The Best Picture of 1961 is…..”West Side Story.” This musical romantic drama stars Natalie Wood and Richard Beymer as members of rival gangs who fall in love, earning their friends’ enmity. Directors Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins paid close attention to detail in bringing this bouncy 1957 stage play to the big screen. Ernest Lehman penned the screenplay, adapted from the play conceived by Jerome Robbins, music by Leonard Bernstein, and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. It was inspired by Bill Shakespeare’s 1597 play “Romeo and Juliet.”
The stars of the show, Wood and Beymer, do a marvelous job as Maria and Tony. They are major reasons why this is an enduring film classic. The voices of singers Marni Nixon and Jimmy Bryant were dubbed into the musical scenes of the pair. Co-stars include Russ Tamblyn, Rita Moreno, George Chakiris, Simon Oakland, Ned Glass, William Bramley, and John Astin. “West Side Story” was the highest-grossing film of 1961 for producer Robert Wise, Mirisch Pictures, Seven Arts Productions, and United Artists.
“West Side Story” was nominated for twelve Academy Awards, winning eleven: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (Chakiris), Best Supporting Actress (Moreno), Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Film Editing, Best Scoring, Best Sound, and Academy Honorary Award (Jerome Robbins). The sole non-winner was Best Screenplay.
West Side Story (1961)
cinema
My Review
The Best Picture of 1961 is…..”West Side Story.” This musical romantic drama stars Natalie Wood and Richard Beymer as members of rival gangs who fall in love, earning their friends’ enmity. Directors Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins paid close attention to detail in bringing this bouncy 1957 stage play to the big screen. Ernest Lehman penned the screenplay, adapted from the play conceived by Jerome Robbins, music by Leonard Bernstein, and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. It was inspired by Bill Shakespeare’s 1597 play “Romeo and Juliet.”
The stars of the show, Wood and Beymer, do a marvelous job as Maria and Tony. They are major reasons why this is an enduring film classic. The voices of singers Marni Nixon and Jimmy Bryant were dubbed into the musical scenes of the pair. Co-stars include Russ Tamblyn, Rita Moreno, George Chakiris, Simon Oakland, Ned Glass, William Bramley, and John Astin. “West Side Story” was the highest-grossing film of 1961 for producer Robert Wise, Mirisch Pictures, Seven Arts Productions, and United Artists.
“West Side Story” was nominated for twelve Academy Awards, winning eleven: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (Chakiris), Best Supporting Actress (Moreno), Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Film Editing, Best Scoring, Best Sound, and Academy Honorary Award (Jerome Robbins). The sole non-winner was Best Screenplay.