West Side Story (film) West Side Story (film) West Side Story is a 1961 American romantic musical tragedy film directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins. The film is an adaptation of the 1957 Broadway musical of the same name, which in turn was inspired by William Shakespeare's play "Romeo and Juliet". It stars Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn, Rita Moreno, and George Chakiris, and was photographed by Daniel L. Fapp, A.S.C., in Super Panavision 70. Released on October 18, 1961, through United Artists, the film received high praise from critics and viewers, and became the second highest grossing film of the year
West Side Story on in the 1961 movie that we are focusing on." Ansel Elgort has been cast as Tony in the film. In addition to Bernstein's own "West Side Story Suite", the music from the musical has been adapted by The Buddy Rich Big Band, which arranged and recorded "West Side Story Medley" on the 1966 album "Buddy Rich's Swingin' New Big Band". The Stan Kenton Orchestra recorded Johnny Richards' 1961 "Kenton's West Side Story", an album of jazz orchestrations based on the Bernstein scores. It won the 1962 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Recording by a Large Group. The 1996 album