WEST SIDE STORY: Blu-ray (The Mirisch Co./UA, 1961) MGM/Fox Home Video

BEST PICTURE - 1961

Racial prejudice, gang violence, rape and multiple murders may have seemed like strange bedfellows for the musical genre before West Side Story hit Broadway in 1957. Afterwards audiences would never look at either in quite the same way. This contemporary spin on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet set in the ghetto was fleshed out on stage by scenarist, Arthur Laurents. Coupled with an electric Leonard Bernstein/Jerome Robbins’ score and scintillating choreography, West Side Story became an exuberant showcase for social commentary. Regrettably, the stage show did not garner the respect it deserved. In fact, reviews were mixed. West Side Story was not even nominated for a Tony Award! But in the four years between its Broadway debut and the cinematic experience, a strange thing happened. A few of the show's songs were picked up by pop singers and turned into hummable hits on the jukebox. The net result was that by the time West Side Story made its way to the screen in 1961, it was already an instantly recognizable commodity. Better still, unlike theater devotees, whose tastes proved too sensitive for such scandalous subject matter, movie audiences, presumably with their taste buds dumbed down (a notion promoted by the bourgeoise) were instead primed for a story about gang violence, having known it on their screens in such classics like Blackboard Jungle and Rebel Without a Cause (both released in 1955).

On Broadway, West Side Story was a ground-breaking musical, effectively to cull all the romantic tragedy of a Bill Shakespeare into a volatile cocktail of symphonic/Latin and jazz musical influences, expressed in an elemental dance explosion – sexualized ‘street people’ brought forth in a truly arresting piece of Americana. If, as they had done, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein brought to the forefront, the ‘integrated’ musical (where songs advance the story), stylizing life as art, then West Side Story on Broadway managed the unthinkable; to illustrate life itself as art. The movie version rekindled interest in the stagecraft, originally co-authored by Jerome Robbins, Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents. But the stage show had been a collaborative effort; its impetus, begun after Bernstein took a vacation to Florida. Picking up radio signals from Cuba, Bernstein became enamored with the infectious rhythms of Latin music. Even so, his plans to write a tale about inner city strife between Catholics and Jews seemed, if gnawing at his creative core, quite impossible to make the successful leap from his fertile imagination to the page. It was Arthur Laurents who approached Bernstein with another suggestion – sharing an article about the growing concern over inner city Chicano gang violence.  In hindsight, the fusion of Laurents (renown as a playwright), Bernstein (a gifted composer/conductor) and Robbins (one of the nation’s imminent choreographers, with a ballet aesthetic) proved the perfect trifecta of talents to generate Broadway magic.

That this charm somehow eluded audiences in 1957, repulsed by the starkness of its subject matter, was, alas, disheartening – as many in attendance on opening night, walked out in abject disgust; the reviews that followed West Side Story’s premiere, mixed at best. It was the propulsive quality of Bernstein’s score that garnered the most praise – just not enough to make the play a smash hit. However, sitting in the audience that night, right on through to its devastating finale, and absolutely blown away by its intensity, relevancy and poignancy, was movie producer, Walter Mirisch. As far as Mirisch could tell, the score was a winner. And Robbins had brought a raw masculine chic to his balletic choreography. “I think we were more concerned with making something good, rather than something commercial,” Arthur Laurents would surmise decades later. And indeed, they had.  After purchasing the rights to produce West Side Story as a film, for a then staggering $375,000, the Mirisch Company was taking no chances. Transitioning from stage to screen, Mirisch hired noted film-maker, Robert Wise to direct. But Mirisch also wanted Jerome Robbins on board - and, screenwriter, Ernest Lehman, to iron out the ever so slight dramatic hiccups in the original stagecraft. Lehman’s rearranging of the Bernstein score, relocation the songs ‘Officer Krupke’ and ‘Quartet’, as well as integrating ‘the boys’ into the number, ‘America’ (on stage, exclusively sung by Chita Rivera’s Anita and her Hispanic cohorts), were all minor improvements that nevertheless helped reshape the show and that Laurents, quietly observing the evolution of West Side Story from the sidelines, as well as Robbins, wholeheartedly approved, as immensely they improved the overall dramatic arc of the story.

As production got underway, a time-honored principle was applied – shoot it on the back lot.   Save the mesmerizing opening, overhead shots of New York City – startling aerial views of the clattery and cookie-cutter-like Manhattan skyline in constant flux and bustle, and, the prologue dance, that followed rival gangs, the Sharks and the Jets (shot, from every conceivable angle, including trenches dug into the ground, and, from an elevated crane, on West 61^st, now occupied by Lincoln Center, and, a playground, located on East 110^th) the rest of West Side Story was made entirely from production designer, Boris Levin’s magnificently stylized back lot sets and sound stage interiors. Shooting the prologue was cause for some consternation back in Hollywood. While Walter Mirisch could certainly recognize the moody magnificence bursting forth from the dailies, what ought to have been two weeks away from the confines of the studio, turned into two months, as Jerome Robbins continued to reinvent new choreography and evolve the action between these rival gang members. Initially, Robert Wise had agreed to allow Robbins his latitude to ‘find’ the dance. But Robbins’ perfectionism was proving far too costly to be sustained for any great length of time. And Robbins was a task master, rehearsing his dancers at a slavish pace on the stifling hot New York streets in temperatures often to reach 100+ degrees. Costly delays from bad weather continued to push back the shoot. Meanwhile, screenwriter, Ernest Lehman restructured the narrative and order of the songs considerably, while producer, Saul Chaplin made the executive decision to over dub the vocals of virtually everyone in the cast; Marni Nixon for Natalie Wood, Jim Bryant for Richard Beymer, Tucker Smith for Russ Tamblyn, and Betty Wand for Rita Moreno.

The only star to escape such scrutiny was George Chakiris, perhaps because he had no solos, though proved one of the truly outstanding dancers to distinguish himself as the Shark’s leader, Bernardo. Although Robbins would return with cast and crew to continue work on numbers in Hollywood, most notably, the competition dance at the gymnasium, and, ‘Cool’ – an electrifying sequence shot on a sound stage made up to resemble a parking garage with very low ceilings (a sequence, Robbins was never entirely satisfied with, and, also caused cast member, Elliot Feld – as Baby John – to suffer a hellish bout of pneumonia from overwork and the constant flux in temperatures); at some point, Mirisch made the executive decision to fired Robbins, as the production had already gone well over budget and over schedule. Henceforth, Robert Wise assumed solo directorial control and, ever the gentleman, helped to ease this creative absence, felt deeply by cast and crew, into a manageable and meaningful work environment. Even so, much of what Robbins had inculcated in his dancers remained on view in the final edit, perhaps because Wise extended the courtesy to Robbins to finish these sequences he had already begun, even after the ax had come down on his participation with the film. And Robbins, for all his zeal, had truly created something genuine and new in the art of dance, designing steps to fit each character, testing each dancer’s resolve with very strict and demanding steps during the picture’s 2-month pre-production phase. “It was like watching two great chefs make a cake,” Walter Mirisch reasoned, “But at some point, one of them had to go.”

West Side Story opens with a conflict between rival gangs the Sharks and the Jets on New York’s west side. The Jet’s leader, Riff (Russ Tamblyn) wants a 'war council' to settle a conflict over turf rights once and for all, a request the Shark’s leader, Bernardo (George Chakiris) is only too happy to oblige. To garner support for his rumble, Riff decides to look up Tony (Richard Beymer) who has left the gang to work in Doc’s (Ned Glass) Drug Store. Although Tony refuses to re-enter ‘the life’, as a retired gang member in good standing he does agree to attend the local high school dance in order to express his solidarity with the Jets. At the high school gym, Tony meets, and inadvertently falls in love with Bernardo’s sister, Maria (Natalie Wood). Their brief introduction is interrupted by Bernardo’s threats. But Tony cannot help himself. Neither can Maria. They secretly meet under Bernardo’s girlfriend, Anita’s (Rita Moreno) watchful eye. But their union is doomed when Tony, in an attempt to stop the rumble, murders Bernardo after he has already killed Riff. Tony returns to Maria and confesses his crime. However, her bitterness does not outweigh her love for him. Sympathetic to Maria, Anita's heart is turned to stone after the Jets taunt and nearly rape her inside Doc's Drug Store. As retaliation Anita tells the Jets to inform Tony that Maria has been killed by her jealous boyfriend, Chino (Jose De Vega). The message brings Tony out of hiding. He and Maria are briefly reunited in the playground before Tony is shot and killed by Chino. Their blood feud at an end, Maria challenges both sides with her own hatred, forcing everyone to find a new common ground; Tony’s body, carried out by a procession of Jets and Sharks as Sergeant Shrank (Simon Oakland) and Officer Krupke (William Bramley) look on in disbelief.

West Side Story is an iconic bit of stagecraft transferred to the expansive Panavision screen. For its sheer explosiveness and intense indictment on racial prejudice, there was absolutely nothing to touch the electrifying moment Rita Moreno and George Chakiris, along with other Shark members and their girlfriends, took to the rooftops to perform, ‘America’, Leonard Bernstein’s biting lyrics, creating a kinetic spark of exhilaration. “Buying on credit is so nice. One look at us and they charge twice. I’ll get a terrace apartment. Better get rid of our accent. Life is alright in America…if you’re all white in America.” In retrospect, it is the score that soars, yielding a rich mélange of almost operatic social commentary. This stings as much as it inspires. Robert Wise's direction is brilliantly on point - effortlessly blending the fantastic with hard-hitting melodrama and coming up a winner on both fronts. Even today, West Side Story's curious melding of street violence and ballet never seems strained, out of place or out of fashion, and sooooo unnecessary for a remake, already in the works and to be directed by Steven Spielberg (who ought to know better than to tamper with a true American classic!).

Robert Wise, who began his career as an editor for Orson Welles and later, a director of low budget, Val Lewton horror movies at RKO, effortlessly segued to hugely popular and affecting A-list movies like, The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), The Sound of Music (1965) and The Sand Pebbles (1966). Wise’s contributions on West Side Story can never be underestimated or equaled for that matter. Indeed, he brought a wounded nobility to this exercise, never tempering the rawness of youth, railing against the establishment and each other, yet somehow managing a quiet dignity to pervade and tug naturally at the heartstrings. Although hardly Puerto Rican, Natalie Wood makes the most of her innocent portrayal of Maria – an incredibly fine actress at the peak of her powers. If somewhat stilted, the film is not particularly hindered by Richard Beymer’s wooden interpretation of Tony. But in retrospect, the most exciting members in the cast are George Chakiris and Rita Moreno – his fiery, testosterone-infused elegance, pitted against her saucy, sultry, sexual vixen. As publicity of the day declared back in 1962, even as the picture celebrated its one-year anniversary while continuing to play to packed movie houses in New York and Los Angeles, ‘unlike some classics…West Side Story grows younger.’ With each passing year, this seems truer still – the performances, ageless, the art direction, brilliant, the choreography, exceptional, and the results – absolute perfection!  

Were that we could say as much about MGM/Fox Home Video's Blu-ray – one of the most grotesquely mangled affairs in hi-def history. Setting aside the absolute idiocy to have digitally added a ‘fade to black’ right in the middle of Saul Bass’ incredible credits, it is the epic edge enhancement to follow shortly thereafter, that utterly destroys the opening ‘prologue’, featuring Wise’s breathtaking overhead shots of New York. Truly, this is cause for outrage – ditto, for its sporadic cropping up thereafter, in fine detail of the chain-link fence, brick work and other horizontal and vertical lines; also, the slight misalignment of some of the visual effects, creating disturbing halos and a soft blurriness during the gymnasium ‘Mambo’ competition dance. Ugh! And very ugly to boot. We could have forgiven MGM/Fox these foibles, had they not taken any pride or care to remaster the movie in 1080p. But no, the studios’ combined efforts have yielded an impressive level of color saturation, a startling amount of fine detail and some gorgeous contrast and grain levels that ought to have made West Side Story on Blu-ray a reference quality affair. Exactly what happened in the eleventh hour of porting these immaculately cleaned-up and color balanced digital files over to disc remains a mystery and open for discussion. But someone, somewhere really screwed up!  Initially embarrassed – just, not enough to sincerely do anything about it – Fox Home Video issued a ‘selective’ disc replacement program. This corrected the ridiculous ‘fade out’ from ‘overture’ to ‘main title’, but did absolutely nothing to rectify the enormity of the aforementioned edge enhancement.

Aside: when it was announced in 2011 that Fox Home Video intended to re-issue replacement discs, yours truly was among the very first to put in a call to the studio’s 1-800- call center help line. What followed, however, was not an effortless replacement of the flawed disc; rather, a series of subsequent calls to attempt to rectify the situation over and over again. The first phone operator at Fox wanted me to provide him with a proof of purchase. No problem. This, I did. The second call, put in a month after this initial conversation, claimed to have no record of my doing so, and, in fact, no record I had even called to request a replacement in the first place. So, again, proof of purchase was required and provided – also, this time, a scanned and emailed copy of my original receipt.  Again, a month went by and still nothing. Another phone call, and the screener – a woman this time – nervously laughed into the receiver when I said I was from Canada. Evidently, this was quite funny to her. Nevertheless, as she could find no proof that I had made two previous calls, she promised a replacement without fail and without re-providing any further ‘proof’ I actually owned the 50^th Anniversary disc. So, again, I waited. Again, nothing. As of 2019 and the writing of this review, I am still waiting for Fox Home Video to send me my disc.  Yeah…I know. I won’t be holding my breath. What shoddy customer service! But I digress.

In the interim, I have repurchased West Side Story on Blu-ray again, on my own, merely to have a copy without that awful and thoroughly misguided ‘fade to black’. But what I do still have is an imperfect incarnation of one of Hollywood’s greatest movie musicals. How sad! Even more curious - the soundtrack presented on this Blu-ray illustrates even more shortsightedness on the part of MGM/Fox Home Video. The original magnetic 6-track 70mm stereo masters for West Side Story, long thought lost or destroyed, were actually discovered in 2010 and completely restored in time for this 2011 home video release. But these remastered elements are not what were used for the Blu-ray. Instead, inexplicably, the studio employed a re-purposed DTS audio master from the same 4-track elements created for the old MGM/UA DVDs. What?!? Yes, sad but true. Are the results of this re-purposing better than what’s on the DVD? Absolutely and without question. Are they the absolute best they can sound on home video? Emphatically, NO! And again, for a 50th Anniversary, I expected more…a lot more! Fox/MGM has taken the time to produce two featurettes on the cultural impact of West Side Story. They have also directly imported all of the extras made available on previous DVD releases, including an audio commentary, trailers, junkets, and a fairly comprehensive hour-long featurette on the creation of the Broadway show and the movie. Everything, except the commentary, is housed on a separate Blu-ray disc. MGM pads out this set with a DVD and CD 'tribute soundtrack'. No, this is not the original soundtrack, or even a soundtrack sampler (as Warner Home Video likes to tease us) but a rendering of songs, featuring various new artists singing the picture’s hit tunes. Dumb!  And again, for a 50^th anniversary, why not the original songs and score, remastered on CD?  Last, and very least of all, is the meaningless swag – a hardbound booklet, with threadbare info and a lot of glossy stills, and, a packet containing foreign release poster artwork. Ho-hum, and the beat goes on. Bottom line: the movie is highly recommended. This Blu-ray is not! Regrets!

FILM RATING (out of 5 - 5 being the best)

5+

VIDEO/AUDIO

2.5

EXTRAS

3