| West Side Story | |
|---|---|
&sq=Google&lang=en&file=File:West_Side_Story_1961_film_poster.jpg) Theatrical release poster by Joe Caroff | |
| Directed by | |
| Screenplay by | Ernest Lehman |
| Based on |
|
| Produced by | Robert Wise |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Daniel L. Fapp |
| Edited by | Thomas Stanford |
| Music by | Leonard Bernstein |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | United Artists |
Release date |
|
Running time | 152 minutes[2] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $6.75 million[3] |
| Box office | $44.1 million[4] |
West Side Story is a 1961 American musical romantic drama film directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins, written by Ernest Lehman, and produced by Wise. The film is an adaptation of the 1957 Broadway musical of the same title, which in turn was inspired by Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet. It stars Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn, Rita Moreno, and George Chakiris and was photographed by Daniel L. Fapp in Super Panavision 70. The music was composed by Leonard Bernstein, with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.
Released on October 18, 1961, through United Artists, the film received praise from critics and viewers, and became the highest-grossing film of 1961. It was nominated for 11 Academy Awards and won 10, including Best Picture (in addition to a special award for Robbins), becoming the record holder for the most wins for a musical. West Side Story is regarded as one of the greatest musical films of all time. The film was designated as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry in 1997.[5] A second film adaptation by Steven Spielberg was released in December 2021.
- ^ West Side Story at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
- ^ "West Side Story (PG)". British Board of Film Classification. January 12, 1962. Archived from the original on November 13, 2013. Retrieved June 19, 2013.
- ^ Mirisch, Walter (2008). I Thought We Were Making Movies, Not History. Madison, Wisconsin: The University of Wisconsin Press. p. 127. ISBN 978-0-299-22640-4. Archived from the original on December 27, 2017. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
- ^ "West Side Story (1961)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on October 15, 2021. Retrieved October 15, 2021.
- ^ Berson, Misha (2011). Something's Coming, Something Good: West Side Story and the American Imagination. Applause Theatre & Cinema Books. p. 155. ISBN 9781557837660. Archived from the original on February 28, 2021. Retrieved March 16, 2016.