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Anita and Maria's dresses astatine the creation were estimated to outgo $4,000 each, making them the astir costly costumes successful the movie.
1. First, earlier filming began connected West Side Story, respective large Hollywood names were reportedly interested successful starring successful the movie, similar Elvis Presley, Elizabeth Taylor, Warren Beatty, Audrey Hepburn, Chita Rivera, Marlon Brando, and Robert Redford. According to George Chakiris, owed to the information that these legends were rumored to beryllium starring successful the movie, a batch of signifier actors didn't deliberation they'd ever beryllium cast.
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Elvis' engagement successful West Side Story arsenic Tony is 1 of the oldest rumors attached to the iconic movie. According to West Side Story: The Jets, the Sharks, and the Making of a Classic, it's rumored that Colonel Tom Parker, his manager, turned down the relation for Elvis, saying it was inappropriate for him to play a quality who kills his girlfriend's brother.
According to NPR, Tony Perkins, Bobby Darin, Burt Reynolds, Richard Chamberlain, and Troy Donahue were besides rumored to privation to prima successful the movie.
2. When it came clip to bash chemistry reads for imaginable Tony, Maria, Anita, Riff, and Bernardo casting choices, six scenes were chosen to use. They were the bridal store country with Maria, Tony, and Anita, the occurrence flight country with Tony and Maria, the flat country aft the rumble with Maria and Chino, Tony and Riff astatine Doc's, Maria and Bernardo successful the apartment, and Anita astatine Doc's.
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According to West Side Story: The Jets, the Sharks, and the Making of a Classic, immoderate of the pairings for chemistry reads included Oscar nominee Susanna Kohner, Rita Moreno, and Scott Marlowe. Marlowe, who was a Tony contender, tested with Anna Maria Alberghetti, who was a imaginable Maria. Russ Tamblyn besides work with Barbara Luna, who was a imaginable Anita.
3. Rita Moreno auditioned "many times" for Anita successful West Side Story, wherever she completed singing and acting auditions to start, which she says went truly well. The hardest portion was erstwhile manager Jerome Robbins said she would besides person to bash a dancing audition. She told The Hollywood Reporter successful 2014, "I ran to the nearest dancing schoolhouse and I virtually signed up for each class, literally, that they had. I was genuinely sidesplitting myself, but I wanted that portion truthful badly."
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Moreno besides recalled to NPR, "I auditioned galore times for the relation of Anita with my bosom successful my pharynx due to the fact that I hadn't danced successful a 100 years, it seemed. And I ne'er really, truly thought I would get the part. But I got the part."
4. After Rita Moreno was officially offered the role, she astir turned it down erstwhile she realized the opening enactment successful "America" she would person to sing. It primitively called Puerto Rico an "ugly island" and an land of "tropic diseases." However, Stephen Sondheim instantly changed the verse aft her casting. The enactment changed to, "Puerto Rico, my heart's devotion, fto it descend backmost successful the ocean."
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In an interrogation with NPR, Moreno recalled, "I was jubilant and thrilled due to the fact that it's a fantastic part, arsenic you know. And then, conscionable earlier I signed my contract, I abruptly remembered, to my horror, that the verse to 'America' goes similar ... And that's however Stephen Sondheim saved maine from turning down this magnificent role."
5. Before being formed arsenic Bernardo successful the movie, George Chakiris played Riff successful the West End accumulation of West Side Story. Speaking to Fox News, Chakiris recalled studying for the role, saying, "I studied Ken LeRoy, the archetypal Bernardo connected stage, each nighttime for a twelvemonth and a half. So successful a way, I was already learning and memorizing, which helped to marque the relation my own."
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He added that helium initially missed playing Riff due to the fact that helium "really loved the character," but erstwhile Bernardo "became thing antithetic that [he] had to do" helium learned to emotion the role.
6. The past main relation that was formed was Maria, with manager Robert Wise initially insisting they find a comparatively chartless actor. Casting for Maria was truthful hard that they considered hiring idiosyncratic who couldn't sing, and they could dub the singing parts. According to Wise, they yet landed connected Natalie Wood aft they saw her portion watching Warren Beatty's Splendor successful the Grass surface test, wherever helium was acting alongside Natalie. Wise abandoned the thought of an chartless histrion for Wood, recalling, "The infinitesimal Natalie walked on, we forgot each astir [Beatty] and [said], 'There's our Maria!'"
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According to West Side Story: The Jets, the Sharks, and the Making of a Classic, Anna Maria Alberghetti, who was an Italian soprano, was "in the moving for a agelong time," considering she would beryllium capable to sing the role, too.
Wood was reportedly offered a $250,000 wage for West Side Story, which was seemingly treble what she was initially offered precise aboriginal successful the casting process.
7. Despite taking extended singing lessons, Natalie Wood's singing dependable was dubbed successful the last version of the film. Same with Richard Beymer's voice. Marni Nixon and Jimmy Bryant provided the vocals for Maria and Tony, respectively. Their vocals were recorded unrecorded with the orchestra. In an interrogation with Nixon and Bryant successful 2012, Nixon revealed that Wood did grounds her ain mentation of each song, minus the precocious enactment successful "Tonight," and was reportedly initially told that a combo of her instrumentality and Nixon's would beryllium utilized successful the film.
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Nixon added, "There were immoderate sections wherever it was planned from the opening that I would bash the singing. But arsenic it happened, they threw retired each of her vocals, and I came backmost and post-dubbed everything to the orchestral tracks."
8. Russ Tamblyn, who played Riff, initially tested for Tony, and it was a large woody that helium was adjacent allowed to audition due to the fact that helium was nether declaration with MGM, portion the movie was with United Artists. Tamblyn told the Guardian that owed to his declaration with MGM, helium was told helium had a "reputation to keep," and helium was astir not allowed to motion connected to play Riff due to the fact that of circumstantial lines he'd person to sing successful "Gee, Officer Krupke."
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He recalled to the Guardian, "I went to spot the workplace manager and helium said: 'I'm sorry, but these are immoderate of the lines you'd person to say, "My sister wears a moustache/ My member wears a formal / Goodness gracious, that's wherefore I'm a mess!"' He quoted each these different large lyrics from the 'Gee Officer Krupke' conception and past said: 'You've got a estimation to keep, truthful we've booked you connected different movie.' Eventually, I convinced them to fto maine bash it."
9. Rita Moreno was 1 of the fewer Puerto Rican actors who were cast. While speaking to NPR successful 2001, Moreno recalled how, successful bid to marque formed members look, act, and dependable "more Puerto Rican," they were told to usage an accent, enactment connected acheronian makeup, and more. She explained, "The happening that truly bothered maine the astir is that they enactment the aforesaid precise muddy, dark-colored constitution connected each Shark miss and boy. And that truly made maine precise upset. And I tried to get that changed. I said, 'Look astatine us. We're all, you know, many, galore antithetic colors.'"
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She added, "Some of america are precise white. Some of america are olive-skinned. Some of america really person Black blood. Some of america are Taino Indian, which is the archetypal Puerto Rican. And cipher paid attention, and that was that. I had nary prime successful the matter. But I was not happy."
10. Filming of the opening fig took spot connected 68th and Amsterdam and 110th and 2nd Ave successful New York City. The 68th Street determination is where Lincoln Center present stands. At the clip of filming, the determination was razed for construction, truthful the camera crews and directors utilized it to their advantage. They adjacent shoveled shallow holes for the camera unit to beryllium successful truthful they could seizure the dancers up above. The flattened portions of the operation portion made a cleanable creation floor, too.
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The unit besides utilized the blocked-off streets adjacent West 70th, wherever half-demolished brownstones made a cleanable backdrop for the Jets and Sharks' archetypal gathering successful the opening minutes of the film.
The remainder of the movie was filmed astatine the Samuel Goldwyn Studios successful Hollywood.
11. The "Prologue," which was changeable successful Manhattan, was initially scheduled to lone past 3 weeks, but ended up moving six. It enactment the full movie implicit fund close from the start, since this was the archetypal happening they filmed. Jerome Robbins was utilized to directing for the stage, and didn't recognize however overmuch clip went into mounting up cameras, filming the enactment from a antithetic angle, etc. Performers were reportedly "pushed to their breaking point," with galore revealing they had astir passed retired and/or vomited during filming.
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Per West Side Story: The Jets, the Sharks, and the Making of a Classic, the magnitude of usable footage changeable per time lone averaged retired to astir fractional a infinitesimal of surface time, which is highly low. Alongside Robbins' directing style, shooting connected determination made filming instrumentality longer due to the fact that of inclement upwind and much unforeseen issues.
Overall, West Side Story was filmed slowly. For context, Singin' successful the Rain, different ample movie musical, had been filmed successful a full of 54 days. For West Side Story, erstwhile they reached 42 days of filming, they reportedly had lone 36 minutes and 23 seconds of film, little than a 4th of the movie's full runtime.
12. In the archetypal signifier mentation of West Side Story, the boys were not featured successful "America," lone Anita and the girls. Jerome Robbins made the determination to adhd Bernardo and the boys, according to Rita Moreno. She told The Talk successful 2011, "Jerome Robbins enactment the boys in, and that's what really, truly made 'America' basal retired due to the fact that of the contention betwixt the boys and girls."
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Speaking to George Chakiris' dancing successful "America," Moreno added, "He has elegance erstwhile helium dances."
13. The "America" acceptable ended up being the astir costly acceptable that was built connected 1 of the Goldwyn dependable stages for the movie. According to West Side Story: The Jets, the Sharks, and the Making of a Classic, Jerome Robbins asked that the walls connected the acceptable beryllium changed astatine the past minute, and the tar insubstantial level that was utilized perpetually melted nether the lights and had to beryllium changed. It took a agelong clip to movie the number, too, simply due to the fact that costumes often had to beryllium dried and changed owed to the formed sweating portion dancing truthful hard.
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Due to the melting tar insubstantial connected the floor, the actors' shoes would consistently get stuck. "America" was the archetypal fig filmed successful Los Angeles aft filming connected the opening numbers concluded.
14. Due to the demanding quality of the creation scenes, determination were several injuries among formed members portion filming West Side Story. Susan Oakes, who played Anybodys, suffered a punctured genu portion filming "Cool" due to the fact that she fell connected a nail. And, Gina Trikonis was hospitalized with mono portion filming "Gee, Officer Krupke," truthful a assemblage treble was utilized successful her place. If you ticker the fig closely, you'll announcement you don't spot Graziella's look due to the fact that of this.
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Dancers and actors reportedly suffered from pneumonia, aching knees, sore muscles, torn ligaments, sprains, shin splints, scrapes, burns, dehydration, and much implicit the people of filming.
15. Natalie Wood reportedly "despised" Richard Beymer, who played Tony, according to Russ Tamblyn. He recalled that Wood had a "shit list" connected her dressing country partition during filming, with Beymer's sanction astatine the apical of it. When Tamblyn asked her wherefore Beymer's sanction was up there, she reportedly told him, "I conscionable don't similar him." Some adjacent speculated that Wood's animosity towards Beymer stemmed from Robert Wagner, who was Wood's hubby astatine the time, not getting the relation of Tony.
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Tamblyn besides recalled that Beymer was not blessed with his show arsenic Tony, saying, "He thought helium was miscast: he was from a workplace successful Indiana and had nary thoroughfare consciousness whatsoever. He needed a batch of absorption and didn't get it."
16. While choreographing the creation numbers, Jerome Robbins would travel up with "several versions of each conception of each dance," according to Rita Moreno. She told NPR, "If you were rehearsing 'America' with him, helium would, aft you did 1 version, would say, 'OK, present fto maine spot mentation B of conception 2.' So you were truly learning anyplace from 2 to 3 different dances beside the archetypal one."
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"He wanted to get the precise champion helium could retired of each conception of these dances," Rita added. She besides said 1 of the unsocial things astir Robbins' choreography was that helium choreographed "for character." She explained, "In different words, immoderate measurement that Anita mightiness do, say, successful 'America' oregon successful the 'Mambo!' astatine the gym was not a measurement that helium would ever person dreamed of giving to immoderate different quality connected the different broadside — for instance, to the Jet, a Jet girl. And helium worked that retired with us. He was a meticulous, brainsick man. He was meticulous with respect to what helium wanted."
17. "Cool" was 1 of the hardest numbers to film, simply due to the fact that of the set. The parking store was precise wide (85 by 150 feet) and had a precise debased ceiling (eight feet). Due to the enclosed space, the store acted arsenic a "hellish sauna" for the actors erstwhile the lights were on. On apical of the set, "Cool" was 1 of the numbers that Jerome Robbins had travel up with respective antithetic dances for. According to Gina Trikonis, who played Riff's girlfriend, "We were expected to beryllium capable to propulsion retired of our heads the 1 helium wanted to spot successful an instant — beryllium it mentation 1 oregon twelve, oregon immoderate successful between."
18. While filming, Jerome Robbins instructed that the Jets and Sharks stay isolated connected set. In fact, Russ Tamblyn said the groups of actors ne'er truly talked to each different extracurricular of the scenes they shared until filming had wrapped. He besides told the Guardian, "There was ne'er immoderate animosity, but we utilized to play pranks connected each other."
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Tamblyn said the actors went connected to go large friends and spot each different arsenic overmuch arsenic possible.
Meanwhile, George Chakiris said Robbins was the aforesaid mode portion doing the signifier mentation of the show. He told The Talk successful 2011, "[Robbins told the cast] 'Don't adjacent person lunch, don't person dinner, don't adjacent spot each different extracurricular of rehearsal.' And I deliberation that his determination to bash that was precise omniscient due to the fact that it helped make the information betwixt the two."
19. Jerome Robbins was notably fired midway done the production, with Robert Wise taking implicit full-time. There were respective factors that led to Robbins' firing, namely, however down docket and implicit fund the movie was getting. Producer Walter Mirisch recalled telling Robbins helium was fired, a "terrible scene." Wise agreed to measurement up arsenic co-director, moving with Robbins' assistants to decorativeness the movie. At the time, lone "Prologue," "America," "Cool," "I Feel Pretty," and "One Hand, One Heart" had been shot, with the remainder of the movie needing to beryllium filmed.
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According to Mirisch, per West Side Story: The Jets, the Sharks, and the Making of a Classic, Robbins initially wanted his sanction taken disconnected the movie arsenic director, saying, "He told america that if helium was fto go, helium wanted to instrumentality his sanction disconnected the picture. I didn’t privation him to bash that and replied, ‘Of course, that’s your prerogative. But I suggest that you hold until the representation is finished, and past determine whether oregon not it is truthful acold afield from what you would person wanted.'"
Ultimately, Robbins kept his sanction attached to West Side Story, with Wise and Robbins sharing directing credit.
20. The hardest country for Rita Moreno to movie was the country successful Doc's store, wherever Anita is attacked by the boys. Moreno recalled to NPR that they rehearsed the fig for weeks, and it took 7 days to movie it. During 1 take, aft having the different actors curse and propulsion her astir each day, Moreno said she conscionable started to sob. In her documentary, Just a Girl Who Decided To Go For It, she recalled, "I could not halt crying. And each of the wounds that I thought had closed, each the scars, opened each implicit again. It was conscionable astonishing."
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She added to NPR, "The boys came to maine saying, 'Oh, Rita, please, you cognize we emotion you. You cognize we emotion you. Please don't cry. Please stop. Oh, the assemblage is going to hatred us.' And I couldn't stop. And finally, Bob Wise called lunch. And you know, I calmed down, obviously, aft lunch, and we got it each done. But determination is simply a immense portion of my psyche successful that scene."
21. And finally, owed to the aggravated choreography and creation sequences, costume decorator Irene Sharaff and her squad had to marque aggregate copies of tailor-made costumes. This made it truthful the costume fund for the movie was beauteous high. According to West Side Story: The Jets, the Sharks, and the Making of a Classic, the astir costly costumes were Natalie Wood's and Rita Moreno's dresses for the creation astatine the gym, with each costing astir $4,000.
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The astir costly menswear point was reportedly Russ Tamblyn's suit for the dance, which outgo astir $933.
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