an amazing revelation in the film's narrative.

Indeed, which made the 70mm presentation of 2001 at the now defunct Loews Astor Plaza theater in NYC in the year 2001 so frustrating- although the print and projection on their enormous screen were gorgeous, they stupidly removed the intermission from the print! And I was actually waiting for it because I needed to use the facilities and knew where it hit, and then that moment came and the movie just continued! I was SO annoyed by that, because otherwise it was a terrific presentation, much better than the 70mm projection of the "Nolan print" I saw at the Redford Theater in Redford, Michigan in the summer of 2018.

Vincent

 

[Will Krupp]

From what I am reading, the general release probably didn't have an intermission. I am unsure about premiere engagements.

As I said earlier in the thread, the premiere engagements in New York and LA were continuous:

Press Release - Criterion Press Release: Romeo and Juliet (1968) (Blu-ray)

The intermission could be easily removed from prints, as it was with airline 16s - along with a few additional trims. Don’t know how 35s were conformed. The IM may have been on a separate roll to accommodate foreign. What I’m saying is that I don’t know if the footage was part of the domestic...

www.hometheaterforum.com

The original London engagement, about seven months earlier, WAS a reserved seat attraction (referenced below) but I can't find any evidence of it being released that way in the US and certainly not in the two most important markets in the country.

Press Release - Criterion Press Release: Romeo and Juliet (1968) (Blu-ray)

The intermission could be easily removed from prints, as it was with airline 16s - along with a few additional trims. Don’t know how 35s were conformed. The IM may have been on a separate roll to accommodate foreign. What I’m saying is that I don’t know if the footage was part of the domestic...

www.hometheaterforum.com

Kubrick's 2001 from the same year is just 5-minutes longer, and it had an intermission.

Yes, but that was showmanship and not because the producers felt it needed one. An intermission was considered de rigueur for a hard ticket roadshow attraction so that the folks who paid premium prices to get in knew they were getting a "special" presentation. Without knowing for certain, I can almost guarantee you that the intermission was relegated to the initial 70mm "Cinerama" run. The Todd-AO engagements of Oklahoma in 1955-1956 had an intermission, too, and that ran about the same length as 2001. It was all part of the show.

 

[Lord Dalek]

To add one more, Fantasia was about 10 minutes shorter than Romeo and Juliet in 1940 so yeah its just the "roadshow" thing.

Anyway if there's a fade to black in the middle, that might have been designated as a "soft intermission" ala Apocalypse Now.

 

[moviebuff75]

The Intermission card on the DVD comes up during the shot, not on a black screen.

 

[Henry Gondorff]

As I said earlier in the thread, the premiere engagements in New York and LA were continuous:

Press Release - Criterion Press Release: Romeo and Juliet (1968) (Blu-ray)

The intermission could be easily removed from prints, as it was with airline 16s - along with a few additional trims. Don’t know how 35s were conformed. The IM may have been on a separate roll to accommodate foreign. What I’m saying is that I don’t know if the footage was part of the domestic...

www.hometheaterforum.com

The original London engagement, about seven months earlier, WAS a reserved seat attraction (referenced below) but I can't find any evidence of it being released that way in the US and certainly not in the two most important markets in the country.

Press Release - Criterion Press Release: Romeo and Juliet (1968) (Blu-ray)

The intermission could be easily removed from prints, as it was with airline 16s - along with a few additional trims. Don’t know how 35s were conformed. The IM may have been on a separate roll to accommodate foreign. What I’m saying is that I don’t know if the footage was part of the domestic...

www.hometheaterforum.com

Yes, but that was showmanship and not because the producers felt it needed one. An intermission was considered de rigueur for a hard ticket roadshow attraction so that the folks who paid premium prices to get in knew they were getting a "special" presentation. Without knowing for certain, I can almost guarantee you that the intermission was relegated to the initial 70mm "Cinerama" run. The Todd-AO engagements of Oklahoma in 1955-1956 had an intermission, too, and that ran about the same length as 2001. It was all part of the show.

I saw four different prints in four separate theaters when R&J was first released, including the first-run Boston engagement. None had an intermission break.

 

[Robert Harris]

‘Romeo And Juliet’ Director Franco Zeffirelli’s Son Slams “Abuse” Lawsuit By Actors

Pippo Zeffirelli, son of Romeo and Juliet director Franco Zeffirelli, is criticizing the lawsuit brought by that film’s stars, Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting. The actors are alleging s…

deadline.com

 

[Nick*Z]

I'm with Pippo on this one. Decades of praise from the two stars, and now this 'revelation' and total 'about face'. Why?

Child abuse is one thing. Consenting kids surrounded by a camera crew of professionals shooting a brief love-making scene for a movie - quite something else. You know when you're on a film set you're never alone. Even if Zefferelli cleared the set of all except its essential workers, he still was not alone, getting his jollies, over ogling these two in the buff.

He had his cinematographer/camera man, likely a gaffer, and a lighting man, a script supervisor, and a few others lingering about to make certain it all turned out right.

I believe this one about as much as I believe Tippi Hendren's sudden change of heart over shooting The Birds for Hitchcock, and, Sharon Stone's indignation over the crotch-exposing moment in Basic Instinct. Not!

 

[titch]

A similar case alleging sexual abuse and child pornography brought by the "Nevermind" baby was thrown out last year: The defendants had previously argued that the plaintiff had “spent three decades profiting from his celebrity as the self-anointed ‘Nirvana Baby’”, including recreating the image for the album’s 15th and 25th anniversaries. He also has a tattoo of the word Nevermind on his chest.

Nirvana win lawsuit over Nevermind baby album cover

A US judge has dismissed Spencer Elden’s claim that an image of him as a naked baby on the 1991 album constituted child sexual abuse

www.theguardian.com

 

[Thomas T]

Consenting kids surrounded by a camera crew of professionals shooting a brief love-making scene for a movie - quite something else.

Consenting KIDS is the operative word here. Is a KID (or even a teenager) mature enough to make such a decision when confronted by all these grown ups. They wouldn't be intimidated by the adults saying it's okay, would they? Did YOU make the best decisions when you were 16 years old? If you did, congratulations! Alas, I did many stupid things when I was a teen that I regret and it's been my experience that your teen years is when most of us do dumb things. Our minds aren't mature enough to make decisions that could affect us the rest of our lives.

As for your remarks regarding Tippi Hedren. I've had the pleasure of meeting her twice and conversing with her. A nicer, more sincere person I've never encountered (of all the actresses I've met, only Janet Leigh was as gracious). If she says it, I believe her.

I must say I'm somewhat amused by some of the comments here. I've always though Whiting and Hussey were woefully inadequate in the acting department. They read their lines without seeming to comprehend the intensity of passion and poetry in the words. This isn't a Shakespearean tragedy, it's Shakespeare puppy love. But this is a minority opinion as every time I've brought this up, I'm assailed by a chorus of how refreshing it was to see actors the right age instead of 30 year old actors playing R&J. That for once, the lines resonated ... blah, blah, blah. But now, they're treated like money grubbing charlatans by the very people who were cooing about how wonderful they were in the movie.

 

[Nick*Z]

Consenting KIDS is the operative word here. Is a KID (or even a teenager) mature enough to make such a decision when confronted by all these grown ups. They wouldn't be intimidated by the adults saying it's okay, would they? Did YOU make the best decisions when you were 16 years old? If you did, congratulations! Alas, I did many stupid things when I was a teen that I regret and it's been my experience that your teen years is when most of us do dumb things. Our minds aren't mature enough to make decisions that could affect us the rest of our lives.

As for your remarks regarding Tippi Hedren. I've had the pleasure of meeting her twice and conversing with her. A nicer, more sincere person I've never encountered (of all the actresses I've met, only Janet Leigh was as gracious). If she says it, I believe her.

I must say I'm somewhat amused by some of the comments here. I've always though Whiting and Hussey were woefully inadequate in the acting department. They read their lines without seeming to comprehend the intensity of passion and poetry in the words. This isn't a Shakespearean tragedy, it's Shakespeare puppy love. But this is a minority opinion as every time I've brought this up, I'm assailed by a chorus of how refreshing it was to see actors the right age instead of 30 year old actors playing R&J. That for once, the lines resonated ... blah, blah, blah. But now, they're treated like money grubbing charlatans by the very people who were cooing about how wonderful they were in the movie.

RE: your meeting with Hedren.

I'll concur with your reflections about her genuine quality, having met her myself only once before. But at that meeting, in the early 1990's, she waxed affectionately about Hitchcock and the two movies she made for him. There was no animosity, no attempt to besmirch his reputation, and certainly, no willful disgust over her treatment in making either The Birds or Marnie.

So, precisely, when all that changed for Hendren is, at least for me, a very curious footnote. Time withers memory. But in her case, it did a complete one-eighty. And this, I neither understand, nor respect. Were you lying to me, or was she lying to you? One of us didn't get the real/reel story. How 'sincere' or 'gracious' was that? Just saying.

I'll concur with your evaluation of Hussey and Whiting's acting skills - perhaps, the principle reason why all other versions of Romeo and Juliet (save the DiCaprio version) cast much older actors in the teenage leads. I prefer the Norma Shearer/Leslie Howard version to Zefferelli's, but still think his effort has its merits. Hope WAC gets around to the 1936 version one of these days.

Re: my comment about consenting kids. Whiting and Hussey, while immature, where nevertheless, asked by Zefferelli to strip nude for the scene and did so. There was no gun to their heads, not even the threat of being fired if they refused to do so. Did Zefferelli ply his young charges with booze and pills to get them 'in the mood' for their close-ups. No. Did he even order them in a way that might have spelled public humiliation on the set? No hint of this either.

So, Zefferelli being re-branded today as something of a middle-aged pervert who just wanted to look at two naked bodies, degraded for his art, is a malicious and false representation of what went on, on that set.

Was it the right decision for them? Apparently, not.

Did they make it then? Well, yes.

Do they regret it now? Likely.

Is regret alone cause for legal action. Ah, no.

Not now. Not ever.

If I could sue for all the stupid decisions I made in my youth I'd be a millionaire today several times over. Can't revisit that well. And I've since grown into the maturity of realizing all of it is nevertheless a part of my tapestry of life. Some regrets you just have to live with.