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Apr 26, 1564
William Shakespeare is Born
Baptized April 26 1564 in Warwickshire England -
William Shakespeare wrote the tragedy Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet was written by Shakespeare early career and took place in a town called Verona in Italy -
Juliet's Tomb
Juliets tomb which is an attractive sarcophagus in a church garden, which they were calling ‘Juliet’s tomb’ was bought in 1905 by the city of Verona. -
Benito Mussolini's Fascist Nation
Benito formed the National Fascist party in March 23, 1919 which ruled Italy from 1922-1943. The fascists imposed totalitarian rule and crushed the political and intellectual opposition -
Verona's Fascism
The arrival of fascism in Verona was one of the darkest times in Italys history. Throughout Italy, the Jewish population was hit by the Manifesto of Race, a series of anti-Semitic laws passed in 1938, and after the invasion by Nazi Germany in 1943, deportations to Nazi concentration camps. An Austrian Fort was used to incarcerate and torture Allied troops, Jews and anti-fascists, especially after 1943, when Verona became part of the Italian Social Republic. -
MGM Scouting
MGM was scouting out places in Verona to use for a movie about Romeo and Juliet as their set or to model pieces from Juliet's tomb for a set in Hollywood -
Fascist Italy Gets Excited about the New Film
Benito Mussolini and all the Fascist are thrilled about having Romeo and Juliet staged in Verona -
No filming In Verona
Benito Mussolini and all of the Fascist are extremely upset about MGM not choosing Verona to film Romeo and Juliet. MGM wanted the cultural capital by trying to recreate authentic Verona and Benito and the fascists wanted political capital from the very fact that America’s biggest entertainment industry was looking to Renaissance Italy as a source authenticity. -
No Filming in Verona
MGM decided against filming in Verona because it looked like a war zone. Both MGM and Fascist Italy were using each other to get crediblilty. Verona wanted to be known as the town that has a huge American Film and MGM wanted to earn cultural Capital by filming in Verona.
