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West Side Story [1961]
from MGM Entertainment
starring Natalie Wood, George Chakiris, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn, Rita Moreno
directed by Jerome Robbins, Robert Wise

Features:

• Dubbed
• PAL
• Widescreen

Editorial Review:

The winner of 10 Academy Awards, this 1961 musical by choreographer Jerome Robbins and director Robert Wise (The Sound of Music) remains irresistible. Based on a smash Broadway play updating Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet to the 1950s era of juvenile delinquency, West Side Story stars Natalie Wood and Richard Beymer as the star-crossed lovers from different neighbourhoods--and ethnicities. The film's real selling points, however, are the highly charged and inventive song-and-dance numbers, the passionate ballads, the moody sets, colourful support from Rita Moreno, and the sheer accomplishment of Hollywood talent and technology producing a film so stirring. Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim wrote the score. --Tom Keogh

West Side Story marked a small revolution in the history of the Hollywood musical when it was released in 1961. Enriched by Leonard Bernstein's marvellously brassy, challenging score--as redolent of the place as anything Gershwin ever wrote--the location shooting and aerial views of the Manhattan grid made New York a gritty backdrop to this modern interpretation of Romeo and Juliet.

The film rightly became an instant classic which won ten Oscars and brought some of the greatest numbers in the era of the modern musical to a global audience. Everything gels, from Jerome Robbins' superlative choreography (he retains a director's credit with Robert Wise, although anxious studio bosses removed him from the film when costs started to mount), to Ernest Lehman's taught screenplay, some of Sondheim's most accessible early lyrics, and passionate, raw performances from the gang members and the lovers.

For many of the cast, including Richard Beymer as Tony and Natalie Wood as Maria, the film represents a creative climax which wouldn't be surpassed during the remainder of their distinguished careers. Rita Moreno is an outstanding Anita, even with her songs disappointingly dubbed, and George Chakiris' sinewy, arrogant Bernardo is magnetic. The whole thing still thrums with a youthful, dramatic energy that even a modern equivalent like Moulin Rouge can't match.

On the DVD: West Side Story thoroughly merits the attention to detail in this handsome Collector's Edition. The anamorphic (16:9) widescreen format reproduces the original cinema presentation, brilliantly serving the city panoramas and balletic fight scenes, as well as the softness of the love duets, while a newly processed Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track brings Bernstein's score up as if the notes were still drying on the page. Extras abound. A "Remembering" documentary features significant contributions from director Robert Wise, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn and Rita Moreno. Die-hard fans will lap up the various galleries, comparisons, the original intermission music and even a complete copy of Ernest Lehman's screenplay. --Piers Ford

Customer Reviews:

• Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0

• One the best musicals
  Outstanding. I get bored sometimes with some of the long dance sequences in classic musicals, even in great movies like Singin' in the Rain and the Fred-and-Ginger musicals, but this is one of the few films where the dance is truly a pleasure to watch. The lead actors Natalie Wood and Richard Beymer are not often mentioned much in review but the youthfulness and sincerity of their performances is key to the film's success. Those who produced the film considered many options for these two roles and as with... more info

• There's a place for us
  "There's a place for us, a time and place for us. Hold my hand and we're halfway there."
  Music: Leonard Bernstein Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim
  And there is a movie for us. "West Side Story" is a classic on too many levels to describe here. Everything from the music to the choreography to the actors to...
  One big plus is even if the story line is a classic they did not try to duplicate Shakespeare's "Romeo & Juliet" with modern clothing. The movie still maintains the feel and action of the... more info

• There's a place for us
  "There's a place for us, A time and place for us. Hold my hand and we're halfway there."
  Music: Leonard Bernstein Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim

  And there is a movie for us. "West Side Story" is a classic on too many levels to describe here. Everything from the music to the choreography to the actors to...
  One big plus is even if the story line is a classic they did not try to duplicate 'Romeo & Juliet" with modern clothing. The movie still maintains the feel and action of the play.

  Just on the... more info

• Superb Music and Dancing
  'West Side Story' stars Natalie Wood and Richard Beymer as the doomed lovers in the modern day version of the Romeo and Juliet tragedy, set to music and dance in the heart of New York's docklands.
  The advice, 'Stick to your own kind, Maria', haunts me, as I was much too young to cope with the ending when I first saw it at the cinema. However it remains a great favourite nevertheless! Superb dancing and music, right from the start with the opening song 'Jets'.

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