 The role of Romeo was originally offered to John Gielgud (qv), who  had just had a triumph in a stage production of the play in London  in which he alternated the roles of Romeo and Mercutio with  Laurence Olivier (qv). Gielgud not only turned the part down  (thinking that Shakespeare couldnt effectively be presented on  screen), but was so disgusted by the finished film that he walked  out of the theater after watching only fifteen minutes of it.