West Side Story
Academy Award × 10·AFI #51·National Film Registry
Rent/Purchase
In Manhattan’s Upper West Side, rival gangs of Polish-Americans and newly arrived Puerto Ricans clash for control of the neighborhood, even as two young members from opposite sides fall dangerously in love.
What critics thought
Broadly celebrated as one of the great musical films, West Side Story earned rapturous notices for its choreography, cinematography, and score — though even admirers noted that the drama doesn't always match the dazzle, with the lead performances and emotional payoff drawing more scrutiny than the staging. Pauline Kael's outright dismissal stands as the most famous dissent, but the more pointed long-term critique comes from those who love parts of it while wishing the whole were as fierce as its best moments.
“moving [the story] from stage to screen is to reconstruct its fine material into nothing short of a cinema masterpiece”
Bosley Crowther·The New York Times
“Technically, it is superb; use of color is dazzling, camera work often is thrilling, editing fast with dramatic punch, production design catches mood as well as action itself”
Whitney Williams·Variety
“[T]his is a case when the big screen sometimes is a handicap. When the giant-sized, tear-stained faces of a desolated boy and girl fill the entire front of a theater, it seems incongruous for these young lovers to break into song.”
Mae Tinee·Chicago Tribune
“So the dancing is remarkable, and several of the songs have proven themselves by becoming standards, and there are moments of startling power and truth. West Side Story remains a landmark of musical history. But if the drama had been as edgy as the choreography, if the lead performances had matched Moreno's fierce concentration, if the gangs had been more dangerous and less like bad-boy Archies and Jugheads, if the ending had delivered on the pathos and tragedy of the original, there's no telling what might have resulted”
Roger Ebert·rogerebert.com
Genres
Crime, Drama, Musical
Cast & Crew
DirectorJerome Robbins, Robert Wise
StarringNatalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn, Rita Moreno, George Chakiris
ComposerLeonard Bernstein
West Side Story
Academy Award × 10·AFI #51·National Film Registry
In Manhattan’s Upper West Side, rival gangs of Polish-Americans and newly arrived Puerto Ricans clash for control of the neighborhood, even as two young members from opposite sides fall dangerously in love.
What critics thought
Broadly celebrated as one of the great musical films, West Side Story earned rapturous notices for its choreography, cinematography, and score — though even admirers noted that the drama doesn't always match the dazzle, with the lead performances and emotional payoff drawing more scrutiny than the staging. Pauline Kael's outright dismissal stands as the most famous dissent, but the more pointed long-term critique comes from those who love parts of it while wishing the whole were as fierce as its best moments.
“moving [the story] from stage to screen is to reconstruct its fine material into nothing short of a cinema masterpiece”
Bosley Crowther·The New York Times
“Technically, it is superb; use of color is dazzling, camera work often is thrilling, editing fast with dramatic punch, production design catches mood as well as action itself”
Whitney Williams·Variety
“[T]his is a case when the big screen sometimes is a handicap. When the giant-sized, tear-stained faces of a desolated boy and girl fill the entire front of a theater, it seems incongruous for these young lovers to break into song.”
Mae Tinee·Chicago Tribune
“So the dancing is remarkable, and several of the songs have proven themselves by becoming standards, and there are moments of startling power and truth. West Side Story remains a landmark of musical history. But if the drama had been as edgy as the choreography, if the lead performances had matched Moreno's fierce concentration, if the gangs had been more dangerous and less like bad-boy Archies and Jugheads, if the ending had delivered on the pathos and tragedy of the original, there's no telling what might have resulted”
Roger Ebert·rogerebert.com
Genres
Crime, Drama, Musical
Cast & Crew
DirectorJerome Robbins, Robert Wise
StarringNatalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn, Rita Moreno, George Chakiris
ComposerLeonard Bernstein
Rent/Purchase