West Side Story

"The screen achieves one of the great entertainments in the history of motion pictures."

1961 2h 33m EN

👍

7.2

SOLID

🔥

92%

CERTIFIED FRESH

💯

METACRITIC

⭐

7.6

IMDB

★7.2TMDB · 2,108🍅92%Rotten Tomatoes●86Metacritic★7.6IMDB · 125,470

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Synopsis

Spoiler shield

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.

“The screen achieves one of the great entertainments in the history of motion pictures.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Natalie Wood
Maria
Richard Beymer
Tony
Russ Tamblyn
Riff
Rita Moreno
Anita
George Chakiris
Bernardo
Simon Oakland
Schrank
Ned Glass
Doc
William Bramley
Krupke

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Robert Wise
Writers: Ernest Lehman, William Shakespeare
Languages: English, Spanish
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Clocks in at 153 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 7.3× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

65 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Spanish.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Robert Wise, shot by Daniel L. Fapp. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Leonard Bernstein. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Thomas Stanford shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Natalie Wood and Richard Beymer and Russ Tamblyn carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Robert Wise directs. Daniel L. Fapp behind the camera. Leonard Bernstein scores. Thomas Stanford cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, Spanish.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Clocks in at 153 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.
2Made its money back 7.3× over at the box office.
365 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
4Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Spanish.
5Directed by Robert Wise, shot by Daniel L. Fapp. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Leonard Bernstein. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Thomas Stanford shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Natalie Wood and Richard Beymer and Russ Tamblyn carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "The screen achieves one of the great entertainments in the history of motion pictures.".
10IMDB entry: tt0055614 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 25 themes, including "new york city", "immigrant", "showdown", "street gang".

The technical file

Cinematography: Daniel L. Fapp
Original score: Leonard Bernstein
Editing: Thomas Stanford
Production design: Boris Leven
Costume design: Irene Sharaff
Makeup / hair: Alice Monte
Runtime: 153 min · 2h 33m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $6,000,000
Box office: $43,700,000
Return: 728% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: West Side Story (1961)
Rotten Tomatoes: 92% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 86/100
IMDB rating: 7.6/10 · 125,470 votes
MPAA: Approved

Awards

Won 10 Oscars. 31 wins & 11 nominations total

Academy Award for Best Original Musical Score
National Board of Review: Top Ten Films
Academy Award for Best Sound
Academy Award for Best Film Editing
Academy Award for Best Art Direction, Color
Academy Award for Best Costume Design, Color
Academy Award for Best Cinematography, Color
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Academy Award for Best Director
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Robert Wise

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2020-05-09
★ 8/10
Why do you kids live like there's a war on? West Side Story is directed by Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise. It stars Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn, Rita Moreno, George Chakiris, Simon Oakland and Ned Glass. Music is by Leonard Bernstein (lyrics by Stephen Sondheim) and cinematography by Daniel L. Fapp. In the less affluent areas of the upper West Side of Manhattan, New York, a gang of Polish-American teenagers called "The Jets" are in conflict with a rival gang of immigrated Puerto Ricans called "The Sharks". They each thirst to own the neighborhood streets, but with tensions reaching peak point, two kids, one from each rival gang, fall in love... A Multi Oscar winner, West Side Story is a musical update of Romeo & Juliet. Set in the 50s in a steamy gangland New York, pic unfurls in a blaze of booming colour and scintillating choreography (Robbins). It has very much become a film that musical lovers can rejoice in, for even though it has problems, when it soars it soars far and away. Problems come with the crossed gang lovers played by Wood and Beymer, the actors dubbing is poor, their dialogue delivery also itchy. It doesn't help that the film's quality noticeably dips when this fall in love axis of the story (as key as it is) shows up - stretching the run time to a nearly unbearable and unjustified length. Yet it remains a joyous experience even today, you can forgive it for its ills when you get songs like "America" (Moreno the best thing in the film by far) that transport you up there on the screen. Or that the choreography is like a ballet version of circus acrobatics in full effect. In short, if you have any kink for musicals in filmic form, this is a must see. 8/10
r96sk2022-03-23
★ 5/10
Not one for me. I did not enjoy 1961's <em>'West Side Story'</em>, unfortunately. I felt almost everything about it to be kinda crappy if I'm honest. For one I didn't feel any chemistry with the cast, with no standout performer in sight; and that's on top of the iffy casting itself. None of the music - aside from that one tiny bit of "Tonight" - hits and the story comes across as forced. The musical numbers are also extremely staged, the whole thing feels like a stage performance rather than a film; in fact, I genuinely assumed that the actors were just Broadway performers - à la <em>'<a href="https://letterboxd.com/film/jersey-boys/" rel="nofollow">Jersey Boys</a>'</em>. New York City also doesn't feel real or, away from the main characters, lived in. Admittedly musicals aren't my go-to, though I'm more than capable of enjoying them. This, however, just didn't work for me at all. I wouldn't class it as anything awful, it's just simply quite poor - in my eyes, of course. Many, including the Oscars apparently, disagree! With all that said, I'm still interested in checking out the 2021 remake at some point to see what Steven Spielberg did (or didn't do) with it.
Filipe Manuel Neto2024-04-11
★ 5/10
An old musical with some hints of ethnic prejudice, and it didn't seem as good as I thought it would be. This is one of those films that, honestly, I find difficult to understand. It is a production that brought to the cinema an interesting Broadway musical, which is still shown in several places today, and which tells a story similar to Romeo and Juliet in the context of youth gang wars in New York in the mid-20th century. The idea is seductive, and developing it from Shakespeare's source material is a point of quality. But sixty years have passed, and it is worth rethinking some things. The film was directed by Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise, and makes great use of the action and music of the theatrical version, having achieved resounding box office and critical success, in addition to a plethora of awards, including ten Oscars (Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Director, Best Art Direction in a Color Film, Best Editing, Best Cinematography in a Color Film, Best Costume Design in a Color Film, Best Film, Best Soundtrack for a Musical Film, Best Sound). Since then, it has placed on the list of the greatest and most memorable musicals ever made. It is understandable, therefore, the film's impact at the time and its classic status. The studios spared no expense, taking advantage of their budget to create a huge visual and sound spectacle, in a luxurious production with impeccable cinematography and magnificent light, color and filming work. Taking advantage of all the Broadway material, the film inherits Leonard Bernstein's songs accompanied by exuberant dance numbers by magnificently choreographed groups, something challenging and innovative for this time. I think it goes without saying that the melodies and songs can stand on their own and have its proper value. In addition to all this work, the film has good sets and costumes. Although all of these are enormous qualities, I have to be honest, even though it will offend some people: while watching the film, I didn't feel empathy for the characters or enjoy the story. The steering is decent, but it doesn't go beyond that. The script is the same as the original musical play, but it is not engaging or convincing, and that romance seemed forced and far-fetched. If the two dance groups are dangerous gangs of delinquents, they are certainly harmless and only use their knives to peel fruit. But worse than all these are the Puerto Ricans: the group was represented according to unacceptable ethnic and cultural prejudices, with racist contours. This makes it even more insulting that they chose painted-faced Anglo-Saxon actors for several of the Latin roles, with Natalie Wood being the most obvious case. This brings us to talk about the cast. As it turns out, for me, Wood was a total casting mistake. She may be the right age, the smile, but she's not even Latin, she doesn't even sing a note, she doesn't even know how to dance. She simply took the opportunity to be part of a great film. Richard Beymer, her love interest, does a better job, but is still very bland and not very interesting. Russ Tamblyn and Rita Moreno do positive work, but they don't help much.