West Side Story (1961)

Welcome to 'Don't You Want Me?' - a podcast series taking a lighthearted look at the most relatable, intriguing and dysfunctional relationships in film.

In this episode, we’re talking about 1961’s West Side Story, which was nominated for 11 Academy Awards and won ten, making it still the all-time most successful musical at the Oscars. Based on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins and with a score by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a screenplay by Ernest Lehman, this was the highest grossing film of 1961 and pretty much changed the face of movie musicals forever. The Hollywood Reporter said ‘It is so good that superlatives are superfluous. Let it be noted that the film musical, the one dramatic form that is purely American and purely Hollywood, has never been done better”. Tonight we’ll be heading to the roof with Bernardo, played by George Chakiris and Anita, played by Rita Moreno. And along the way we’ll stop off at the bridal shop with Tony, played by Richard Beymer and Maria, played by Natalie Wood. Are these relationships wild and bright or are they going mad, shooting stars into space?

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Recorded in September 2021.

Edited by Rich Nelson

Additional material written by Catrin Lowe 

Theme music by Paul Abbott (on Twitter @Pablovich)

Design by NOAKE (on Instagram @n_o_a_k_e)

Rich can be found on Twitter @fantana275

Cat can be found on Twitter @KittyCostanza