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West Side Story

Oscar™ Best Picture - Winning Movies

West Side Story

1961

Robert Wise, Jerome Robbins

Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, George Chakiris, Rita Moreno ...

7.3

45,684

Musical. Romance. Drama This romantic musical update of 'Romeo and Juliet' won ten Oscars. The tale of a turf war between rival teenage gangs in Manhattan's Hell's Kitchen and the two lovers who cross battle lines has captivated audiences for four decades. The Stephen Sondheim/Leonard Bernstein score is just one of the reasons.

	Author	Review
United States	Whitney Williams Variety	"A beautifully-mounted, impressive, emotion-ridden and violent musical."	POS
United States	James Powers The Hollywood Reporter	"Natalie Wood sets herself firmly as the most important young star of the time and moves herself into the powerful league of some of her elders."	POS
United States	Roger Ebert rogerebert.com	"'West Side Story' remains a landmark of musical history (...) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 4)"	POS
United Kingdom	Peter Bradshaw The Guardian	"It looks a little dated in places, but Sondheim/Berstein's musical take on 'Romeo and Juliet' still has snap, crackle and pop (...) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United Kingdom	Kim Newman Empire	"This really is the musical for people who dont like musicals (...) Rating: ★★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United Kingdom	Tim Robey Telegraph	"It’s impossible to begrudge the vertiginous energy and feeling that make this one of the great American musicals (…) Rating: ★★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United States	Dave Kehr Chicago Reader	"Decent 1961 adaptation of the Bernstein-Robbins musical"	POS
United Kingdom	Stella Papamichael BBC	"[It] feels as contemporary now as it did on its initial release (...) A truly arresting musical (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United States	James Berardinelli ReelViews	"To its credit, 'West Side Story' does not shy away from difficult issues (...) Effective singing is matched by strong dancing (…) Rating: ★★★½ (out of 4)"	POS
United Kingdom	Tony Sloman Radio Times	"[A] electrifying and moving version of the magnificent Leonard Bernstein/Stephen Sondheim musical (...) Natalie Wood is genuinely touching (…) Rating: ★★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS

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