Audio problem: During the opening overture, right when the orchestra starts "Maria", you can hear someone sneeze in the background. It's easier to hear on the soundtrack but you still can hear it in the movie.
West Side Story (1961)
Plot summary
Directed by: Robert Wise, Jerome Robbins
Starring: Natalie Wood, Russ Tamblyn, Richard Beymer, Rita Moreno, George Chakiris
A musical Romeo and Juliet story.
The Sharks and the Jets are two feuding street gangs in 1950's New York, the Jets being White and the Sharks being Puerto Rican. At a dance at a gym, Jet Tony falls in love with a Shark's sister, Maria. They know they can't be together because of the gang's war, but that doesn't stop them.
Meanwhile, The two gangs prepare for a rumble, and Tony tries to stop it out of love for Maria. In the process, his best friend and Jet leader Riff is killed by Maria's brother, Bernardo. In anger, Tony kills Bernardo. HE then realises his mistake (killing his love's brother) and begs for forgiveness, which, of course, Maria gives him. They decide they have to leave the city, and the pointless hate, behind them. They plan to meet at Doc's Candy Store and take a bus to the country.
Maria asks Anita, Bernardo's fiancé, to tell Tony she will be a little late meet him at Doc's Candy Store, but when Anita is mauled by the Jets, she angrily tells them that Maria is dead, murdered by Chino, which is, of course, a lie. Doc overhears this and reluctantly tells Tony. Tony is devastated and furious, and hunts Chino down so he can be killed too.
Tony runs into Maria at the playground and is overjoyed. As soon as they embrace, Chino runs in with a gun and shoots Tony. Tony tries to stay alive but is overcome by the bullet and dies. Maria bursts into tears, devastated, and when the police come, both Jets and Sharks help carry Tony away. Baby John places Maria's headscarf on her head and Maria is the last to walk out.
MovieSal
More mistakes in West Side StoryMore quotes from West Side Story
Trivia: Rita Mareno was unable to hit the low notes in the song "A Boy Like That"; the entire song had to be dubbed. Natalie Wood was not told that all of her songs were going to be dubbed until after filming was completed; she went through the production thinking it would be her voice used in the songs when the film was released. Dubbing the songs after filming was completed posed an unusual problem. Normally when a song is dubbed, they play it during filming so that the actors can mouth the words so that they match the lyrics. The songs in West Side Story were dubbed after filming was completed, so it was the singers who were brought in that had to match their lyrics to the actors mouthing the words (from the documentary "West Side Memories", 2009).
Question: Why did they use actors who couldn't sing in the leading roles? Wouldn't it be easier to cast people who could sing instead of dubbing with other singing voices?
Answer: Natalie Wood was more well-known. And Wood actually COULD sing, she just couldn't hit the high notes perfectly. In fact, she was told only some of her singing would be dubbed.
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Answer: People would not come to the theater to see Marnie Nixon despite the fact that she has sung the lead roles in West Side Story, The King and I, and My Fair Lady. They'd rather see that darling girl from "Miracle on 34th Street" again (or Deborah Kerr or Audrey Hepburn) than an unknown with actual talent.
Myridon