West Side Story (1961)

Directors:

Jerome Robbins
Robert Wise

Writers:

Ernest Lehman (screenplay)
Arthur Laurents (book)

Release Date:

23 December 1961 (Japan)

Genre:

Musical | Romance | Drama

Tagline:

"BEST PICTURE!" Winner of 10 Academy Awards! - 1961 (post-Oscar)

Plot:

Musical about two youngsters from rival NYC gangs who fall in love.

Plot Keywords:

Love | Gang | New York City | Puerto Rican | Street Gang

Awards:

Won 10 Oscars. Another 15 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

Natalie Wood	...	Maria
Richard Beymer	...	Tony
Russ Tamblyn	...	Riff
Rita Moreno	...	Anita
George Chakiris	...	Bernardo
Simon Oakland	...	Schrank
Ned Glass	...	Doc
William Bramley	...	Krupke
Tucker Smith	...	Ice
Tony Mordente	...	Action
David Winters	...	A-rab
Eliot Feld	...	Baby John
Bert Michaels	...	Snowboy
David Bean	...	Tiger
Robert Banas	...	Joyboy

Also Known As:

West Side Story (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
West Side Story (Canada: French title) (France) [fr]
Amor Sem Barreiras (Portugal) [pt]
Amor sin barreras (Argentina) [es]
Amor, Sublime Amor (Brazil) [pt]
Bati yakasinin hikayesi (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Sippur Ha-Parvarim (Israel: Hebrew title) [iw]
West Side Story (Denmark) [da]
West Side Story (Poland) [pl]
West Side Story (Finland) [fi]
West Side Story (Spain) [es]
West side monogatari (Japan) [ja]

Runtime:

152 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (35 mm magnetic prints) | 70 mm 6-Track (Westrex Recording System) (70 mm prints) | Mono (35 mm optical prints)

Certification:

USA:Approved (certificate #19949) | West Germany:12 | Portugal:M/12 | Netherlands:MG6 | Brazil:Livre | Finland:K-12 | Sweden:11 (re-rating) (1970) | Sweden:15 (original rating) | Ireland:PG | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | Peru:PT | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) (1986)

Filming Locations:

10th Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Mirisch Corporation, The

Trivia:

Russ Tamblyn (Riff) was dubbed for "The Jet Song" by Tucker Smith, who played Ice, his lieutenant in the movie.

Goofs:

Continuity: At the beginning of the movie, behind the first close-up of Riff on the playground, snapping his fingers, you can see a young boy riding his bike behind Riff, the boy wasn't there in the previous shot (from above).

Quotes:

[first lines]
[the Jets dance across the streets of New York, eventually coming to a playground where they toss around a basketball. The ball is intercepted by Bernardo, leader of the Sharks]
Riff: [snaps fingers at Bernardo] Come on.
[Bernardo drops the ball, Riff picks it up]
Riff: Beat it.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Severo Ochoa: La conquista de un Nobel (2001) (TV)

Soundtrack:

America

A shame that it's not in the top 250.

One of the truly great musicals of all time, its a shame that those who do not care for musicals have to vote to bring it down. If you do not care for musicals, then you should not vote a "1" just because you do not like ALL musicals.

That aside, a great musical score with a great story to back it up. Leonard Bernstein out does himself in this movie. This is definetly a movie to see; an classic for all time. Like its trailer says, "West Side Story does not grow old."