http://www.westsidestory.com/ for theatrical West Side Story

http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/53850/West-Side-Story/trailers Movie trailers

Genre: Musical / Romance / Drama

The artistry with which WEST SIDE STORY combined elements of drama, opera and ballet a modern-day, loose re-telling of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet tragedy of feuding families, although the setting is the Upper West Side of New York City in the late 1950s with conflict between rival street gangs rather than families. It not only stylizes William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet," but more importantly, it evokes the mood of the classic tragedy in a modern setting -- raised the standards by which musicals are judged.

Simon Oakland .... Lieutenant Schrank

Ned Glass .... Doc

William Bramley .... Officer Krupke

Tucker Smith .... Ice

Tony Mordente .... Action

David Winters .... A-rab

Eliot Feld .... Baby John

Bert Michaels .... Snowboy

David Bean .... Tiger

Robert Banas .... Joyboy

(Marni Nixon was uncredited singer)

Script Note: The story of Romeo and Juliet has been adapted to the West Side of New York in the 50'and 60's. This is what is called an ADAPTED SCREENPLAY (it was originally made into a book and re-worked into a movie).

Acting styles....make note who was used for dancing and singing and acting. Some actors were just actors.

Some were just singers (Marni Nixon never showed on screen). Some were just dancers. Some did all.

Composition was well worked out with choreography.

Though a veteran of some thirty films before WEST SIDE STORY, Natalie Wood had never performed musically in a movie until this film.  She was cast as Maria primarily for her established abilities as a dramatic actress which she put to good use in the scene at right -- "Not with bullets or guns, with hate..."

Academy Awards:

Best Picture Oscar Robert Wise Best Director Oscar Robert Wise, Jerome Robbins Best Supporting Actress Oscar Rita Moreno Best Supporting Actor Oscar George Chakiris Best Music Oscar (Scoring of a Musical Picture) Saul Chaplin, Johnny Green, Sid Ramin, Irwin Kostal Best Sound Oscar Fred Hynes (Todd-AO Studio Sound Department), Gordon Sawyer (Samuel Goldwyn Studio Sound Department) Best Costume Design Oscar (Color) Irene Sharaff Best Film Editing Oscar Thomas Stanford Best Art-Set Direction Oscar (Color) Boris Leven, Victor A. Gangelin Best Cinematography Oscar (Color) Daniel L. Fapp   Best Writing Nomination (Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium) Ernest Lehman

Somewhere (mp3 file)