1961--West Side Story, Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise

1961--West Side Story, Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise
Nominated: Fanny, The Guns of Navarone, The Hustler, Judgement at Nuremberg
Should have won: West Side Story
Be sure to see: Curse of the Werewolf, A Raisin in the Sun
"Didn't you see he is one of them?"--Bernardo
"No, I saw only he."--Maria

    A lot of positive things can be said about West Side Story from the choreography of the dances to the lyrics of the songs to the comparisons to “Romeo and Juliet.” I think the most impressive aspect was the editing. I've often wondered how tedious and frustrating it would be to edit a film. To take hours of shots and discard some while salvaging others, putting them together to make a cohesive idea. This movie had to have been a chore, perhaps even more than other musicals, because of how much kinetic energy went into the dance numbers. The cuts matched the beats to perfection and even in the non-music scenes I noticed very few continuity errors, and every movie—no matter how great—has them; they are unavoidable. Thomas Stanford edited West Side Story and Richard Carruth edited the music. Along with Jerome Robbins' choreography, every movement fit the timing of the cuts to perfection. And I can stray from the music numbers for examples. When someone throws an object in the air in the soda shop, the camera angle changes. When the change occurs, we see the object in its decent. A lesser movie would have, perhaps, caught the object on its way up again or after the fact. Film is twenty four frames per second and you can tell that piece was scissored not an instant long or short. And the best music scene, “Tonight, tonight” (no not the Mello-Kings' 1957 Doo Wop song “Tonite, Tonite”) should be shown in film schools during the lesson on editing. The scene cuts from one gang to the other; from Tony to Maria to the police. Back to the gangs. Each cut fitting perfectly to the beat. Never dragging or rushing in the least bit.

    The opening sequence is brilliant example of dance choreography. It sets the tone, shows the two gangs and how they protect their turf but do it with no dialogue and only dance routines. For the most part, the actors' singing was shaky at best. In fact Richard Beymer and Natalie Wood's voices were dubbed. If I had any complaints about this film it is the decision to dub Marni Nixon for Natalie Wood. I noticed how beautiful Maria's singing was and when I found out that it wasn't her I was kind of bummed. Then when I watched outtakes of Wood actually singing, I thought, hey she was not too bad. Though perhaps not as good as Nixon.

    The plot is a modernized musical retelling of Romeo and Juliet, though the end isn't exactly the same. Simply, The white Jets and the Puerto Rican Sharks are feuding gang members in the city. A member (or former member to be precise) of the Jets and the sister of a member of the Sharks fall in love. There are small fights, big rumbles, tension at a local dance, and a minor (potentially major) attack on one of the Shark girls by the Jets. But to me his movie was about moments, not the entire picture. I liked how the characters were blurred out except for Tony and Maria when they first see each other. I loved how Robbins was able to blend contemporary dances with classical ballet and you don't really notice it. “Cool” is a pretty neat number with a lot going on but the Shark women performing “America” with its intelligent lyrics is a work of art.

     From a popcorn movie fan's standpoint, West Side Story is a fantastic movie. But from a technical stand with the choreography, direction, and editing, it is a miracle. 

     On a side note for you hockey fans: If the Winnipeg Jets play the San Jose Sharks, is Officer Krupke head of security?