If only...

...our gangs today could find a way to compete/mark their "turf" using the wonder of DANCE!

That's a ridiculous statement, to be sure.  But, this is kind of a ridiculous film...kind of.

I'm watching the AFI Top 100 (10th Anniversary Edition) and commenting on all of them, in ONE CALENDAR YEAR.  THAT'S A LOT OF MOVIES, PEOPLE.

Film 28

28.  "West Side Story" (AFI Rank #51)
I'm in theatre.  I've been in musical theatre quite a bit.  NO.  I've never before, to my recollection, watched "West Side Story" all the way through.  If I have to turn in whatever credibility card I'm supposed to have, so be it.  I've seen it on stage a few times, if that helps.

And, my friend who pointed out that I had neglected to mention the soundtrack of "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial," I will be discussing the music in this one.  OBVIOUSLY.

"West Side Story" won the Oscar for Best Picture for 1961, beating out such heavyweights as "Judgment at Nuremburg," and "The Hustler."  Splashy colorful (at times a bit TOO colorful - more to come), the film is a visual delight.  Directed by Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise, the film has lots of theatricality in its composition, with glorious sets, and stunning visual imagery.  The scene where Tony is singing "Something's Coming," set in an alley with clothes hanging on drying lines between buildings is particularly sumptuous.  Julie was watching it with me, and she said, "What the hell is that hanging from the line?"  To which I could only reply, "Set dressings."  No, what we see isn't real.  There is nowhere in New York where every shade of pastel sheer robe is hanging to dry, but when we see it, we are left with a distinct image.

One of the shots that I think is probably overlooked, (in fact, Julie, whose DVD we were watching, did not remember it) is the very opening sequence, shot by helicopter, as we fly over the island of Manhattan.  It's a beautiful view, but brings the story home.  This is one little piece of this great big city.  How many other places have something going on JUST LIKE THIS?  Hey.  I think that's the point of universally themed stories.

Musicals were a huge portion of film history.  They continue to dazzle us ("Frozen" is a musical.  It's just animated, that's all) when we see them.  So, what separates "West Side Story" from the dozens of other films of musicals available to us?

Let's start with the score.  Written by Leonard Bernstein, the combination of funky, dissonant jazz with gorgeous vocal pieces, is a trend setter.  Stephen Sondheim wrote the lyrics (complete with WAY TOO MUCH INTERNAL RHYMING), and you can hear him in "West Side Story," even though he didn't write the score.  Sondheim became the standard for modern musical theatre, but "West Side Story" is its root.  As you listen to such beautifully lyrical songs as "Tonight," and "Maria," it's hard to believe that the same composer gives us a number like "Cool" in the same two and a half hours.  It calls to mind a song like "Johanna," with its gorgeous moments, landing in the same place as "God, That's Good," in Sondheim's "Sweeney Todd..."  Stuffed with singable music, and one show-stopping comedy number, "Gee, Officer Krupke,"  the score is a wonder.  Of course, that is not unique to the film, but all I'm commenting on is that.

I've already mentioned the direction of Robbins and Wise, but Robbins was also the choreographer.  The dance sequences in this film are visually stunning, incredibly complicated, and burst with joy.  The idea of these gang members expressing themselves through dance is...well...it's ludicrous.  Yet, it works.  The opening sequence, in particular, seems out of place with the violence that it represents...but damn me,  I get the story that's being told, even if it's not graphic in nature.  At times confrontational, at other times timid, the opening of the film sets the scene, non-verbally, for the battles we are going to witness. Other numbers, like "America," equally erupt with passion and skill that is a marvel to behold.  And "Cool?"  That's a fucking brilliant number, and probably the least famous.

The story, the bastardized tale of "Romeo and Juliet" set in Manhattan during the mid-twentieth century really revolves around the two star-crossed lovers, Tony (Richard Beymer) and Maria (Natalie Wood).  Struck by each other at a dance (party in "Romeo and Juliet"), the two begin a love affair that is highly inadvisable, given that Tony is a former leader in the gang the Jets, now led by Riff (Russ Tamblyn), and that Maria is the sister of Bernardo (George Chakiris) the leader of the rival gang the Sharks.  Throw in a friend of Maria's, Anita (Rita Moreno), a character not unlike the Nurse from Verona.  Riff is Mercutio, Bernardo is Tybalt, Doc is Friar Laurence, Schrank is Paris, etc.  The characters are all there.  The story is as old as time.   So, what about this interpretation of a classic tale makes it special?  I'm not really sure.  Part of it has to be that we see it with the emotions that are uniquely evoked by music.  Part of it is the modernity.  Part of it is the actors, especially Moreno, Chakiris and Tamblyn.

I'm not feeling like I'm spoiling anything by saying that Riff, Bernardo and Tony all die.  Tony's death, like that of Romeo and Juliet, serves to end the feud between the Sharks and the Jets, as members of both gangs escort his lifeless body from the scene.  Like all classic tragedies, we are left wondering what part of us would wind up behaving the way these people do.  Like all classic tragedies, we should find it. How much can pride destroy?  In this film, it is literally lives.  In our lives, what do those lives represent?  Past loves?  Parents?  Siblings?  Friends gone by?  We may not have killed them, literally, but have we killed that part of them that was good for us?  Was it worth it?  Great stories beg these questions.

I mentioned something about skin tone.  It is unfortunate that so much dark makeup was used to make sure that we knew the Sharks were Puerto Rican.  It looks like dirt smudged on their faces, especially Moreno's and Chakiris's.  It was an unfortunate choice, and I'd be willing to bet that given the opportunity to correct it, the producers, today, would.

Beyond that I feel I need to talk about how great Moreno is in this.  One of twelve people to win all 4 competitive major performing awards (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony), the EGOT recipient got her Oscar for her Anita.  It's a wonderful performance that stands head and shoulders above everyone else in the film.  Yes, Tamblyn can dance. Chakiris won an Oscar as well, and is threatening, and WAY cool, but Moreno is a phenomenon.  Her singing (one of the few people in the film actually DOING their singing) is great, her dancing is great, but her subtle moments as an actor, especially in the scenes in Doc's and when she agrees to help Maria, despite Tony being her lover's killer, are tremendous.  They show a depth that often is missing in movie musicals, and I loved it. Just loved it.  Anita is no simple character.  She's got real feelings, real conflict, and real compassion.  Wonderful.

It was fun, having just talked about the TERRIBLE ending of "Psycho," only a few days prior, to see Simon Oakland, the unfortunate actor who had to deliver that terrible summation monologue, in a different film.  Mostly it was synchronicity, because I thought he was pretty bad here, too.  Also fun to see John Astin.  And it was fun to see Natalie Wood's legs.  That's awfully prurient, though.

Last thing before I wrap this up.  I have sung some romantic duets in my life, while performing on stage.  It is a difficult task to find that emotion without feeling ridiculous at times, and that's when I was the one performing it, live.  I cannot imagine how difficult a task it would be to lip-sync to someone else's singing, let alone to try and evoke emotion while doing that.  The actors that did that the most, Wood and Beymer, were really, really good at it.  I never once believed that they weren't singing, even though I knew they weren't.  That deserves mention.  Because their performances are largely unremarkable otherwise.

"West Side Story" is an important film, one that is not simply defined as a musical, but one that is most assuredly that.  Watch it.

Ebert and I are in sync again!  Roger.  Roger.