By Steven LaVigne
We hear a whistle and then a yellow screen full of lines appears. The colors change as the overture plays. No credits are displayed and as the final notes are heard, the title appears and the lines become a bird’s eyed view of Manhattan. Then, as the whistle returns, we see recognizable buildings like the UN and Empire State Building. The camera moves down to a playground where first Russ Tamblyn as Riff and then more of the Jets snap their fingers and stroll through the streets smoothly performing Jerome Robbins’ magnificent choreography.
They encounter George Chakiris as Bernardo, leader of the sharks, wearing black and red, whose anguished face is seen against a red brick wall. These moments are filled with tension, establishing the mood against which the story will be told.
This is the opening of the 1961 adaptation of West Side Story, directed by Robbins and Robert Wise, screenplay by Ernest Lehmann, winner of ten Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Chakiris) and Best Supporting Actress Rita Moreno. It’s considered one of the greatest movie musicals of all time and it’s a magnificent film.
So why would anyone, especially Steven Spielberg, choose to remake it!
Jerome Robbins is responsible for several revolutionary works in the American Musical Theater. He took the music from Leonard Bernstein’s ballet Fancy Free and with the help of Bernstein, Betty Comden and Adolph Green, transformed it into the musical On the Town. While the stage version is seldom produced, MGM made it into a spectacular film starring Frank Sinatra, Betty Garrett, Gene Kelly, Vera Ellen, Jules Munshin, Ann Miller and Alice Pearce. Pearce was the only performer from the stage version to be in the movie. The story went through changes and only four musical numbers from the stage version were heard on screen. Roger Edens wrote six new songs for the material.
Robbins’ work on Bells Are Ringing, High Button Shoes and Fiddler on the Roof is exemplary, but it’s West Side Story which changed modern musical theater more than any other. Based on Romeo and Juliet, the plot was originally to be about the differences between Catholics and Jews on the upper east side. Realizing that that subject had already been covered, a newspaper article about American and Puerto Rican gangs gave the musical its theme. Librettist Arthur Laurents, lyricist Stephen Sondheim, composer Leonard Bernstein and director-choreographer Robbins spent several years developing the show.
The movie was shot in the San Juan Hill section of Manhattan, full of condemned buildings that would eventually be cleared to create the Lincoln Center campus which includes the Metropolitan Opera, New York State Theater, Philharmonic Hall, The Vivian Beaumont Theater, Fordham University, Julliard and the performing arts branch of the New York Public Library. The center gradually opened between 1964 and 1966.
This creative team brought a gritty realism never before seen onstage. Like such later musicals as Hair and Rent, West Side Story spoke to younger audiences. Besides the love between Tony and Maria, it revealed the disrespect the Jets had for authority as the gangs tread on dangerous ground.
West Side Story ran 732 performances and after a national tour returned for an additional 250 performances. It was, however, ahead of its time because the Tony Awards in 1958 were dominated by The Music Man. Both musicals are given frequent productions, although West Side Story has been revived on Broadway more frequently than Meredith Willson’s popular show.
So once again, I must ask: Why would Steven Spielberg want to remake this? You can’t fix something that’s perfect.
For the 2018 film, the screenplay by Tony Kushner (Angels in America) goes deeper than Ernest Lehmann’s 1961 script, bringing more depth to the plot and characters and including some lines from Shakespeare. That doesn’t mean the movie isn’t flawed.
Spielberg’s film begins with the camera scanning over rusted fire escapes in a junk pile, with a brief image of Lincoln Center appearing. It cuts to buildings being torn down as the whistles and music bring sound to this opening.
Four guys snap their fingers while carrying paint cans from the construction site. Others join them as police drive past. More guys join them as they dance past 68th and Broadway, stealing signs. At a playground, they start painting over an image of the flag as a fight begins. Both gangs run through the area and the Sharks fight with Baby John until Officer Krupke breaks it up. Detective Shrank pulls a nail out of Baby John’s ear. When Krupke and Shrank leave, the Jets plan a rumble, which leads into “The Jet Song.”
We learn that Tony is out of prison after nearly killing someone and now lives in the basement of Doc’s drug store, now run by his widow, Valentina. She’s played by Rita Moreno who played Anita in 1961.
Riff tries to convince Tony to join the rumble, but Tony admits that he’s scared of himself after prison. He’s constantly self-analyzing himself. Riff leaves, but a discussion with Valentina leads into “Something’s Comin.’”
We cut to the dance at the gym, and the Mambo sequence is lively and nicely staged. Justin Peck doesn’t attempt to recreate Robbins’ choreography and the dances really show off the talented performers, while helping the costumes really pop out. In this version, however, Tony and Maria meet behind the bleachers, a space large enough to house a small family. There’s no gym that has that much room behind it.
Kushner’s script has extensively updated the story. Anita, Bernardo and Maria all live together, and the characters are more volatile, but often lack the depth that would define them. While the racism is much more evident, there’s little chemistry between some of these characters, especially Ansel Elgort as Tony and Rachel Zegler as Maria, who only seems to be saying lines instead of acting a character.
The pace is different, too, and a lot of the movie rings false. A quicker pace would cover this and help maintain the much-needed energy this show demands. There are also too many characters. In the 1961, there are about ten members of each gang, but the gang members have doubled in the 2018 version.
On the other hand, there are some lovely touches. Spielberg opens the story further by using locations such as The Cloisters, where “One Hand, One Heart” is performed; in this version, Anybodys is a trans man; “Gee, Officer Krupke” takes place inside the police station and “Cool” is done on the docks as a game of keep-away using a pistol. One highlight is “America,” which is performed during the day on the streets, almost as a counterpoint to the opening dance sequence. Peck’s choreography is much livelier than the original and it’s the first time that Spielberg’s movie comes to life! “I Feel Pretty,” is set at Gimbels, where Maria, Anita and others are employed on the cleaning crew. Another nice touch has Valentina reminiscing about her marriage to Doc. Instead of Tony and Maria, Rita Moreno sings “Somewhere” here.
Spielberg’s frequent cinematographer, Janusz Kaminski, succeeds in making the look of the film superb, including the balcony scene on the fire escape and the rumble sequence, which closely resembles the street scene where Romeo kills Tybalt in Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 film version of Romeo and Juliet. Adriana DeBose’s rendition “A Boy Like That” is much more compelling knowing that Tony has served time.
Even though the Production code was losing its grip in 1961, and movies were becoming grittier and realistic, there was still a cautiousness as scripts were still being sanitized. This version removes that cautiousness. The finale is in a much lower-key and takes place on the street outside of Doc’s store rather than the playground. Josh Rivera’s Chino helps add the strong emotional center of this final scene.
I admire much of what Spielberg was trying to do by remaking this great movie musical, but I suspect that many of us still prefer Natalie Wood as Maria; George Chakiris as Bernardo and Russ Tamblyn as Riff.
I don’t think I’ve accurately answered the question about why this movie needed a remake (frankly, it didn’t). I’d still recommend the 1961 version over this adaptation, but I liked it much more than I thought I would.