West Side Story (1961 film)

West Side Story (also known as Love without barriers in Spain and Latin America) is a dramatic film 1961 American musical directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins, from a screenplay by Ernest Lehman, the film is a 1957 Broadway musical of the same name, which itself was inspired by William's Romeo and Juliet Shakespeare. It starred Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Rita Moreno, George Chakiris, and Russ Tamblyn. The music was composed by Leonard Bernstein, with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.

The film was released on October 18, 1961 through United Artists, to great acclaim from critics and viewers, and became the highest-grossing film of 1961. It was nominated for eleven Oscars and won 10, including Best Picture, thus setting the record for wins for a musical film.

It is considered the second best American film musical by the American Film Institute. In 1997, the film was deemed "culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation at the National Film Registry.

Six decades later in 2021, a new version starring Ansel Elgort and Rachel Zegler, and directed by Steven Spielberg, was released.

Plot

In 1950s New York City, two teenage gangs compete for control of the "West Side." The Jets, a group of whites led by Riff, fight with the Sharks, Puerto Ricans led by Bernardo. Lt. Schrank and Officer Krupke arrive and break him up. The Jets challenge the Sharks to a fight to be held after an upcoming dance.

Riff wants his best friend Tony, the co-founder and former member of the Jets, in for the fight. Riff asks Tony to the dance, but Tony says that he feels something big is coming up. Riff suggests that he could pass at the dance. Tony finally agrees to go. Meanwhile, Bernardo's younger sister, Maria, tells her best friend and Bernardo's girlfriend, Anita, how excited she is about the dance. At the dance, the two gangs and their girls refuse to mix. Tony arrives; he and Maria fall instantly in love, but Bernardo angrily demands that Tony stay away from her. Riff proposes a midnight meeting with Bernardo at Doc's drug store to lay out the rules of the fight.

Mary is sent home; Anita argues that Bernardo is overprotective of María and they compare the advantages of Puerto Rico and the United States. Tony sneaks into Maria's fire escape where they reaffirm their love for her. Krupke, who suspects the Jets are up to something, warns them not to cause trouble. The Sharks arrive and the gangs agree to a showdown the next night under the highway, with a one-on-one fistfight. When Schrank arrives, the gangs feign friendship. Schrank orders the Sharks out and fails to uncover any information about the fight.

The next day, at the bridal shop where they work, Anita accidentally tells Maria about the fight. Tony arrives to see Maria. Anita, surprised, warns them about the consequences if Bernardo finds out about their relationship. Maria makes Tony promise that she will avoid the fight. Tony and Maria fantasize about their wedding.

Gangs are closing in on the area under the highway. Tony arrives to stop the fight, but Bernardo antagonizes him. Unwilling to see Tony humiliated, Riff starts a knife fight. Tony intervenes, leading Bernardo to stab and kill Riff. Tony kills Bernardo with Riff's knife and a melee ensues. Police sirens go off and everyone flees, leaving the dead bodies behind. Maria waits for Tony on the roof of his apartment building; her fiancé Chino of hers (an arranged engagement) arrives and tells her what happened. Tony arrives and apologizes to Maria. He plans to turn himself in to the police. Maria is devastated but she confirms her love for Tony and asks him to keep her.

The Jets and their new leader, Ice, meet outside a garage and focus on reacting to the police. Anybodys arrives and warns them that Chino is after Tony with a gun. Ice sends the Jets to find Tony. A grieving Anita walks into the apartment while Tony and Maria are in the bedroom. The lovers arrange to meet at Doc's drugstore, where they will collect the getaway money to elope. Anita sees Tony coming out the window and reprimands María for her relationship with Bernardo's murderer, but María convinces her to help them escape. Schrank arrives and questions Maria about the fight. Maria sends Anita to tell Tony that she can't meet him.

When Anita arrives at Doc's house, the Jets harass her until Doc intervenes. Anita says angrily that Chino has killed Maria. Doc banishes the Jets, gives Tony his getaway money, and delivers Anita's message to him. A distraught Tony runs through the streets and yells at Chino to kill him. In the playground next to Doc's drug store, Tony sees Maria and they run towards each other, only for Chino to shoot Tony. The gangs arrive to find Maria holding Tony, who dies in her arms. Maria stops the gangs from fighting, seizes Chino's gun, and threatens to shoot them all, blaming her hatred for the deaths. Schrank, Krupke, and Doc arrive, and the gangs form a funeral procession, followed by Maria. The police arrest Chino and take him away.

Cast

The actors Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Rita Moreno, George Chakiris and Russ Tamblyn are part of the leading cast of the film.

• Natalie Wood as Maria, Bernard's younger sister and Chinese-married fiancée, who falls in love with Tony
• Richard Beymer as Tony, co-founder and former member of the Jets and best friend of Riff, who works at Doc's pharmacy and falls in love with Mary.
• Russ Tamblyn as Riff, Jets leader, Tony's best friend
• Rita Moreno as Anita, Bernard's girlfriend and Maria's closest confidant.
• George Chakiris as Bernardo, leader of the Sharks, older brother of Mary and boyfriend of Anita
• Simon Oakland as Lieutenant Schrank
• Ned Glass as Doc, Tony's boss.
• William Bramley as Sergeant Krupke

Jet

• Tucker Smith as Ice, becomes leader of the Jets after Riff's death
• Tony Mordente like Action, a Jet of evil genius
• David Winters like A-Rab, Baby John's best friend
• Eliot Feld as Baby John, the youngest member of the Jets
• Bert Michaels as the snow boy
• David Bean as Tiger
• Robert Banas like Joyboy
• Anthony 'Scooter' Teague like Big Deal
• Harvey Evans (Harvey Hohnecker) as spokesman
• Tommy Abbott like Gee-Tar

Jet Girls

• Susan Oakes like Anybodys a trans and aspiring boy to Jet
• Gina Trikonis as Graziella, Riff's girlfriend
• Carole D'Andrea like Velma, Ice's girlfriend

Sharks

• Jose De Vega as Chino Martin, Bernardo's best friend, who is Mary's arranged fiancé
• Jay Norman as Pepe, Lieutenant of Bernard
• Gus Trikonis as Indian, best friend of Pepe
• Eddie Verso as Juano
• Jaime Rogers like Crazy
• Larry Roquemore like Rocco
• Robert Thompson like Luis
• Nick Covacevich as Toro
• Rudy Del Campo as Del Campo
• Andre Tayir as Chile

Shark Girls

• Yvonne Wilder as Consuelo, Pepe's girlfriend (In credits like Yvonne Othon)
• Suzie Kaye as Rosalia, Indian Bride
• Joanne Miya like Francisca, Toro's girlfriend

Production

The work

The musical West Side Story opened in 1957 on the Broadway circuit in New York to great success. The show was based on an original idea by choreographer Jerome Robbins, developed in close collaboration with composer Leonard Bernstein, screenwriter Arthur Laurents, lyricist Stephen Sondheim and set designer Oliver Smith.

The musical was innovative: for the dances, which are part of the dramatic action, for Bernstein's highly varied music (Latin rhythms, jazz, love songs of great melodic beauty...) and for the theme. One of the most famous songs of this work is "America", in which the two visions of emigrants upon arriving in the United States are contrasted: the illusion for freedom, modernity and consumerism, and on the other hand the disappointment before racial marginalization and poverty. The staging of the song "America" takes place on a terrace where members of the Puerto Rican gang Sharks and their girlfriends discuss their lives in the United States.

Casting

Although Robbins lobbied for Carol Lawrence, 29, the first Maria, to have the same role in the film, after viewing her screen test, the producers agreed that she was too old to play the part. Several other cast members from Broadway and West End productions were involved in the film. Tony Mordente, who played A-Rab on stage, was cast as Action in the film, and George Chakiris Riff in the London stage production, played Bernardo in the film. Tucker Smith, who joined the Broadway production several months after its run, played Diesel, renamed Ice for the film. David Winters, Baby John's first stage, played A-Rab, Eliot Feld, an ensemble member and Baby John's stand-in on Broadway, played Baby John. Jay Norman, Juano on stage, appeared as Pepe. Reprising his onstage roles in the film were Carole D'Andrea as Velma, Tommy Abbott as Gee-Tar and William Bramley as Officer Krupke.

Elvis Presley was approached for Tony, but his manager Colonel Tom Parker turned down the role. Others who were considered for the role included Russ Tamblyn, Warren Beatty, Burt Reynolds, Richard Chamberlain, and Robert Redford. Reynolds was considered "too tough" for the role. Chamberlain was believed to be "too mature" for the role. Tamblyn impressed producer Robert Wise and was given the supporting role of Riff. Ultimately, Richard Beymer won the role of Tony.

Natalie Wood was filming Splendor in the Grass with Warren Beatty and had a romantic relationship with him off-screen. The producers were not considering her for the role of Maria at the time. When considering Beatty for the role of Tony, Robert Wise requested a reel of his work. However, after seeing a clip from Splendor in the Grass the producers decided that his co-star Wood was perfect for Maria, but Beatty was not suitable for the role of Tony. Jill St. John Audrey Hepburn Diane Baker Elizabeth Ashley Suzanne Pleshette and Angela Dorian were among the many actresses who were considered for the role of Maria in the film.

Editing

Thomas Stanford won the Academy Award for Best Film Editing for his work on West Side Story. The film was listed as the 38th best edited film of all time in a 2012 poll of members of the Motion Picture Editors Guild. The dance sequences in particular have been singled out by critics. In Louis Giannetti's textbook Understanding Movies he writes: 'Musicals are often edited in a radically formalistic style, without having to observe the cutting conventions of ordinary dramatic films. The edition of West Side Story is very abstract. The music... and the dance numbers... are edited together for maximum aesthetic impact, rather than furthering the story. The shots are also not linked by some principle of thematic association. Rather, the shots are juxtaposed primarily for their lyrical and kinetic beauty, somewhat like a music video". In his retrospective review of it, Roger Ebert also singled out the dances as extraordinary. Robbins was involved in editing the musical. numbers along with Stanford, Robert Wise and Walter Mirisch. His notes to Stanford emphasize that editing must reveal the emotions of the characters even if it compromises the dance. The Giannetti quote above indicates that the notes did not strongly affect the final cuts of the dance numbers. .

Music

Orchestration

Leonard Bernstein in 1955.

The score for West Side Story was created and orchestrated by Bernstein himself, with assistance from Sid Ramin and Irwin Kostal. The number of musicians required for a proper performance of the piece is among the highest in the musical theater repertoire. The score calls for five woodwind players (each in charge of several instruments), seven brass, five percussionists, a keyboard player, a guitarist, and twelve string players. In total, 30 musicians are needed to interpret the score as it was written by the composer.

Songs

In songs performed by the character Maria, Natalie Wood's voice was dubbed by American soprano Marni Nixon.

Launch

International premiere

The film was first released on October 18, 1961 in New York, United States. Its international release began on December 23, 1961 after being released in Japan and reached South America on December 25 of the same year in Brazil. In Argentina it premiered on May 8, 1962.

Premiere dates (Source: IMDb)
Country	Premiere date	Country	Premiere date
United States	18 October 1961 Premiere in New York	United States	13 December 1961 Premiere en Los Angeles
Japan	23 December 1961	Brazil	25 December 1961
Canada	22 February 1962	United Kingdom	26 February 1962 Premiere in London
Sweden	26 February 1962	Belgium	2 March 1962
France	3 March 1962	Netherlands	29 March 1962
Argentina	8 May 1962	Australia	6 June 1962 Premiere in Sydney
Italy	7 September 1962	Austria	5 October 1962
Israel	13 October 1962	Spain	7 December 1962
Mexico	25 April 1963	Uruguay	2 May 1963
Turkey	25 November 1964	Hungary	18 January 1973

Reception

Criticism

West Side Story is widely regarded as one of the greatest movie musicals ever made. It has a 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 108 reviews, with an average rating of 8.4/10; The site's critical consensus states: "Builded by Robert Wise's dazzling direction, Leonard Bernstein's score, and Stephen Sondheim's lyrics, West Side Story remains perhaps the most iconic of all Shakespearean adaptations to visit the public. big screen".

Ticket office

West Side Story was a commercial success upon its release. It became the highest-grossing film of 1961 earning rentals of $19,645,000 in the United States and Canada. It remained the highest-grossing musical film of all time until the release of The Sound of Music in 1965. The film grossed $44.1 million worldwide ($382 million in 2020). Due to profit sharing, United Artists made a profit of only $2.5 million on the film ($22 million in 2020).

Acknowledgment

Legacy

In 2009, photographer Mark Seliger recreated scenes from the film for Vanity Fair magazine called West Side Story Revisited using Camilla Belle as Maria, Ben Barnes as Tony, Jennifer Lopez as Anita, Rodrigo Santoro as Bernardo, and Chris Evans as riff. Playing the Sharks are Minka Kelly Jay Hernandez Natalie Martinez Brandon T. Jackson and Melonie Diaz. Playing the Jets are Ashley Tisdale Sean Faris Robert Pattinson, Cam Gigandet Trilby Glover Brittany Snow and Drake Bell.

Jacques Demy pays homage to West Side Story in Les demoiselles de Rochefort (1967) where the beginning is silent. He also casts a role for George Chakiris.

West Side Story influenced music videos " Beat It " and " Bad " by Michael Jackson. The first features Jackson as a peacemaker between two rival gangs in an homage to his favorite movie.

In 2020, the Spanish musician José Riaza creates a free adaptation in Spanish of María for his album Cleptomanias.

2021 movie

A new film adaptation of the musical was released by 20th Century Studios on December 10, 2021, directed by Steven Spielberg and choreographed by Justin Peck from a screenplay by Tony Kushner. It stars Ansel Elgort as Tony, Rachel Zegler as Maria, and Ariana DeBose as Anita.

The 1961 film shows a scene in which Anita, a character played by Rita Moreno, is sexually assaulted by a group of men. In this new version of 2021, Moreno appears in a special participation playing Valentina, Doc's widow with bad memories of her youth.