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Turner Classic Movies, Sunday, Aug. 18, 6 a.m.
Arguably the greatest film musical ever made, West Side Story won 10 Oscars and is still an astonishing site to behold. Mostly this is because of Robert Wise’s and Jerome Robbins’ direction, which took a very stagey show and made it believable on the streets of New York City. And Robbins’ choreography was groundbreaking and still holds up as fresh and thrilling. Even though Richard Beymer (Tony) and Natalie Wood (Maria) had their singing dubbed (by Jimmy Bryant and Marnie Nixon, respectively), their performances of the star-crossed lovers are indelible, though not nearly as much as George Chakiris (Bernardo) and Rita Moreno (Anita), who won Oscars. A modern, mid-century street gang version of Romeo & Juliet, the show is more than an updated Shakespeare, but a metaphor for the agony of the American dream.
