Romeo and Juliet

Roméo et Juliette was a 1900 French film adaptation of the classic and famous William Shakespeare play, Romeo and Juliet. This film version was directed by Clément Maurice, starred Emilio Cossira, and is believed to be the earliest film adaptation of the Shakespeare classic. The film was produced by "Phono-Cinéma-Théâtre", which premiered one of the first synchronized sound film systems at the Paris exhibition of 1900, with this film being one of... More

Roméo et Juliette was a 1900 French film adaptation of the classic and famous William Shakespeare play, Romeo and Juliet. This film version was directed by Clément Maurice, starred Emilio Cossira, and is believed to be the earliest film adaptation of the Shakespeare classic. The film was produced by "Phono-Cinéma-Théâtre", which premiered one of the first synchronized sound film systems at the Paris exhibition of 1900, with this film being one of the earliest to use the sound technique. The sound was recorded first using a Lioretograph onto a cellophane cylinder. This was then played back, and the actors filmed lip-syncing to the recording. To view the film, the sound was played back and the projectionist altered the speed of the hand-cranked projector to try and match the playback. The film is presumed to be lost with no known copy in existence.

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