West Side Story in 70mm:
just last month, at the Somerville Theatre, in Somerville, MA, West Side Story was shown...twice, as part of a 10-day 70mm Classic Film Festival that, in addition to West Side Story, included other classics such as Lawrence of Arabia, Walt Disney's Sleeping Beauty, The Ten Commandments, and It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, to name afew.
While I also watched Sleeping Beauty and The Ten Commandments (which I thought was somewhat overrated.), the film West Side Story was the movie that I'd really looked forward the most to seeing.
As soon as the tickets went on sale, I snagged afew tickets for the West Side Story showing on Thursday, Sept. 22nd, for my sister, who was then visiting us from the Mid-West, a longtime friend of mine, and, ultimately, a friend of my sister's, who also wanted to go.
On Sept. 17th, the day after the 70mm Classic Film Festival had just started, as I was casually cruising on the Somerville Theatre's website, I noticed the following message:
"Due to a shipping snafu, tickets to "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" will be honored for tonight's showing of West Side Story, at 8:00 p. m. "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" has been moved to Saturday afternoon, Sept. 24th."
Since it was just 8:00 on the dot, I immediately donned some appropriate clothes, said a quick good-bye to Aziza, my pet Congo African Grey Parrot, Aziza, drove down to the movie theatre, parked where I could, and steamed down to the theatre and snagged a ticket for myself, as fast as I could, missing only the first 5 minutes of the movie, and getting a decent seat for myself in the 800-seat theatre auditorium.
Although the screening for that night's showing of West Side Story didn't sell out, there was a good crowd, and everybody had a wonderful time.
Fast Forward to Thursday, Sept. 22nd: My longtime friend and I met for dinner at a nearby Crepes place for a bite to eat, and then met my sister and her friend at the movie theatre. We all had a wonderful time, and it was great that West Side Story was shown twice, for that's the movie that i'd really been looking forward to seeing, among all the Classic films that were played at that Film Festival.
West Side Story, when shown on a great big, wide movie screen, in a darkened movie theatre and in 70mm film, takes on an even newer, more brilliant intensity, as well as a magical, almost 3-dimensional quality to it. The scenery, both filmed on location in NYC, and the creatively designed sets by (the late) Boris Leven, seems much more expansive, and one can see all of everything. The soundtrack of the 70mm film version of West Side Story is more punchy and in one's face, the way it's really supposed to be. The richly-colored and beautifully designed costumes, photography and great cinematography does a great deal to really emphatically tell a beautifully haunting story, and the beautifully-choreographed dancing by the late Jerome Robbins does likewise, if one gets the drift.
From the warring Jets and Sharks to the romancing Tony and Maria, and from the Shark gang leader, Bernardo and his girlfriend, Anita, to the bigoted, bitter, cynical Lt. Schrank and equally cynical (but quieter) Officer Krupke, to Doc, the Candy Store owner, who tries, without avail, to move the kids in a better direction, the various characters in West Side Story seem to move much more fluidly and freely, in a much wider, more open space, when shown on a great big, wide movie theatre screen, especially on 70mm film.
The various facial expressions on the characters of West Side Story, most notably, the warring Jets and Sharks, seem more noticeably angrier and tougher. The dancing seems to take on a whole new intensity. Due to my intense love for the film West Side Story, I'm admittedly very hard-pressed to pick out any favorite scenes/songs, or characters, but i will say this: The Dance at the Gym, America, Officer Krupke, The Prologue/Jets Song, the Pre-Rumble Quintet-Ensenble, as well as the Rumble itself, and the Cool scene(s) are real pillars of this great movie-musical Classic. The fact that the America scene had both the Shark girls and the Shark goys alike in the film version was fantastic, and added wonders to the film version of West Side Story, as did the changing of the manners and color throughout the movie.
As for the characters/cast, George Chakiris and Rita Moreno were both absolutely fabulous in their playing of the roles of the Shark gang leader, Bernardo, and his girlfriend Anita, and they both won well-earned Awards for Best Supporting Actor/Actress for their great playing of these two characters. Russ Tamblyn was also excellent as the arrogant, cocky, exuberant but tough Jet gang leader, Riff, who's Tony's old buddy, and Tucker Smith was also great as the calm, cool and collected Ice, who takes over the jets gang leadership after Riff's death at the Rumble. Eliot Feld was also excellent as Baby-John, the youngest and most immature Jet gang member, and so was David Winters as A-Rab, the ferret-like buddy of Baby-John's. Susan Oakes was terrific as the feisty tomboy and Jets wannabe, Anybodys, who, through ;persistence, ultimately gets accepted as an equal by the rest of the Jets, and so was Ned Glass, as Doc the Candy Store owner.
Natalie Wood was okay as Maria, and Richard Beymer, for a number of reasons, was a somewhat weaker link in the film West Side Story, Had there not been certain directorial constraints put on Beymer by Robert Wise, and had Natalie Wood and Richard Beymer had a better relationship during the film of West Side Story (Natalie Wood had actually tried to get Richard Beymer kicked off the set on several occasions during the filming.), and had it not been for the way in which the scripts for both the original Broadway stage revival and the film version of West Side Story had been written, Beymer would've played a stronger role of Tony in the film version of West Side Story.
(The late) Simon Oakland was excellent as the bigoted, bitter and cynical Lt. Schrank, who clearly hated both the Jets and Sharks, and so was William Bramley, who played the equally cynical (but quieter), Officer Krupke.
Jose de Vegas did an excellent job of playing Chino, also a Shark gang member, and Bernardo's best friend and right-hand man.
Seeing the film West Side Story in 70mm made it even easier than it already is to get into the film, including the various emotions in it, as a whole. I was even more able to laugh at the funnier parts of WSS, and I was at the edge of my seat during the tenser parts, and even began to tear up during the sadder parts of West Side Story. Still, the hints of possible intergroup reconciliation after Tony had been shot by Chino, and carried off by several Jets and Sharks signified a possible ray of hope: the possibility of inter-group reconciliation.
West Side Story, as a musical, on the whole, and as a movie, is a very strong one. It contains a two-edge message, but a necessary one, at that: The deleterious consequences of racism and gang warfare and violence. Yet, there's also a ray of hope shining through, at that: Possible intergroup rehabilitation.
During the filming of West Side Story, both the crew members and cast alike, were harassed by street toughs, who showered rocks, bottles, garbage and whatever down on them. Subsequently, they ended up hiring out an actually street gang for security and protection during the filming. Oh, the irony of this, since West Side Story is about gangsters on the West Side of NYC, Oh, the irony in all this, especially since West Side Story is about gangs on the West Side of New York City! share