West Side Story
US (1961): Musical/Romance/Drama
Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is updated to the tenements of New York City in this Oscar®-winning musical landmark. Adapted by Ernest Lehman from the Broadway production, the movie opens with an overhead shot of Manhattan, an effect that director Robert Wise would repeat over the Alps in The Sound of Music four years later. We are introduced to two rival street gangs: The Jets, second-generation American teens, and the Sharks, Puerto Rican immigrants. When the war between the Jets and Sharks reaches a fever pitch, Jets leader Riff (Russ Tamblyn) decides to challenge the Sharks to one last "winner take all" rumble. He decides to meet Sharks leader Bernardo (George Chakiris) for a war council at a gymnasium dance; to bolster his argument, Riff wants his old pal Tony (Richard Beymer), the cofounder of the Jets, to come along. But Tony has set his sights on vistas beyond the neighborhood and has fallen in love with Bernardo's sister Maria (Natalie Wood), a love that, as in Romeo and Juliet, will eventually end in tragedy.
In contrast to the usual slash-and-burn policy of Hollywood musical adaptations, all the songs written by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim for the original Broadway production of West Side Story were retained for the film version, although some alterations were made to appease the Hollywood censors (especially in the lyrics of "Gee, Officer Krupke"), and the original order of two songs was reversed for stronger dramatic impact. The movie more than retains the original choreography of Jerome Robbins, which is recreated is some of the most startling and balletic dance sequences ever recorded on film.
West Side Story won an almost-record 10 Oscars, including Best Picture, supporting awards to Chakiris and Rita Moreno as Bernardo's girlfriend Anita, and Best Director to Robbins and Wise. Natalie Wood's singing was dubbed by Marni Nixon, who also dubbed Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady (1964); the film's New York tenement locations were later razed to make room for Lincoln Center. (Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide)
11 nominations, 10 Awards
· Best Picture 1961: Robert Wise - Producer (Mirish-B & P Enterprises, UA)
· Supporting Actor 1961: George Chakiris
· Supporting Actress 1961: Rita Moreno
· Directing 1961: Robert Wise & Jerome Robbins This is the only time the Award for Best Directing has been given to two directors.
· Art Direction/Set Decoration (Color) 1961: Boris Leven - Art Direction, Victor A. Gangelin - Set Decoration
· Cinematography (Color) 1961: Daniel L. Fapp
· Costume Design (Color) 1961: Irene Sharaff
· Film Editing 1961: Thomas Stanford
· Music Scoring Awards (Scoring of a Musical Picture) 1961: Saul Chaplin, Johnny Green, Sid Ramin, Irwin Kostal
· Sound 1961: Fred Hynes (Todd-AO Sound Department), Gordon E. Sawyer (Samuel Goldwyn Studio Sound Department)
· Writing (Best Screenplay based on material from another medium) 1961: Ernest Lehman