The Lovers of Verona

The Lovers of Verona (French: Les amants de Vérone) is a 1949 French romantic drama mystery film co-written and directed by André Cayatte, loosely based on the William Shakespeare play Romeo and Juliet.

The film was a joint project of screenwriter Jacques Prevert and director Cayatte and enjoyed great international success.

[1] Shortly after World War II, Angelo, a glassblower from Murano, and Georgia Maglia, the daughter of a fascist magistrate, are cast as stand-ins for the stars of a film version of Romeo and Juliet being shot on location in Venice.

In his memoirs, cinematographer Henri Alekan recalled when 16-year-old Anouk Aimée was forced to dive completely naked into the cold waters of the Adige river, without anyone managing to keep away the onlookers obviously interested in the scene.

[2] TV Guide called the film "[a]n intriguing romance",[3] while Bosley Crowther of The New York Times called it "a story set within a weird and grotesque frame of contemporary morbidness in Venice and gaudy film-making in Italy.