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

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 5/7/21 at 11:20am

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. 

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 5/7/21 at 11:37am

^Not to mention that about 5 years earlier, Rita Moreno, a Hispanic performer, played an Asian character in The King & I.

[degrassifan]

Posted: 5/7/21 at 11:39am

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.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 5/7/21 at 11:46am

Also, Moreno has in the past justified the lack of Latinos in the 1961 film adaptation of WEST SIDE STORY due to Latinos truly not seeking out Hollywood careers at that time so there weren’t many trained in dance, acting, etc. The amount of Latinos who auditioned for the film was less than 100 and most weren’t trained in dance to Jerome Robbins’ standards. So her attitude towards Natalie Wood is ludicrous.

Wood was indeed very insecure during production as she joined the production late (she was still finishing SPLENDOR IN THE GRASS when rehearsals for WEST SIDE STORY started rehearsals), and many have said (including Moreno) that she kept to herself and came across very aloof. Maybe Moreno still holds a grudge?

[NameGreg]

Posted: 5/7/21 at 11:54am

I’ll agree that the three supporting players steal the show from the leads, although I don’t know of Tamblyn being nominated for any awards for his work in West Side Story. Beymer was actually nominated at the Globes.

Apparently Beymer has said he had a screen test with Wood previously that went badly and thinks that may have contributed to her cold feelings towards him. Some have also theorized that her boyfriend Warren Beatty not getting cast as Tony was another cause of this. Beymer also said he met her again years later and she was surprisingly much kinder to him.

[BwayLB]

Posted: 5/7/21 at 12:00pm

Jeffrey Karasarides said: "^Not to mention that about 5 years earlier, Rita Moreno, a Hispanic performer, played an Asian character in The King & I."

First movie i have seen with her. And proper Asian casting is why I support the remake at Paramount

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 5/7/21 at 12:20pm

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. 

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 5/7/21 at 12:28pm

NameGreg said: "I’ll agree that the three supporting players steal the show from the leads, although I don’t know of Tamblyn being nominated for any awards for his work in West Side Story. Beymer was actually nominated at the Globes.

Apparently Beymer has said he had a screen test with Wood previously that went badly and thinks that may have contributed to her cold feelings towards him. Some have also theorized that her boyfriend Warren Beatty not getting cast as Tony was another cause of this. Beymer also said he met her again years later and she was surprisingly much kinder to him."

 

I believe the screen test you are referring to was the one for "Rebel Without A Cause".

Natalie Wood was very much married to Robert Wagner during the filming of West Side Story. She and Warren Beatty did not begin a relationship until way after filming wrapped and she was already separated from Wagner. 

She never suggested Beatty for Tony. Wise and Robbins were referred to Beatty as a possibility for the role because of the buzz he was getting for the yet unreleased Splendor in the Grass, so they both went to see dailies of him from the film. Wood was in the scenes they viewed and when they saw her they forgot all about Beatty and focused on Wood as they felt they had finally found their "Maria". 

FYI - many sources state that Natalie Wood was suggested for the role going way back to 1958. 

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 5/7/21 at 12:41pm

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. 

 

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 5/7/21 at 12:50pm

I did find this interview where Natalie talks about working with Robbins on the film: 

 

[Trish2]

Posted: 5/7/21 at 3:33pm

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.

[Musical Master]

Posted: 5/7/21 at 3:34pm

I love Natalie Wood like anyone else, but I will say that while she was charming in West Side Story, she wasn't perfect in 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.

[Globefan]

Posted: 5/17/21 at 3:54pm

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

[BwayLB]

Posted: 5/17/21 at 4:14pm

^ Thats awesome. Where did you hear that?

[Globefan]

Posted: 5/17/21 at 4:17pm

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

[Musical Master]

Posted: 5/18/21 at 12:38pm

Which makes me wonder who else is making a cameo in this movie.

[Musical Master]

Posted: 5/30/21 at 11:32pm

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]

Posted: 5/31/21 at 6:02am

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.

[Owen22]

Posted: 5/31/21 at 7:42am

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.

[Musical Master]

Posted: 5/31/21 at 8:04pm

"I don’t think West Side Story’s a good movie at all because it’s not a movie. It’s a photograph of a stage. When I see a gang of juvenile delinquents dancing down a real street, Broadway, in color coordinated sneakers, with color coordinated wash on the line behind them, I’m not scared".

Is what he said in an interview from 2016 (also saying how much he approved and really liked the 2007 Sweeney Todd film) and also I think he did visit the set of the upcoming new version and is involved with it in some capacity.

[Globefan]

Posted: 5/31/21 at 8:15pm

When do you expect another trailer? 

[Musical Master]

Posted: 5/31/21 at 8:17pm

August at the earliest, September at the latest.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 5/31/21 at 8:30pm

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?

[Globefan]

Posted: 5/31/21 at 8:30pm

And right now Rachel is living her best life working with Helen Mirren and Lucy Liu 

[Musical Master]

Posted: 5/31/21 at 8:41pm

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.