West Side Story (1961)

“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

SYNOPSIS

Winner of ten Academy Awards, West Side Story brought the Broadway phenomenon to the screen with an unprecedented fusion of music, dance, and cinematic dynamism. Transposing Romeo and Juliet onto the gang rivalries of New York City’s Upper West Side, directors Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins unite Leonard Bernstein’s soaring score, Stephen Sondheim’s incisive lyrics, and groundbreaking choreography into a musical of uncommon emotional force. Anchored by unforgettable performances from Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, George Chakiris, and Academy Award-winner Rita Moreno, this virtuosic song-and-dance spectacular balances exuberant spectacle with genuine tragedy, confronting prejudice, violence, and the seemingly inescapable cycle of hatred. A landmark of Classical Hollywood cinema, West Side Story stands among the most artistically ambitious and emotionally overwhelming musicals ever made.

West Side Story screens as part of our limited series, “In Glorious Technicolor,” in a gorgeous 35mm IB Technicolor print, courtesy of Exhumed Films.