Spielberg's West Side Story

[Mitchell Dvoskin]

A better example would be The Maltese Falcon. The 1941 version is almost a word for word remake of the 1931 version. The only difference is that the ‘41 version had better actors and became a classic, and the ‘31 version has been almost forgotten in the dustbin of history.

[Ed Gordon]

Getting back to West Side Story...

When the Spielberg version debuts on 12/10, I will be looking to see if Spielberg does what Steven Sondheim wanted to do with his "Gee officer Krupke" song. The line, "Gee officer Krupke, grub you!" was written by Sondheim as "Gee officer Krupke, f..k you", but the F-word was changed. Sondheim actually considered having a few more expletive deleted lines in the song.

There is an interesting interview with Sondheim here. This is part two of interviews with Sondheim done in the past. The discussion on Krupke can be heard in the first 7 minutes of the interview.

[Oliver Feld]

Maybe like „Les Misérables“ and „La-LaLand“ musical features return to the big screen. And there are so many good shows which could go to the movie screen: WICKED, THE SECRET GARDEN, ASPECTS OF LOVE, NOTRE DAME DE PARIS, THE WOMAN IN WHITE, MARGUERITE… Why a remake of WEST SIDE STORY from 1961 which is an Academy Award winning masterpiece? Hm…

[Steve Klare]

I wonder if sometimes somebody like Steven Spielberg gets tired of hearing about how wonderful Motion Pictures were back in "the Golden Age" and he decides to do something that shows he deserves just as much respect.

-if this is the case it's a shame he can't do this with something completely original.

I guess if we are going to be completely honest about it, having a couple of New York street gangs using language meant not to offend anybody is a lot to ask...

I've known a lot more law-abiding folk than that that can still make the paper peel off the wall with the language that they use!
(Even when nobody they know just got stabbed to death and the cops want answers!)

[Ed Gordon]

Both Steven Spielberg and George Lucas have "borrowed" heavily from others in their films. It is often referred to as "giving a nod to..." other artists, or more bluntly as outright theft. The rolling boulder that Indiana Jones dodges sure looks like the same scene from the 1959 "Journey to the Center of the Earth". The desert planet Luke Skywalker comes from is more than similar to Frank Herbert's Dune.

Read When Frank Herbert Saw “Star Wars” for examples. For a list of borrowed themes see, Everything STAR WARS Borrowed From DUNE

[Osi Osgood]

Yes, but both Speilberg and Lucas have repeatedly stated that, for instance, the Indy films are a direct homage to the serials of the 30's and 40's! I honestly don't like musicals as a general rule, but I will give it the benefit of the doubt.

[Larry Arpin]

I saw West Side Story tonight with my wife, who is hispanic. Of course, it is not as good as the original, but tries very hard. I liked, Ansel Elgort, the actor playing Tony, more than I thought I would. He wasn't as bad as some of the reviews are saying. What was really lacking was the choreography, which was a big part of the original. I was surprised there is a good amount of un-subtitled Spanish in it, which, fortunately for me I was able to understand, but may confuse some. I didn't like the staging of some of the songs and with the poor choreography it felt like it fell flat, like Officer Krupke. They made Chino a little dorky. No opening orchestration, like the original, which always gives me chills when the music crescendos just before the opening scenes. And no overhead shot of New York. I liked Rachel Segler's voice maybe a little more than Marni Nixon's. And also, maybe it's me, but during some of the quiet conversation scenes there is something missing and I just cannot pin point it. It's worth taking a look, but is not very repeatable like the original. My wife enjoyed it a lot.

[Ken Finch]

My wife and I went to see it yesterday at our local cinema, the "Kavanagh" in Herne Bay. We both thought it was brilliant. We both felt the film had a more dramatic feel than the original and the sets looked more realistic. I felt that some of the choreography was not quite as good as the original. My wife disagreed. The singing was very good, including that of Ansel Elgart. Overall, we felt it was as good as the original. The dramatic sequences, particularly had more impact on us than it did in the original. I have the special edition DVD of the original. I also see that it is being transmitted on BBC2 at 4.35p.m. on 27 December here in the U.K. It also appears that many more Musicals are on T.V. on various channels over the christmas period.Ken Finch.