{"id":42131,"date":"2019-01-23T12:50:27","date_gmt":"2019-01-23T19:50:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=42131"},"modified":"2020-11-22T20:59:39","modified_gmt":"2020-11-23T03:59:39","slug":"west-side-story-1961","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=42131","title":{"rendered":"West Side Story (1961)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;When do you kids stop? You make this world lousy.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/West-Side-Story-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/West-Side-Story-Poster-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-42132\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/West-Side-Story-Poster-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/West-Side-Story-Poster-85x128.jpg 85w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/West-Side-Story-Poster.jpg 666w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nAt a community dance in New York City, a Puerto Rican girl named Maria (Natalie Wood) falls in love with the former gangleader (Richard Beymer) of the Jets, currently helmed by Riff (Russ Tamlyn). The Jets are about to rumble with the Sharks, led by Maria&#8217;s brother Bernardo (George Chakiris), and Bernardo&#8217;s girlfriend (Rita Moreno) warns Maria (Wood) to stay away from Tony (Beymer) &#8212; but their love transcends racial tensions; will it be allowed to flourish?\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Cross-Cultural Romance<\/li>\n<li>Gangs<\/li>\n<li>Juvenile Delinquents<\/li>\n<li>Musicals<\/li>\n<li>Natalie Wood Films<\/li>\n<li>Play Adaptation<\/li>\n<li>Puerto Ricans<\/li>\n<li>Racism and Race Relations<\/li>\n<li>Rita Moreno Films<\/li>\n<li>Robert Wise Films<\/li>\n<li>Russ Tamblyn Films<\/li>\n<li>Star-Crossed Lovers<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nPeary doesn&#8217;t review this Oscar-winning musical &#8212; <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/West_Side_Story\">based on Arthur Laurents&#8217; Shakespearean-inspired Broadway play, with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and choreography by Jerome Robbins<\/a> &#8212; in his <em>GFTFF<\/em>, but he does name it the Best Picture of the Year in his <em>Alternate Oscars<\/em>, where he discusses both its merits and some of his personal memories upon first viewing it. He begins by noting &#8220;just how flawed it is&#8221;, but argues that &#8220;the flaws seem to vanish in a wave of nostalgia&#8221;, and given that &#8220;there were no great English-language pictures released in 1961&#8221;, he agrees with the Academy in its recognition of this film &#8212; co-directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins &#8212; as Best Picture if simply &#8220;to acknowledge the numerous moviegoers for whom it has special memories&#8221;. He argues that &#8220;of all the performers, Rita Moreno&#8221; (who won an Oscar) &#8220;is the film&#8217;s class act&#8221;, and that &#8220;her singing and dancing during &#8216;America&#8217; is the musical highlight&#8221;. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/West-Side-Story-Moreno-Dancing.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/West-Side-Story-Moreno-Dancing-1024x470.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"294\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-53980\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/West-Side-Story-Moreno-Dancing-1024x470.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/West-Side-Story-Moreno-Dancing-300x138.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/West-Side-Story-Moreno-Dancing-128x59.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/West-Side-Story-Moreno-Dancing-768x352.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/West-Side-Story-Moreno-Dancing-1536x705.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/West-Side-Story-Moreno-Dancing-588x270.png 588w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/West-Side-Story-Moreno-Dancing.png 1826w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Indeed, the music and dancing overall in this film are its indisputable high points. I&#8217;m an obsessive fan of Bernstein&#8217;s score, and could easily listen to it on its own without visuals or lyrics &#8212; but it&#8217;s fun to combine them altogether. Speaking of Sondheim&#8217;s lyrics, they hold nothing back in revealing racist attitudes and practices, particularly during &#8216;America&#8217;: <\/p>\n<blockquote><p>(Girls) Everything free in America<br \/>\n(Bernardo) For a small fee in America<br \/>\n(Anita) Buying on credit is so nice<br \/>\n(Bernardo) One look at us and they charge twice  <\/p>\n<p>(Girls) Life is all right in America<br \/>\n(Boys) If you&#8217;re all white in America\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>and in overtly bigoted dialogue by Office Krupke (William Bramley): <\/p>\n<blockquote><p>You Puerto Ricans get what you&#8217;ve been itching for: use of the playground, use of the gym, the streets, the candy store. So what if you do turn this whole town into a stinkin&#8217; pig sty? &#8230; Yeah, sure, I know. It&#8217;s a free country, I ain&#8217;t got the right. But I got a badge. What do you got? Things are tough all over. Beat it. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Peary ends his review in <em>Alternate Oscars<\/em> by noting that &#8220;one forgets that in 1961 this film, which pleads for brotherhood, was daring to an uncomfortable degree&#8221;. He points out that &#8220;except for Tony, Maria, and the elderly Doc (Ned Glass), the characters are a pretty rotten group. They are all biased.&#8221; Actually, this aspect of the film &#8212; its no-holds-barred look at bigotry and violence &#8212; remains both startling and refreshing; its themes of racial intolerance and territorial supremacy remain as salient as ever, if not more so. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Wonderfully choreographed dances<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/West-Side-Story-America.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/West-Side-Story-America-1024x467.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"292\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-42140\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/West-Side-Story-America-1024x467.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/West-Side-Story-America-128x58.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/West-Side-Story-America-300x137.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/West-Side-Story-America-768x350.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/West-Side-Story-America.png 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a>\n<\/li>\n<li>Vibrant Technicolor cinematography and sets<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/West-Side-Story-Sets.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/West-Side-Story-Sets-1024x467.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"292\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-42138\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/West-Side-Story-Sets-1024x467.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/West-Side-Story-Sets-128x58.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/West-Side-Story-Sets-300x137.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/West-Side-Story-Sets-768x350.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/West-Side-Story-Sets.png 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/West-Side-Story-Sets2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/West-Side-Story-Sets2-1024x467.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"292\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-42139\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/West-Side-Story-Sets2-1024x467.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/West-Side-Story-Sets2-128x58.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/West-Side-Story-Sets2-300x137.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/West-Side-Story-Sets2-768x350.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/West-Side-Story-Sets2.png 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/West-Side-Story-Cinematography.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/West-Side-Story-Cinematography-1024x467.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"292\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-42141\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/West-Side-Story-Cinematography-1024x467.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/West-Side-Story-Cinematography-128x58.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/West-Side-Story-Cinematography-300x137.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/West-Side-Story-Cinematography-768x350.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/West-Side-Story-Cinematography.png 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Natalie Wood as Maria<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/West-Side-Story-Maria.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/West-Side-Story-Maria-1024x467.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"292\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-42136\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/West-Side-Story-Maria-1024x467.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/West-Side-Story-Maria-128x58.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/West-Side-Story-Maria-300x137.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/West-Side-Story-Maria-768x350.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/West-Side-Story-Maria.png 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Rita Moreno as Anita<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/West-Side-Story-Moreno.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/West-Side-Story-Moreno-1024x467.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"292\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-42137\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/West-Side-Story-Moreno-1024x467.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/West-Side-Story-Moreno-128x58.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/West-Side-Story-Moreno-300x137.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/West-Side-Story-Moreno-768x350.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/West-Side-Story-Moreno.png 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Creative closing credits<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/West-Side-Story-Closing.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/West-Side-Story-Closing-1024x467.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"292\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-42143\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/West-Side-Story-Closing-1024x467.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/West-Side-Story-Closing-128x58.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/West-Side-Story-Closing-300x137.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/West-Side-Story-Closing-768x350.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/West-Side-Story-Closing.png 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim&#8217;s score and lyrics\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, for its historical value and wonderful musical sequences. Listed as a film with Historical Importance in the back of Peary&#8217;s book. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?page_id=1784#historical\">Historically Relevant<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?page_id=1784#oscar\">Oscar Winner or Nominee<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> (<span style=\"color:red;font-weight:bold;\">Listed in <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-static\/1001Movies.htm\"><em>1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die<\/em><\/a><\/span>) <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0055614\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.filmsite.org\/wests.html\">FilmSite Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/23623\/west-side-story#articles-reviews?articleId=104825\">TCM Article<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.tcm.com\/this-month\/article\/21082%7C0\/Behind-the-Camera-Feb-16.html\">TCM: Behind the Scenes<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.qnetwork.com\/review\/2670\">Q Network Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s3729west.html\">DVD Savant Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/reviews\/52195\/west-side-story-50th-anniversary-edition\/\">DVD Talk Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;When do you kids stop? You make this world lousy.&#8221; Synopsis: At a community dance in New York City, a Puerto Rican girl named Maria (Natalie Wood) falls in love with the former gangleader (Richard Beymer) of the Jets, currently helmed by Riff (Russ Tamlyn). The Jets are about to rumble with the Sharks, led by Maria&#8217;s brother Bernardo (George Chakiris), and Bernardo&#8217;s girlfriend (Rita Moreno) warns Maria (Wood) to stay away from Tony (Beymer) &#8212; but their love transcends&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=42131\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42131","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=42131"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42131\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53981,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42131\/revisions\/53981"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=42131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=42131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=42131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}