West Side Story

Two people stand on different levels of a fire escape attached to a brick building. One wears a brown jacket on the lower level, while the other in a light purple dress looks down from the upper level

West Side Story (1961) adapts the aristocratic feuds of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet to rival street gangs in the slums of the upper West Side of Manhattan. Tensions run high as a gang of Polish-Americans compete against a gang of recently immigrated Puerto Ricans, but this does not stop two young romantics from each gang falling in love.

With lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, a magical score by Leonard Bernstein, and luminous Technicolor cinematography, the film's ten Academy Awards wins attest to its status as an artistic masterpiece.

Both the film and 1957 stage play are based on the book by the Cornell alum Arthur Laurents, Class of 1937.

Part of our "Technicolor Musical Matinees" series. Courtesy of MGM and Park Circus.