Whiting and Hussey took a few minutes to convince me because they aren't familiar to me and they seemed too young. The cast are a strange lot occasionally they all seem to be hamming it up a little bit too much but mostly they are all pretty good and fit with the "Shakespearian" type of acting that comes with this sort of film. The dominate tune has since been hijacked to be played under Simon Bates "Our Tune" on the radio where he reads out terrible cloying stories before playing a song every time it comes on, that's all I could hear and it took away from the film as I'm sure many UK viewers may agree. The only major problem I had with the delivery was one that has come with time the use of music. The story will be known to everyone so it is left to the delivery to ensure that we are still drawn into the romance while also steeling ourselves for the tragedy in this regard it does well enough, with the silly, illogical love of teenagers being convincingly painted to the point where it did matter to me that it would all end with such loss and pain. Zeffirelli directs well, using the large sets well while also drawing good performances from his surprisingly young cast. Far from the updated telling of 1996, this version is distinctly set in the period of the story and is much more of a traditional telling, lacking anything in the way of excessive flair and style. Although my age would suggest that the modern, MTV-friendly version of this story would be much more accessible to me, I must admit that I was surprised by how good this version was and how much I enjoyed it. Meanwhile, tensions on the streets start to spill over into violent confrontations. The two flirt and fall for one another and the enormity of their circumstance is not lost on them as they try to keep their growing love a secret. When Romeo (a Montague) gatecrashes the Capulet ball in disguise, he slights upon a beautiful women, Juliet, who he is shocked to find is a Capulet. The two great families of Verona (the Capulet's and the Montague's) are bitter enemies whose animosity goes from the parents right down to the children and associates who have a consistent tension on the streets. Almost 50 years later it is still an impressive achievement. Romeo And Juliet got Oscars for cinematography and costume design and got a nomination for Best Picture and Franco Zeffirelli for Best director. What Franco Zeffirelli did was now narrow it so that juveniles would be playing juveniles or at somewhat believable kids like the players at Beverly Hills 90210 in their 20s playing high school kids. As we got more sophisticated we demanded more. Back in Master Will Shakespeare's day all the parts in the theater were men and there sure was no such thing as typecasting. I got the impression that York would be looking for fights if the Montagues and Capulets were bosom buddies. York took it down a note or two and played him like a bully. You don't get more passionate than Basil Rathbone did in the Howard-Shearer version. This film also gave a first big break for Michael York as Tybalt, a part that requires a lot of passion. And being British they're trained in the classics at an early age. What Leonard Whiting and Olivia Hussey didn't have in experience they make up for in charisma. You have to have extraordinarily good actors and charismatic at that for the big screen. As good as MGM's version back in the studio system days with Leslie Howard and Norma Shearer, they now look arcane when viewing it today, taking nothing away from them as players. When Franco Zeffirelli got around to doing it as such it put all previous versions to shame. It took about five centuries for Shakespeare's signature play about young love to be filmed with teen lovers as Shakespeare wrote it.