It's hard for me to write a review about West Side Story because all the superlatives have been written and said over and over again. What I think the main contribution of West Side Story to our culture is to interest urban American youth of the Fifties in both the classics and the American Musical Theater. A typical boy or girl going to Andries Hudde Junior High School and Midwood High School from 1959 to 1965 as I did was acquainted with the music and lyrics of West Side Story from radio, records, and television and if you saved up for a Broadway seat.
You might not have gotten Oklahoma, you might have thought Carousel was quaint and you sure thought South Pacific was for your parent's generation, but West Side Story spoke to you. It was about young people just trying to belong, if you will looking for a place, in time and space for us.
And wonder of wonders not only could the American Musical Theater speak to you, but when your English teacher told you about the guy who wrote the story that this was based on, well maybe that guy who writes in incomprehensible English, that William Shakespeare guy, maybe he had some other relevant things to say. West Side Story promoted literacy and taste for a generation and you can't get a higher accolade than that.
It's a difficult production also because it involves skill in acting, in dance, and you've got to have a great singing voice to deal with Leonard Bernstein's music and Stephen Sondheim's lyrics. They got a really great cast together on Broadway with Larry Kert, Carol Lawrence, Chita Rivera, and the rest. They all sang and danced and acted these Shakespearean based roles beautifully. Unfortunately there wasn't a movie name in the lot.
Acting and dancing can't be faked on the silver screen, but singing can be dubbed as it was for leads Richard Beymer and Natalie Wood. A lot of Rita Moreno's songs were dubbed as well though that America number is all Rita. She'd actually done musicals before, The King and I and The Vagabond King remake are two of them. The voices of Jimmy Bryant and Marni Nixon fit them perfectly.
West Side Story is pretty, witty, and bright and the witty part comes from two ensemble numbers Officer Krupke done by the Jets and America done by the Pyerto Rican Sharks. Listen very closely to the entertaining social commentary made by Stephen Sondheim. These numbers together with the accompanying Jerome Robbins choreography are some of the best examples of all the components of a successful musical working together.
The ballads like Tonight, I Feel Pretty, A Place For Us, require almost opera like voices to sing them. I'd get either the Broadway cast album or the cast album for this film as a must for a recording collection. I happen to have a bootleg recording of Judy Garland and Vic Damone doing a selection from Garland's TV show. It is beautiful and priceless.
One other thing about West Side Story that is endearing for me. Pay close attention to the role of Anybody's. It may be the first time that a transgender individual was portrayed in a major motion picture, let alone one that was the Best Picture of 1961. IMDb gives very little in the way of information about Susan Oakes the actress who played Anybody's. But her performance is nothing less than a harbinger of what Hilary Swank did as Brandon Teena in Boys Don't Cry.
Like the kids from Romeo and Juliet and 16th century Verona, Italy, West Side Story is about young people just trying to find a place in time and space, finding a new way of living away from the dumb prejudices of their elders. They almost break free too.
West Side Story won 10 Academy Awards including a joint Best Director Oscar for Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise, Best Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress for George Chakiris and Rita Moreno and a flock of technical awards. It set a standard for stage and screen to be both entertaining and contemporary.
And it's so pretty, witty, and bright.
You might not have gotten Oklahoma, you might have thought Carousel was quaint and you sure thought South Pacific was for your parent's generation, but West Side Story spoke to you. It was about young people just trying to belong, if you will looking for a place, in time and space for us.
And wonder of wonders not only could the American Musical Theater speak to you, but when your English teacher told you about the guy who wrote the story that this was based on, well maybe that guy who writes in incomprehensible English, that William Shakespeare guy, maybe he had some other relevant things to say. West Side Story promoted literacy and taste for a generation and you can't get a higher accolade than that.
It's a difficult production also because it involves skill in acting, in dance, and you've got to have a great singing voice to deal with Leonard Bernstein's music and Stephen Sondheim's lyrics. They got a really great cast together on Broadway with Larry Kert, Carol Lawrence, Chita Rivera, and the rest. They all sang and danced and acted these Shakespearean based roles beautifully. Unfortunately there wasn't a movie name in the lot.
Acting and dancing can't be faked on the silver screen, but singing can be dubbed as it was for leads Richard Beymer and Natalie Wood. A lot of Rita Moreno's songs were dubbed as well though that America number is all Rita. She'd actually done musicals before, The King and I and The Vagabond King remake are two of them. The voices of Jimmy Bryant and Marni Nixon fit them perfectly.
West Side Story is pretty, witty, and bright and the witty part comes from two ensemble numbers Officer Krupke done by the Jets and America done by the Pyerto Rican Sharks. Listen very closely to the entertaining social commentary made by Stephen Sondheim. These numbers together with the accompanying Jerome Robbins choreography are some of the best examples of all the components of a successful musical working together.
The ballads like Tonight, I Feel Pretty, A Place For Us, require almost opera like voices to sing them. I'd get either the Broadway cast album or the cast album for this film as a must for a recording collection. I happen to have a bootleg recording of Judy Garland and Vic Damone doing a selection from Garland's TV show. It is beautiful and priceless.
One other thing about West Side Story that is endearing for me. Pay close attention to the role of Anybody's. It may be the first time that a transgender individual was portrayed in a major motion picture, let alone one that was the Best Picture of 1961. IMDb gives very little in the way of information about Susan Oakes the actress who played Anybody's. But her performance is nothing less than a harbinger of what Hilary Swank did as Brandon Teena in Boys Don't Cry.
Like the kids from Romeo and Juliet and 16th century Verona, Italy, West Side Story is about young people just trying to find a place in time and space, finding a new way of living away from the dumb prejudices of their elders. They almost break free too.
West Side Story won 10 Academy Awards including a joint Best Director Oscar for Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise, Best Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress for George Chakiris and Rita Moreno and a flock of technical awards. It set a standard for stage and screen to be both entertaining and contemporary.
And it's so pretty, witty, and bright.