''Romeo and Juliet'' is a lostProgressive Silent Film List: ''Romeo and Juliet''
at silentera.com 1916 American silent film based on

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's play, '' Romeo and Juliet''. John W. Noble is credited as director and Francis X. Bushman and Beverly Bayne star as the lovers. This film was produced in 1916, the 300th anniversary of Shakespeare's death, and was released amongst many other commemorations of his works. This film was produced and released in direct competition with another film, '' Romeo and Juliet'' produced by William Fox, starring

Theda Bara Theda Bara ( ; born Theodosia Burr Goodman; July 29, 1885 – April 7, 1955) was an American silent film and stage actress. Bara was one of the more popular actresses of the silent era and one of cinema's early sex symbols. Her femme fatal ...

, and released three days later. Bushman later claimed, in an interview, that he went to see the Theda Bara version and was shocked to see that Fox had added some intertitles from the Metro version.''The American Film Institute Catalog Feature Films: 1911-20'' by The American Film Institute, c1988

Plot summary

Cast

* Francis X. Bushman as

Romeo Romeo Montague () is the male protagonist of William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Romeo and Juliet''. The son of Lord Montague and his wife, Lady Montague, he secretly loves and marries Juliet, a member of the rival House of Capulet, through a priest ...

* Beverly Bayne as Juliet * Horace Vinton as Escalus, Prince of Verona * John Davidson as

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

* Eric Hudson as Montague * Edmund Elton as Capulet * Leonard Grover as Old Man *

Fritz Leiber, Sr. Fritz Reuter Leiber Sr. (January 31, 1882 – October 14, 1949) was an American actor. A Shakespearean actor on stage, he also had a successful career in film. He was the father of science fiction and fantasy writer Fritz Leiber Jr., who was a ...

Mercutio Mercutio ( , ) is a fictional character in William Shakespeare's 1597 tragedy, ''Romeo and Juliet''. He is a close friend to Romeo and a blood relative to Prince Escalus and Count Paris. As such, Mercutio is one of the named characters in the ...

* Olav Skavlan as

Benvolio Benvolio is a fictional character in William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Romeo and Juliet''. He is Lord Montague's nephew and Romeo's cousin. Benvolio serves as an unsuccessful peacemaker in the play, attempting to prevent violence between the Capule ...

Lawson Butt W. Lawson Butt (4 March 1880 – 14 January 1956) was a British actor and film director of the silent era.(7 August 1915)W. Lawson Butt with Kleine ''The Moving Picture World'' Selected filmography Actor * '' The Woman Next Door'' (1915) * ''Ro ...

as Tybalt * Robert Cummings as

Friar Laurence Friar Laurence or Friar Lawrence is a character in William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo and Juliet''. Role in the play Friar Laurence is a friar who plays the part of a wise adviser to Romeo and Juliet, along with aiding in major plot developments ...

* A. J. Herbert as Friar John * Edwin Boring as Balthasar *

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He ...

as Abraham * Joseph Dailey as Peter

References

External links

* * * *
Bushman as Romeo on the front cover of
''

Motion Picture Magazine ''Motion Picture'' was an American monthly fan magazine about film, published from 1911 to 1977.Fuller, Kathryn H. “Motion Picture Story Magazine and the Gendered Construction of the Movie Fan.” ''At the Picture Show: Small-Town Audiences a ...

'' 1916 films American silent feature films American films based on plays Lost American films 1916 romantic drama films American romantic drama films American black-and-white films Films based on Romeo and Juliet Films directed by John W. Noble 1910s American films Silent romantic drama films Silent horror films Silent American drama films {{silent-romantic-drama-film-stub