'West Side Story' is a musical drama movie released in 1961 that won 10 out of the 11 Academy Awards that it was nominated for. Based on a musical play of the same name, it is directed by Robert Wise, and Jerome Robbins. 'West Side Story' boasts of one of the most successful sondtracks in Hollywood history.
Set in the 1950's Manhattan, the movie is about two rival gangs - the Jets and the Sharks. The Jets are composed of white Americans led by Riff (played by Russ Tamblyn), while the Sharks are composed mainly of Puerto Rican immigrants led by Bernardo (played by George Chakiris).
One night, the Jets plan to challenge the Sharks at a dance party to an all-out rumble that will decide once and for all who gets to rule the streets. One of the Jets' co-founders and Riff's best friend, Tony (played by Richard Beymer), who has already left the gang to work at a store, will be asked to deliver the challenge to the Sharks.
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Bernardo has a pretty sister, Maria (played by Natalie Wood), who always complains to her friends about his over-protectiveness.
At the dance party, the Sharks and the Jets remain separated, but they manage to have a good time with the girls. Tony and Maria meet and gets infatuated with each other. Bernardo sees this and sends Maria home while warning Tony to stay away from her sister. Before the party ends, Riff is able to challenge Bernardo to a rumble.
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Figure 1. Tony dies in the arms of Maria after being shot by Chino. This scene was spoofed by ToyHollywood.com in this video. |
Tony visits Maria through a fire escape outside her home and tells her that he loves her. Later that night, the Jets and the Sharks go into a war council meeting, where they agree to just have a fair fist fight between Bernardo and a Jet named Ice instead of having a full-blown rumble.
The next day, Anita (Bernardo's girlfriend and Maria's best friend) is informing Maria of the upcoming rumble, when Tony arrives. Anita is surprised of their meeting but tolerates it while worrying about what might happen if Bernardo sees this. Maria asks Tony to prevent any rumble, or even just a simple fist fight between the rival gangs, to which Tony agrees.
As promised, Tony tries to stop the encounter, but he is mocked by the Sharks, triggering a knife fight between Riff and Bernardo. Riff is killed in this encounter, enraging Tony who kills Bernardo using Riff's knife. A full-blown rumble erupts, which is dispersed only when the police arrives.
One of the Sharks, Chino, informs Maria that Tony has killed Bernardo, causing Maria to lash out in anger at Tony when he visits her. Tony explains what has happened and convinces Maria that they still love each other. Anita finds out about Maria and Tony's plan to marry, confronting Maria how she can do that. Maria explains and convinces Anita that it is the best thing to do, so Anita agrees to help them amid reports that Chino is planning to kill Tony.
Lt. Schrank arrives and prevents Maria from seeing Tony, so Maria sends Anita to tell Tony that she is detained. Anita is not able to do so, having been harassed by the Jets. So she lies and leaves a false message for Tony saying that Maria has been killed by Chino.
Tony rushes to find Chino and finds Maria in the playground. As they run towards each other, Chino come out with his gun and fires at Tony. Tony dies in the arms of Maria. Maria takes Chino's gun and gives an emotional lecture to the rival gangs, who have arrived with the police. The rival gangs carry Tony's body, signaling that their feud has finally ended.
Information on the movie's full credits may be found at:
