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 sister 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; the film's New York tenement locations were later
razed to make room for Lincoln Center.
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