“West Side Story” (1961)

West Side Story

Grade: A

Yes, the finger-snapping street gangs are cheesy and dated by today’s standards. But, hey, the same was true back in 1961 — the Sharks and Jets are less Rebel Without a Cause and The Wild One, more Oklahoma! and the Ziegfeld Follies. Also true: West Side Story‘s social commentary is rather broad, basic and obvious, delving no deeper in its class-conscious messaging than “When will you kids ever learn?” and “Why can’t everyone just get along?” Despite all this, nevertheless, West Side Story remains an enduring movie-musical classic because of the two things it absolutely aces: an impressive visual style and terrific songs.

The latter is obvious, with Leonard Bernstein’s classical melodies and Stephen Sondheim’s clever lyrics (particularly in “Something’s Coming” and “Tonight”) fully evoking all the grand emotion expected of a contemporized Romeo and Juliet. The songs, some of them, are operatic; Shakespearian, even. Yet even more so than the songs, the visual style is what truly separates West Side Story from other musicals of the era. Director Robert Wise is very artistic in his adaptation, with creative camera movement and colorful set design capturing a modern NYC in a way the old-fashioned dialogue simply can’t. The mise en scène dictates the drama, legitimizing the film’s ambitions and epic scale. Hokeyness becomes an afterthought when the song-and-dance-and-imagery is so damn immersive.