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West Side Story is a 1961 film directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins. It is an adaptation of the Broadway musical West Side Story.

The film was released on October 18 by United Artists. The film won ten Motion Picture Academy Awards including Best Picture, the most Oscars received by any movie musical.

The film was #41 on American Film Institute's 100 Years, 100 Movies and #3 on its 100 Years, 100 Passions, and has been deemed "culturally significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. On AFI's 100 years, 100 songs, "Tonight" was #59, "America" was #35, and "Somewhere" was #20.

Credits

Book by Arthur Laurents
Music by Leonard Bernstein
Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Directed and Choreographed by Jerome Robbins

Academy Award wins and nominations for the movie

Wins (10)

• Academy Award for Best Picture - Robert Wise, producer
• Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor - George Chakiris
• Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress - Rita Moreno
• Academy Award for Best Art Direction- Set Decoration, Color - Victor A. Gangelin, and Boris Leven
• Academy Award for Best Cinematography, Color - Daniel L. Fapp
• Academy Award for Costume Design, Color - Irene Sharaff
• Academy Award for Directing - Jerome Robbins, and Robert Wise
• Academy Award for Film Editing - Thomas Stanford
• Academy Award for Original Music Score, of a Musical Picture - Saul Chaplin, Johnny Green, Irwin Kostal, and Sid Ramin
• Academy Award for Sound - Fred Hynes (Todd-AO SSD), and Gordon Sawyer (Samuel Goldwyn SSD)

Nominations (1)

• Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium - Ernest Lehman

Differences with the Stage Musical

• In the film, Tony and Riff meet as Tony is stacking crates of soda. But in the stage version, Tony is painting a new sign for Doc's store as they are talking.
• Many lines from the original stage version were censored becuase they were sexually explicit or politically incorrect. For example, in the movie Pepe tells Consuela she came to New York City with her "mouth open". But in the play he tells her, "You came with your legs open."
• In the Broadway musical, "America" is sung by Anita and Rosalia, with help from the other Shark girls. Anita sings in favor of American life while Rosalia sings positively of Puerto Rico. But in the movie Bernardo replaces Rosalia's role, and he speaks negatively of America. Also, the lyrics of "America" were changed because the original lines were considered too derogatory to Puerto Rico and Latin American peoples in general.
• In the movie, Maria and her friends sing "I Feel Pretty" in the bridal shop. But in the stage version the number is preformed in Mariaa's bedroom after the Rumble.
• Another reversal in the order of the songs is "Cool" and "Gee, Officer Krupke". Also, in the Broadway musical, "Tonight" is sung before "America" is.
• In the movie, "Somewhere" is sung by Tony and Maria. But the original stage version had the number sung by an Anonymous Stranger, a young girl not associated with either gang who sang the song on a balcony. Also, the Broadyway musical had the walls and lights of New York City fade away as the young Jets and Sharks danced together and existed without fear or hatred.

Trivia

• Elvis Presley was originally approached for the role of Tony. However, his manager, Colonel Parker, believed the role to be wrong for Elvis and made him decline in favor of other movie musicals. When the movie became a hit and earned 10 Oscars, Elvis later regretted giving up the part.

• Elvis was one of many young stars considered for the role of Tony. Several Hollywood men auditioned for the part, including Warren Beatty, Tab Hunter, Anthony Perkins, Burt Reynolds, Troy Donahue, a young Bobby Darin, Richard Chamberlain, Gary Lockwood, and a budding Broadway actor named Keir Dullea.

• Bobby Darin made a strong impression on the producers at his audition and was, at one point, in talks for the role. However, he turned it down due to his concert and recording committments. Tab Hunter, then 30, and Burt Reynolds, nearly 26, were also considered, due to their Broadway and singing credits, but they were dismissed as being 'too old' to play a teenager. Keir Dullea was also good at his audition, but he was soon decided as unexperienced. Richard Chamberlain was also considered to be 'too old' at age 26 before filming, and he chose to renew his contract for Dr. Kildare that same year.

• When Elvis did not agree to play Tony and when the other actors either dropped out or didn't make it, the producers settled down to their so-called 'final five;' Warren Beatty, Anthony Perkins, Gary Lockwood, Troy Donahue, and Richard Beymer. Although he was too old at 28 before filming began, Perkins' boyish looks and Broadway resume seemed to make him a contender for the role, and he was also looking to avoid getting typecast after the success of Psycho. Robert Wise originally chose Beatty for the role, figuring that youth was better than the experienced, and it was down to Beatty, Donahue, and Beymer. Ultimately, Beymer, who was the most unlikely of the candidates, won the part.

External links

• West Side Story at IMDb
• http://www.westsidestory.com/
• http://www.imagi-nation.com/moonstruck/albm28.html
• Greatest Films Essay

• 1961 films
• Best Picture Oscar
• Best Supporting Actor Oscar (film)
• Best Supporting Actress Oscar (film)
• Compositions by Leonard Bernstein
• Musical films
• United States National Film Registry
• Films based on plays
• Shakespeare on film
• Films shot in Technicolor