Richard Barrios - West Side Story: The Jets, the Sharks, and the Making of a Classic (Turner Classic Movies)

Finger snaps: Russ Tamblyn, Tucker Smith, and Tony Mordente at the beginning of the Prologue.

A LL IT TAKES IS THOSE FINGER snaps. As soon as we hear them, were there, were committed, were riveted. Even before the gang members begin to dance, before Maria and Tony meet, before Tonight or America or I Feel Pretty, weve been drawn in. Its always that way with West Side Story. From its premiere in 1961 up to now, it has moved beyond ordinary limits of cinema. It has become lodged in our memories and hearts and after six decades, with stage productions, endless homages and parodies, and even with a remake, it continues to hypnotize audiences in a way few works do. Its excitement, its music, romance, and tragedyeven the parts so raw that they can be difficult to watchnone of it can be compared with any other film. Shockingly enough, its perhaps more relevant now than when it was new, with conflicts still being played out in the world in many painful ways. Few movies are anywhere as overwhelming as this one, especially when it is seen on a massive screen, as its creators intended. For those creators, the complications of making it were, on a steady basis, all but unimaginable. Fortunately, the rewards of their hard work are all remarkably apparent. From the breathless and bracing overture all the way to the stunningly imaginative credits at the end, the momentum never lets up. Corny? Not a chance. As one of its characters sings, its cool, everlastingly so. And, with its dance, music, and use of Manhattan locations, also hot.

Unlike nearly every movie made from a musical show, West Side Story is unique: in spite of its high-profile source, it has thrived on its own. Where a South Pacific (1958) or a My Fair Lady (1964) will eternally be the film of the show, West Side Story stands on its inherent merit and impact as well as that of its material. It is because of that impact that the songs became standards, and that the shows subsequent popularity has remained so constant. Its due to the film, really, that so much of West Side Story lives permanently in our minds: the sight of tough guys dancing down the street, the use of fire escapes to evoke romantic longing, the depiction of time literally standing still when two lovers meet for the first time, the notion that two battling street gangs can assume the dimensions of classical tragedy.

In the theater, West Side Story had been completely without precedent, breaking new ground in subject matter, unity of music and dance, overall presentation, and seriousness of intent. Leonard Bernsteins music, alternately lyrical and jagged, was uniquely coupled with Stephen Sondheims bright lyrics and the Romeo and Julietinspired plot, with its Us-versus-Them ethnic clash that was both pertinent and prophetic. The script, by Arthur Laurents, was lean and powerful. Most of all, there was Jerome Robbins, whose choreography and direction, whose sheer vision, were of a caliber not previously seen. The result was electrifying, yet so theatrical that it could not be put on the screen verbatim. It was left to the movies producer and codirector, Robert Wise, to grasp that a film version would need to stake out entirely new ground. It could not be a copy of the show, nor could it be like anything else that came before. And it wasnt.

As a film, West Side Story accomplished monumental feats. It ran literally for years, so pervasive and inescapable that, at the time, it was next to impossible to go to a store and not see the soundtrack album (on LP, of course) or the paperback novelization, reprinted nearly in perpetuity. Both the soundtrack and the book sported that distinctive, indelible logo with the fire escape and red background that evoke the film so effortlessly. Its influence goes well beyond that of a conventional film hit, past even the generations of young people it has inspired to become dancers or become involved in musical theater. Its unflinching portrayal of prejudice and hostility has heightened an awareness of cultural inequities and societal conflicts and, in doing so, has delivered messages of brother- and sisterhood, peace, and healing. In the realm of popular entertainment, such achievements and messages are incredibly rare. In a much lighter vein, and not surprising with a work this pervasive, it has inspired jokes and homages so numerous they are impossible to count. Even animated TV series such as Family Guy and Animaniacs have gotten in on the act. (The latter show was executive-produced by Steven Spielberg.) Yet its the original that stays eternal and even fresh. Like that legendary one-woman tribute Cher paid to it when she played all the lead roles in a 1978 television special, West Side Story remains a stand-alone accomplishment, glorious and irreplaceable.

Being a movie musical, West Side Story falls into the grand procession of influential works that begins in 1929 with that creaky pioneer The Broadway Melody, continues through 42nd Street (1933) and the Astaire-Rogers films in the 1930s, and moves on to