West Side Story
Director: Jerome Robbins, Robert Wise
Genre: Musical, Romance Film, Musical Drama, Juvenile Delinquency Film, Drama, Crime Fiction
Year: 1961
Country: United States of America
Language: Spanish Language, English Language
Starring: Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn, Rita Moreno, George Chakiris, David Winters, Simon Oakland, William Bramley, Tucker Smith, Tony Mordente, Eliot Feld, Robert Banas, Bert Michaels, Ned Glass
West Side Story is a 1961 musical film directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins. The film is an adaptation of the 1957 Broadway musical of the same name, which in turn was adapted from William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet. It stars Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn, Rita Moreno and George Chakiris and it was photographed by Daniel L. Fapp, A.S.C., in Super Panavision 70.
The film's opening sequence was shot on the streets of New York City, mainly in the area where the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts campus of Fordham University now stands. Veteran director Robert Wise was chosen as the director and producer because of his familiarity with urban New York dramas, such as Odds Against Tomorrow. Wise had never directed a musical before and when it was suggested that Jerome Robbins, who had directed the stage version, be brought in to handle all the music and dance sequences in the film, Wise agreed. After about one-third of the movie had been shot, the Mirisch Company, which had become increasingly concerned that the production was over-budget, fired Robbins, who, according to Saul Chaplin in his autobiography, nearly suffered a nervous breakdown during the
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