West Side Story (1961)

*Get the film on Amazon here*

This overrated classic musical lifts Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" storyline, and muddles it with a cold romance and street gangs that were dated even at the film's world premiere.

Riff (Russ Tamblyn) is the leader of the Jets, who are constantly having run-ins with Bernardo's (George Chakiris) Puerto Rican gang, the Sharks. Planes and fish don't mix, and things come to a head when the gangs are at a dance and Bernardo's sister Maria (Natalie Wood) meets the Jets' cofounder and Riff's best friend, Tony (Richard Beymer). Tony is trying to clean up his act, backing away from all the street dancing, but he is immediately smitten with Maria. A Jet and a Shark cannot be lovers, and since no one in the film has read "Romeo and Juliet," no one knows what will happen. Eventually, the film does ape Shakespeare, partially.

The positives are what made the film a classic. The songs are excellent, using Stephen Sondheim's lyrics to carry the emotions of the characters. The dancing and ballet choreography is superb. It may seem silly to have street gangs dance-fighting, but the pure athleticism on the part of the dancers is fantastic. Rarely have dance numbers been so physical, and so grand.

On the downside, the main romance takes place way too quickly. This is quicker than a whirlwind romance, this is a tornado wrapped in a cyclone being blown by a wind machine. The speed of the relationship, a day, takes any sympathy for Tony and Maria away from the viewer. Leonard Bernstein's music is good in the songs, but not as incidental background noise. He thinks he is scoring a bombastic Broadway song even in quiet moments. The pacing is a little slow, as this marked the beginning of the two and a half hour widescreen musical genre that spawned such bloated cinematic drivel as "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory," "Paint Your Wagon," and "Doctor Doolittle."

"West Side Story" is not a perfect classic, and not a dud. It is squarely in the middle of the spectrum. If anything troubles the viewer, it is wondering how this film beat out "Judgement at Nuremburg" for the Best Picture Oscar. Followed by a remake.

Stats:
(1961) 153 min. (* * *) out of five stars
-Directed by Jerome Robbins, Robert Wise
-Screenplay by Ernest Lehman, Book by Arthur Laurents, Play by Jerome Robbins
-Cast: Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn, George Chakiris, Rita Moreno, Simon Oakland, Ned Glass, William Bramley, Tucker Smith, Tony Mordente, David Winters, Eliot Feld, Bert Michaels
(Not Rated)
*Academy Awards*
-Best Picture (won)
-Best Supporting Actor- George Chakiris (won)
-Best Supporting Actress- Rita Moreno (won)
-Best Director (won)
-Best Adapted Screenplay (lost to "Judgment at Nuremburg")
-Best Cinematography- Color (won)
-Best Art Direction-Set Decoration- Color (won)
-Best Costume Design- Color (won)
-Best Sound (won)
-Best Film Editing (won)
-Best Music, Scoring of a Musical (won)
*BAFTA*
-Best Film from Any Source (lost to "Lawrence of Arabia")