West Side Story (1961)

Director: Jerome Robbins & Robert Wise
Cast: Richard Beymer, Natalie Wood, George Chakiris, Rita Moreno, Russ Tamblyn, Simon Oakland, Ned Glass, William Bramley & Tucker Smith
Screenplay: Ernest Lehmen (Based on the Broadway play by Arthur Laurents)

Oscar wins (10): Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor in a Supporting Role (George Chakiris), Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Rita Moreno), Best Film Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Best Scoring of a Musical Picture & Best Sound

The musical version of Romeo and Juliet is clearly a gem of a film with amazing everything. From the acting to the singing to the dancing to the direction and even the smallest piece of detail on a costume is what West Side Story is all about. It sweeps you off your feet and brings you into the hearts of the characters, their affairs and life on the "every buggin' streets" in a heartbreaking motion picture.

Following the same pattern of the classic Shakespearean play (but with a twist), we are transported into the Lower West Side of New York City, where two young gangs, The Jets (the Caucasian gang) and the Sharks (the Puertoricans), are fighting for glory and ownership of the area. As the leaders Riff (Russ Tamblyn) and Bernardo (Oscar winner George Chakaris) prepare for a big rumble, the unexpected happens under their noses.

Under the rage of the gang wars, two lovers meet and instantly fall in love. The man is Tony (Richard Beymer), the right hand man and co-creator of the Jets. And the women is Maria (leading lady Natalie Wood), the sister of Shark's leader Bernardo. With all their might, the lover's hide their love until eventually (like Shakespeare's tragic play), they have a bitter end to their love story.

With that tragic story, we are given the most unremarkable score by composers Leonard Bernstien and Steven Sondhiem. Without the music, there would be no West Side Story. The songs are absolutely exquisite and fits the entire context without a single wrong note. "Maria", "America", "Tonight", "The Quintet" and "Cool" are a few major standouts with groundbreaking choreography that will blow you away. The performers blast onto the screen as a united group with the perfect physical forms and dance moves that gives the musical a little something more then others.

Without a doubt, the one outstanding and brilliant performer was the lovely Rita Moreno. She, who played the supporting role of Anita (in which she won an Oscar for) was FLAWLESS. She was born to act, sing and dance thing role. She is the definition of a "triple threat". Watching the show on Broadway, it is obvious that Anita is really created to be the standout character, and Moreno perfectly catches that. She brings out the Puertorican flavors of Anita and is just as raw, enriching and amazing as she was originally written. She fully deserved that Oscar. Chakaris...was okay. So were the two leads (well, they were enough...I guess. HA.).

In a world where one man always prevails, I'm happy to see that both directors of West Side Story got their due in the Academy Awards. They make a perfect team that crafted a remarkable musical picture that is near perfect. It does justice to the Broadway play (actually, its even better!) and everyone was in place here. You can't deny a masterpiece and I don't deny this one at all. Don't miss this.

Picture: Maria (Natalie Wood) holds her lover Tony (Richard Beymer) in her arms in their in their final moments together.