West Side Story won the Oscar for Best Picture of 1961, and it is one of the most honored movie musicals ever made--and rightfully so. It has it all: great songs, remarkable dance sequences, interesting characters, and (even in the make-believe world of movie musicals) a realistic storyline that draws you in. Everyone knows that this film, based upon the successful Broadway musical, is derived from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, but everything about it still feels fresh.
The plot is relatively simple. Two rival gangs in New York, the Jets and the Sharks, plan a rumble. At a dance before the details of the fight can be worked out, Tony (a former Jet and good friend of the current leader of the Jets) meets and falls in love with Maria, sister of the leader of the Sharks, Bernardo. While the two gangs plot their big fight, Tony and Maria begin devising ways to see each other without being caught. They are aided at times by Maria's friend Anita, who is also dating Bernardo. You've no doubt seen Romeo and Juliet, so you know this isn't going to end well, but there is a surprise or two since the film (like the theatrical production) doesn't exactly follow that play's ending.
I must admit here that I have always found the Sharks more interesting than the Jets. I'm not entirely sure why, but they seem to have more vitality and energy (and I don't mean that in some stupid, stereotypical way). Perhaps it's that they get some of the better songs and dance sequences, such as the one for "America" that has always been a favorite of mine. Bernardo, their leader, is played by Oscar winner George Chakiris, and he's a stronger dancer than I remembered. In fact, all of the members of the Sharks are better dancers than I remembered from earlier viewings. And, of course, the Sharks have another point in their favor with Anita, played by Oscar winner Rita Moreno. Moreno is great, as she always is, and her scenes with Natalie Wood's Maria are clear evidence for why she continues to have a career in the entertainment industry.
The Jets do have Russ Tamblyn as their leader, Riff, and he's as athletic here as he was in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers seven years earlier. The songs the Jets get to perform aren't as spectacular perhaps. I mean, "Gee, Officer Krupke" isn't exactly going to be anyone's favorite from this movie, but the staging of it (by famed choreographer Jerome Robbins) is certainly entertaining. And the Jets do have an interesting twist in the fact that one of the gang members is actually female, a girl named Anybodys who wants to be one of the boys.
I suppose I could join the chorus of people who have criticized the casting of Natalie Wood as a Puerto Rican. She doesn't really seem to be the best choice for the role, especially since her singing is dubbed by the always reliable Marni Nixon. And Richard Beymer as Tony is somewhat of an odd fit as well. He actually looks like he might be better suited to portraying a member of the Sharks. He too had his songs dubbed by someone else, Jimmy Bryant. Still, the two leads have a nice chemistry together, and when you have songs like "Somewhere" and "Tonight" and "Something's Coming" to demonstrate the depth of their love for each other, who can really complain?
Certainly, this film is a product of its time period. Gangs today are a bit grittier than this, of course, and I suspect they were grittier than this back then as well. Yet what makes West Side Story retain its status as one of the greatest movie musicals is the way in which it depicts our ability at times to overcome our fears and dislikes of others, our ability to connect to others who are (on the surface) different from us. And it gives us this lesson with some of the most glorious music ever recorded on film. Listen again to Tony and Maria's version of "One Hand, One Heart" if you don't believe me, and you'll be instantly transported back to the first time you watched this film and fell in love with it.
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