[EARLY MOVIE SCRIPT-SHAKESPEARE]
JOHNSON, ADRIAN. Romeo and Juliet. Original final shooting script for the lost 1916 Fox Film Corporation romantic drama film, directed by J. Gordon Edwards. Bound with two prong fasteners, in the original Fox Film Corporation envelope. 83 ff., on rectos only, last leaf blank, including title, cast sheet (listing only Theda Bara), scene plot and all 287 scenes. Minor soiling and wear, generally in a good state of preservation. In the original Fox Film Corporation envelope (130 West 46th Street address) dated 10/21/16 in pencil.
This 1916 film adaptation of Shakespeare's tragedy, which was conceived as a vehicle for Fox's great femme fatale star, Theda Bara, appears to no longer exist in celluloid form, so this detailed shooting script is as close to a reconstruction of the film as one can come. 1916 was the 300th anniversary of the death of Shakespeare, and many films were rushed into production to capitalize on this. This version, shot by Fox in their Fort Lee studios in New Jersey, was in direct competition to a Metro Pictures version. The closing scene reads "THE TOMB OF JULIET CLOSE UP. This is the ending of the story as desired in the corrected manuscript of Director-Show the deserted tomb with door open and - DIAPHRAGM SLOWLY OUT." The Folger Shakespeare Library has a souvenir program issued for the film. Interesting to note, use was made of spoken titles in the film, according to the script; if actually used, these must have been separately recorded and played on cue.