The hostility and suspicion between the gangs, the glory of the nuptials, the terror of the rumble, the devastating climax -- Mr. A second solemn pact has been sworn. Street brawls, double death -- it all fits. Her name is Maria Natalie Wood and he just in case we didn't get it the first time. New York, 7 June, 1955 Jerry hasn't given up. Still, it's great for the musical lover, and fair for the moviegoer.
Maria is excited, enthusiastic and childlike, but also growing into an adult. The acting is not too great, but the singing and dancing is very good, and that's more important in a movie like this one. But what's wrong with that? The newspapers were filled with reports of street riots by Chicano Americans in Los Angeles. Robbins displays innovativeness far out ranking any of his contemporaries. This masterpiece is already 56 years old and as it happens with masterpieces, it has kept intact all of its energy all of its power and it remains a mind blowing novelty.
The camera finally swings down to the West side of New York, where the Jets are snapping their fingers as they walk the streets. The musicians themselves have to be extremely versatile. Schrank arrives and detains Maria for questioning. Image: Few think of opera singers as dancers, even though productions sometimes include a corps de ballet or feature dancing supernumeraries. As a now 50-year old, I first saw 'West Side Story' when I was about 7. Watch it on a big screen if you can.
In 1950s New York City, the streets are owned by the gangs: the Jets, good old American bad boys, and the Sharks, Puerto Rican immigrants. Officers Krupke and Schrank arrive. Knees begin to itch, and move, under the lazy, overcast mid-summer sky in Puerto-Rican New York. I would catch myself with my hands idle, as my eyes tracked the dancing, the most dynamic part of the film. The music is phenomenal, providing a wide range of styles that create a wide range of emotions.
Obviously Wise was certain that Bernstein's music provides so much interest on its own that it would have been redundant to do anything but play it. It was a fine choice. What are you planning as far as events surrounding its release? Originally published by the Daily News on September 27, 1957. But there are still one or two things for the theatre snobs to nitpick over. The next day at the bridal shop, Maria tells Anita that she can leave, that Maria will clean up. Maria complains that the dress is too young-looking, but Anita explains that Bernardo, her boyfriend and Maria's brother, made her promise not to make the dress too short.
The sheer brilliance of the music, the enchanting daring of it, its raucous atonality coupled with sweetness of melody are awesomely impressive, as show-stopper after show-stopper is thrown onto the screen to continually up the amazement quotient, time after time. West Side Story-A Romeo and Juliet Musical Tale West Side Story is a Rome and Juliet musical set in the early 60s directed by Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise. © Copyright 2001 by Jack Gottlieb All rights reserved. In the emergence of the beat, an eager passion races through the juveniles resilient, supple bodies with electrifying dance routines, directed by Jerome Robbins together with the liveliness of the narrative. But perhaps, Rita Moreno and George Chakiris steal the limelight. The dialogue delves into the pointlessness of juvenile conflict along with discrimination encountered by foreign nationals, as two cultures come face to face, in the battlefield that is Manhattan.
As Tony, Larry Kert is perfectly cast, plain in speech and manner; and as Maria, Carol Lawrence, maidenly soft and glowing, is perfectly cast also. Anita tells Maria that Chino has a gun and is looking for Tony. The changes noted above brought about the introduction of a new character: Ice was created to provide a solid successor to Riff for the later part of the film. The ending is fairly good, and the beginning is a great start, but at times I was very unsatisfied with this movie. During the dance, Maria and Tony spot each other. The Jets, recognizing her as Bernardo's girl and thinking that she is there to betray Tony to Chino, won't let her go down to the basement to talk to Doc. The next day at the bridal shop, Maria sings to her coworkers about how happy she is.
That being said, I do not want to let my disillusionment cloud my objectivity. Those headlines turned the trick, triggering the imaginations of the collaborators. As the rivalry between the Sharks and Jets becomes clear to the audience, the leaders of the two, Riff representing the Jets, and Bernardo representing the Sharks, decide it is best to settle their differences in a rumble where the winning gang will gain control of the streets once and for all. The ballads like Tonight, I Feel Pretty, A Place For Us, require almost opera like voices to sing them. Robbins ran up so much overtime he was eventually fired, but his assistants stayed, and all the choreography is his.