Considered one of the most popular musicals of all time, WEST SIDE STORY
earned director Robert Wise an Oscar for Best Director as well as nine
other Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Realistically portrayed
characters and their surroundings and expert editing complementing
innovative dance sequences mark this highly stylized modern-day Romeo
and Juliet tale. The stage is set in New York's Upper West Side in the
1950s, where the area's slums are plagued by racial tensions acted on by
two rival gangs: the Puerto Rican Sharks and the Caucasian Jets. In the
middle of this mess is young, innocent Maria (Natalie Wood), a Puerto
Rican seamstress whose brother, Bernardo (George Chakiris), is the
leader of the Sharks. Despite the warnings of Anita (Rita Moreno),
Bernardo's fiery girlfriend, Maria falls in love with a young, hopeful
Polish boy, Tony (Richard Beymer), who used to belong to the Jets, now
headed by Riff (Russ Tamblyn). When Tony, on Maria's urging, tries to
stop a rumble between the gangs, tragedy ensues, marking their dedicated
love affair with violence and desperation. The infectious, lyrical
landmark score by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim help round out
one of the greatest musical experiences ever captured on film.