Word: mercutio
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Purists will criticize the cutting of the play and the rewriting at the end--the latter with a good deal of justification. Since some shortening was obviously necessary, Castellani has reduced the part of Mercutio--usually a favorite with audiences--to a mere shadow of its former, lusty self. But it was probably the safest major slicing job he could do, especially since some critics consider the robust youth an overgrown character in the first place. At any rate, he appears only long enough to deliver a few speeches and be killed which is all the plot requires...
...rest of the production particularly helpful. Douglas Watson's Romeo is a little throaty and stagy. Though not the most tragic, Mercutio's is the most unfortunate death in the play, since it comes early and removes the one really dashing character (nicely played by Jack Hawkins). Thereafter, only true romantic intensity can save one of the least inevitable of tragedies from seeming one of the most protracted. The current production has a handsome but slightly heavy look, a slow and slightly heavy tread, and acting in every conceivable style...
Three performances--Romeo, Juliet, and Mercutio--are thoroughly outstanding. Richard Waring's Romeo is gentle and sad at times, and passionate and exalted at others. His voice is wonderfully modulated throughout the two records, and is always distinct and full of meaning. In the role of Juliet, Eva Le Gallienne attains great emotional conviction with a voice that is both delicate and strong. Dennis King, as Mercutio, is spirited and fanciful, and always in the true spirit of the apart. For the most part the performances of the rest of the cast are above average, except for Preston Hanson, whose...
...semaphore school of Shakespearean gestures is represented by Jack Hawkins who plays Mercutio. Mr. Hawkins also subscribes to the school which supplements Shakespeare's images with diagrams swiftly drawn on an imaginary blackboard. This is especially disconcerting when he illustrates the abundant sexual images in a way which leads one to believe that he does not know their meaning. He redeems himself, however, by playing the death scene quite nicely; much of his success here and in other spots is due to the necessary relaxation of his grating voice and moving hands...
...acting at 18, has seldom been without a part since. A hardworking, not very confident, thoroughly un-actory actor, he trudged slowly to the top, has also made a name for himself in British cinema (The Citadel, The Silver Fleet). In 1935 he made his only U.S. appearance, as Mercutio in the Katharine Cornell Romeo and Juliet. In 1939 he joined the Fleet Air Arm, "flew all day and never thought of anything. I was deaf as an adder and had a wonderful appetite." Last year he and his fellow flyer, Olivier, were released to revive the blitzed...