Review of West Side Story (1961) by Matthew D — 03 May 2013

"When you're a Jet, You Stay A Jet!" Movie Matt here again with West Side Story, the "black sheep" of the "roadshow" films. I'll be honest here, I didn't see the play but actually this is one of those movies where you don't have to see the original source material.

Let's recap: It's 1957 New York & there's two gangs: The Jets & The Sharks. The jets are Polish-American while the sharks are transplants from Puerto Rico when one member falls for the sister of the Sharks leader, it turns into a "Romeo & Juliet" scenario.

The cast is great & some of the cast from the Broadway show repeated their roles (as was custom sometimes in Broadway-to-film adaptations) or recasted into different ones. The songs are catchy as hell depending on the context they're used & heard.

Winning a near-record of 10 academy awards & was a big success at the box office, WSS is a triumph. It was, still is & always will be.