|
Post by janntosh on Oct 20, 2021 19:00:56 GMT
|
|
|
Post by Feologild Oakes on Oct 20, 2021 19:03:49 GMT
Personally i don`t like that movie.
|
|
|
Post by movielover on Oct 20, 2021 19:04:57 GMT
One of my all time favorite movies.
|
|
|
Post by Xcalatë on Oct 20, 2021 20:18:08 GMT
Hate it.
|
|
|
Post by wmcclain on Oct 20, 2021 23:22:15 GMT
West Side Story (1961), produced by Robert Wise, directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins. I'd forgotten how gorgeous this is. I'd like it more if I cared for the singing and dancing, and for the very slight story, but it's not doing much for me. But give them credit: the dancing is impressive, with Russ Tamblyn (Riff) doing some incredible acrobatics. Leonard Bernstein gets the music credit and a lot of it sounds like him, but some of the tunes ("Maria", "Tonight", "I Feel Pretty") sound much more like Lerner and Lowe. This is punctuated when Marni Nixon dubs the singing voice of Natalie Wood, just as she did for Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady (1964). Aesthetically, this is a hard one to puzzle out. Doing stylized moves -- even the knife fight is ballet -- against the realistic and gritty street background: is it "bold" or "just plain wrong"? As they say in Spinal Tap: "There's a thin line between clever and stupid". We can't judge a film by what has happened since, but in retrospect the street gangs are pathetically weak. See what fifty years of progress can accomplish? The wikipedia article has many production details, including lists of actors considered for Tony: - Elvis Presley
- Warren Beatty
- Tab Hunter
- Anthony Perkins
- Russ Tamblyn (Riff!)
- Burt Reynolds
- Troy Donahue
- Bobby Darin
- Richard Chamberlain
- Dennis Hopper (!)
- Gary Lockwood
...and for Maria: - Jill St. John
- Audrey Hepburn
- Diane Baker
- Valerie Harper (Rhoda!)
- Elizabeth Ashley
- Suzanne Pleshette
The alternate-universe combinations are mind-boggling. Fascinating: George Chakiris played Riff the Jet on stage and Bernardo the Shark on screen. Available on a fine-looking Blu-ray.
|
|
|
Post by phantomparticle on Oct 20, 2021 23:23:40 GMT
I like the movie and the magnificent score, but I don't care to watch it more than a couple of years apart. For some reason, even at two and a half hours (which is not long for a musical), it begins to drag to the finish.
I believe it was the first of the modern "dark musicals," signifying a shift from the optimistic 1950's dominated by Rogers and Hammerstein and other Broadway adaptations, and the AI Beach Party series of the early sixties.
WB had cornered the market on earthy musicals in the 1930's (42nd Street, Gold Diggers of 1933 and Dames). Gritty as they were, even WB couldn't foresee Sweeney Todd, Chicago and Les Miserables.
|
|
|
Post by Archelaus on Oct 21, 2021 5:31:15 GMT
It's one of my favorite musical films. Happy 60th anniversary.
|
|
Phoenix101
Sophomore
@angryjoeshow
Posts: 596
Likes: 141
|
Post by Phoenix101 on Oct 21, 2021 5:33:18 GMT
White actors as Puerto Ricans. Hysterical.
|
|
|
Post by lowtacks86 on Oct 21, 2021 16:54:15 GMT
White actors as Puerto Ricans. Hysterical. To be fair, there weren't really a whole of big name Puerto Rican actors in Hollywood at the time, dunno who they could have casted. Even big name Latino actors in general were a bit hard time come by, who could they have casted? Most of the big name Latino actors at the time were older guys (Caesar Romero, Ricardo Montalban, Desi Arnaz), too old to be cast as young street hoodlums.
|
|
Phoenix101
Sophomore
@angryjoeshow
Posts: 596
Likes: 141
|
Post by Phoenix101 on Oct 21, 2021 17:52:31 GMT
White actors as Puerto Ricans. Hysterical. To be fair, there weren't really a whole of big name Puerto Rican actors in Hollywood at the time, dunno who they could have casted. Even big name Latino actors in general were a bit hard time come by, who could they have casted? Most of the big name Latino actors at the time were older guys (Caesar Romero, Ricardo Montalban, Desi Arnaz), too old to be cast as young street hoodlums. The Latino actors you've listed were white so you may be onto something.
|
|
|
Post by politicidal on Oct 21, 2021 17:54:50 GMT
Only seen the basketball scene and that's it.
|
|
|
Post by Feologild Oakes on Oct 21, 2021 18:53:33 GMT
To be fair, there weren't really a whole of big name Puerto Rican actors in Hollywood at the time, dunno who they could have casted. Even big name Latino actors in general were a bit hard time come by, who could they have casted? Most of the big name Latino actors at the time were older guys (Caesar Romero, Ricardo Montalban, Desi Arnaz), too old to be cast as young street hoodlums. The Latino actors you've listed were white so you may be onto something. You do know that Latino's can be white right ? White Hispanic and Latino Americans
|
|
Phoenix101
Sophomore
@angryjoeshow
Posts: 596
Likes: 141
|
Post by Phoenix101 on Oct 21, 2021 20:25:17 GMT
My point was that Hollywood is more likely to hire Latinos who are white so they can keep their standing while claim they're being progressive.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
@Deleted
Posts: 0
Likes:
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 21, 2021 20:32:46 GMT
I prefer it to Romeo and Juliet.
One of my favorite films.
|
|
|
Post by dwightmachinehead on Oct 21, 2021 21:02:40 GMT
I remember my mum put it on for me when I was a kid. She said it was a gang movie, and I was expecting something exciting. As soon as they started dancing it freaked me out and I changed the channel. Haha, maybe I'll appreciate it now.
|
|
|
Post by lowtacks86 on Oct 21, 2021 21:14:12 GMT
This is true. A lot of people forget Latin America actually has a decent amount of European immigrants (in fact many Nazis fled to Argentina).
|
|
|
Post by movielover on Oct 21, 2021 21:37:32 GMT
White actors as Puerto Ricans. Hysterical. Rita Moreno was Puerto Rican. George Chakiris was the son of Greek immigrants. So not exactly white actors.
|
|
|
Post by lowtacks86 on Oct 21, 2021 21:44:41 GMT
White actors as Puerto Ricans. Hysterical. Rita Moreno was Puerto Rican. George Chakiris was the son of Greek immigrants. So not exactly white actors. While Greeks do tend to be more tan than most Europeans, they're generally considered "white".
|
|
|
Post by Cat on Oct 21, 2021 21:50:49 GMT
I was sort of underwhelmed by the fact I actually really liked it. Didn't see that coming! It's good. I had no interest until it was on a screen in my house and I really enjoyed it.
|
|
Phoenix101
Sophomore
@angryjoeshow
Posts: 596
Likes: 141
|
Post by Phoenix101 on Oct 21, 2021 22:29:14 GMT
Rita Moreno was Puerto Rican. George Chakiris was the son of Greek immigrants. So not exactly white actors. While Greeks do tend to be more tan than most Europeans, they're generally considered "white". Say the same thing about Sicilians. Moor conquests have enabled Grecians and Italians to have middle eastern ancestry in them.
|
|