Steven Spielberg's WEST SIDE STORY - News & Discussion Thread — Page 21

NameGreg said: "Moreno railing against Wood for not being Hispanic must’ve been uncomfortable for herfriend Chakiris since he’s not either.

Personally I don’t think the performer should be blamed for this, instead the blame should be aimed at the overall community and hierarchy that gives POC roles to white actors."

Absolutely. 100% agree with this. It was a different time. Why blame Wood? I don't see Moreno going on a rampage about her ex-lover being cast in "Teahouse of the August Moon".

Chakiris has in the past called her out on her b.s. regarding Natalie and how damaging it was to the film's overall legacy. Apparently she is too stubborn and set in her ways to listen. There is a way to address the issues of casting that went on back then without personally attacking Natalie Wood.

She didn’t say anything mean. She just said Wood wasn’t the best for the part, especially being an American girl playing a Hispanic character. Even Russ Tamblyn has said before that Richard Beymer was terrible as Tony. I think Natalie was lovely in the role, but when we think about WSS story, we really think about Rita, Russ and George. They were also the ones from the cast to be nominated for acting awards.


I doubt anyone’s viewing of the film will be tainted by Moreno thinking Wood wasn’t great in the film. What taints it for me is knowing that Wood wasn’t the nicest to Beymer for unknown reasons and was allegedly really mean to him on set, and this fact has always left a bad taste in my mouth about her. I watched a documentary about the making of WSS recently and one of the cast members alluded that Beymer was really hurt by Wood’s treatment of him that he kept to himself during production because of it.

degrassifan said: "She didn’t say anything mean. She just said Wood wasn’t the best for the part, especially being an American girl playing a Hispanic character. Even Russ Tamblyn has said before that Richard Beymer was terrible as Tony. I think Natalie was lovely in the role, but when we think about WSS story, we really think about Rita, Russ and George. They were also the ones from the cast to be nominated for acting awards.


I doubt anyone’s viewing of the film will be tainted by Moreno thinking Wood wasn’t great in the film. What taints it for me is knowing that Wood wasn’t the nicest to Beymer for unknown reasons and was allegedly really mean to him on set, and this fact has always left a bad taste in my mouth about her. I watched a documentary about the making of WSS recently and one of the cast members alluded that Beymer was really hurt by Wood’s treatment of him thathe kept to himself during production because of it."

I believe Wood’s objections to Beymer’s casting go way back to his audition for Rebel Without A Cause, I don’t know what went on there. Also, the claim that she wanted Beatty or Wagner for Tony is a myth. Beymer has gone on record saying that he ran into Natalie in the late 60s and she approached him and they talked so any feelings of animosity there were squashed according to him.

Tony Mordente has also gone on record to say that she was easy to work with as he had been assigned to coach her and spent much time with her. If she was reserved it may have been her insecurity about having taken the role, also her marriage to Robert Wagner at that point was on the rocks, it wasn't a very happy time for her on a personal level, but she wasn’t ever deliberately mean to anyone in the cast.

Again, she isn’t alive to defend herself or discount any of this so all we have are accounts from other people’s perspectives.

Anyway, I apologize if I've veered this thread off-topic. As many on this board know, Natalie Wood is my favorite actress and that interview (and the countless others Moreno has done) just do not sit well with me is all. I do love Rita Moreno, just not about this. She is a legend, a pioneer and a source of pride for all of us in the Latinx community and she won a well deserved Oscar for her performance in the original film. I just wish she and other people would just stop dumping on Natalie Wood about her role in West Side Story.

Moreno already won an Oscar the 1st time around. She's now appearing in and Executive Producing the new version. Her comments, though off-color at times, were not surprising to me. She was there to promote the new film. Obviously a smart business woman, who unfortunately didn't come off as charming or classy as her two male co-stars.

Two of the original Jets from the 1961 film, Harvey Evans (Mouthpiece) and Bert Michaels (Snowboy) are extras in the new film

https://ew.com/movies/west-side-story-russ-tamblyn-george-chakiris-react-spielberg-trailer/

So I was looking at IMDB for a while and looking at the cast list, apparently there is a cast credit for "Detective in Morgue". So are we assuming that there's a new scene in a City Morgue where Anita or Maria or both identify Bernardo's dead body? If that's going to be in the final cut, then wow that's a dark and sad addition.

bk said: "Musical Master said: "I love Natalie Wood like anyone else, but I will say that while she was charming in West Side Story, she wasn't perfectin the role as was Richard Beymer as Tony. In comparison to Rita and George, they are perfectly functional but not great. But still,Natalie was beyond fantastic in other roles, especially her performance in Gypsy which I found her much more fulfilling as Gypsy Rose Lee than she ever was as Maria.

Now with the 2021 version, I have no doubts that both Ansel and Rachel will be huge improvements in comparison to their predecessors in both acting and singing. At the very least, they won't be dubbed."

In my opinion, she makes the film. She's the heart of the film. Her performance in the film's last ten minutes is superlative. She makes you love the character. I don't know what else you could want from an actress, other than, perhaps, that she'd been a good enough singer to sing it, as well. But Marni Nixon does a great job in that regard. And who else of that era would have been able to do it, let alone be as good as she was. I can't think of anyone, frankly, who also had some name value."

I love her too. But for a long time, growing up in Ohio, that movie WAS West Side Story for me (as was Roz Russell's Gypsy) so these performances are part of my psyche.

However I have read how much Steve Sondheim did not like her in either role.

When do you expect another trailer?

Dollypop said: "I have this recurring thought that Rita Moeno's new character might actually sing "A Boy Like That/I Have Love" with Maria. Wouldn't that be a kick in the head?"

It would be crazy but cool if Rita can sing this song without being dubbed this time, but I think the song will still be sung by Ariana DeBose. Plus since it's implied that Rita's character Valentina married Doc, it wouldn't make sense for her to sing "A Boy Like That".

But there is no doubt that Ariana and Rachel are going to slay this song when the film comes out.