West Side Story - 60th Anniversary Screening - TCM Classic Film Festival 2021

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 4/3/21 at 11:37pm

This year's TCM Classic Film Festival, which will be held virtually for the second year in a row due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic will kick off with a 60th anniversary screening of WEST SIDE STORY with exclusive new interviews with original cast members Russ Tamblyn, Rita Moreno and George Chakiris. I wonder why Richard Beymer never participates? 

This year's festival will be presented Thursday, May 6, through Sunday, May 9. It will air on TCM and for the first time, within the Classics Curated by TCM Hub on HBOmax.

The WEST SIDE STORY reunion opening the festival will air simultaneously on TCM and HBO Max on May 6 at 8 p.m. ET.

Every time an anniversary for WSS comes up I can't help but feel a little sad that Natalie Wood isn't alive to participate. It would have been wonderful if she were still alive to hear her thoughts/experiences on making this film. 

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Updated On: 4/3/21 at 11:37 PM

[A Director]

Posted: 4/4/21 at 2:11am

This could be the reason Richard Beymer never participates. "Beymer later said he "was miserable in West Side Story. I didn't know enough at the time because I lacked certain knowledge in acting... I came out ridiculous. I didn't stand up for what I should have and I didn't know enough. The blame should be on me."[7]"

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 4/4/21 at 3:04am

And Natalie Wood’s experience wasn’t a pleasant one either which is why she kept to herself (per many, including Rita Moreno). The dancers did not like her one bit due to this.

[joevitus]

Posted: 4/4/21 at 3:10am

Apparently Wood did not like Beymer one bit, for whatever reason, I've never known. I thought she had gotten along well with everyone else, though. Interesting to learn how many of the leads kept away from each other. 

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 4/4/21 at 10:41am

BrodyFosse123 said: "And Natalie Wood’s experience wasn’t a pleasant one either which is why she kept to herself (per many, including Rita Moreno). The dancers did not like her one bit due to this."

Read George Chakiris' new memoir he tells a different story and he has great memories of working with Natalie.

He also did a recent interview wit Fox News and had nothing but great things to say about her. In addition if you watch the documentary on the 50th anniversary edition of the film some of the dancers including Harvey Evans and Tony Mordente have good things to say about their experiences with Natalie. 

In fact, Tony Mordente and Howard Jeffrey took her under their wing and Mordente was assigned to personally assist her with her dancing and spent time with her on and off the set as did Howard Jeffrey who became part of her inner circle and a lifelong friend. 

Jerome Robbins himself was enamored of her and also became a lifelong friend as well. So this notion that "all of the dancers hated her" is bullsh!t.

Fox News: What was your initial impression of Natalie Wood?
Chakiris: You know, I can still see it right now as if it happened yesterday. I remember when she first walked in. She was quiet and by herself. But the first thing you immediately noticed was her beauty. It was impossible not to be struck by how beautiful she was. She just radiated. 



George Chakiris with Natalie Wood filming 'West Side Story'. (Photo by FilmPublicityArchive/United Archives via Getty Images)

But in getting to know her on set, I realized she was just as beautiful on the inside. She was sweet, funny and easily got along with the cast. You knew she was a star because of her beauty alone, but she never acted the part. And she worked incredibly hard, just like the rest of us. She would always arrive on time for rehearsal casually dressed and just ready to take on whatever was thrown at us. Whenever she performed, you couldn’t help but just stop whatever you were doing. She was so incredibly lovely to work with. That’s how I remember her.

It's well documented that Natalie's marriage to Robert Wagner was falling apart when she was filming WSS. She wanted to do the role justice and worked extremely hard but was equally hard on herself and the final decision to have her vocals dubbed was a blow to her. 

It's also well documented that a lot of the negative comments about Natalie is attributed to one person: Rita Moreno. There is an interview on YouTube where George Chakiris says that he was highly upset with Rita and called her out on it during the 50th anniversary press tour. Rita was saying very negative things about Natalie and George, every the gentleman took it upon himself to come to Natalie's defense. Rita had and issue with this. George called her out on it during a break and said to her, "You know, the audience has come to see this movie and they don't need to hear what you personally think of Natalie, that's not fair. Why should they begin to watch this film thinking that (referring to whatever Rita said) about Natalie." Rita did acknowledge this and apologized.  

Here is the interview George Chakiris had with Scott Feinberg in 2012 where he discusses this. It begins at the 1:49:40 mark. 

Here is what George had to say about Natalie to Entertainment Weekly:

 

 

 

Natalie Wood played your sister, Maria. What was it like working with her? Any particular memories?

Oh God, Natalie…beautiful, sweet, darling. I loved Natalie. She was 23 for God’s sake, but she was a huge star. I remember, the first day, we were upstairs in the studio, and downstairs on the street, at the studio, I found Natalie walking the set. She was dressed very plainly; she never wore a lot of makeup. She was just pure and simple and sweet and gorgeous. We all knew we had a movie star in our midst although we didn’t say it. She was a movie star, but she did not act like a movie star. She was graceful and she was concerned about her performance just the way everyone else was. One time I was at [film producer] Harold Mirisch’s house and Natalie was there with lots of other well-known people, and I remember one of the things she said was “Don’t ever do a costume picture.” Because I think she had had a bad experience doing costume pictures herself. I could just go on and on about Natalie. I remember where I was the day we lost her. She was so wonderfully talented, and she was ahead of the game herself in terms of the way she approached her career and managing things and producing things. That was in 1961 before actors and actresses did that. Now everybody tries to do that, but at that time, it was a really intelligent step forward for any performer to think that way and she did.

Updated On: 4/4/21 at 10:41 AM