Happy 50th, “West Side Story”

Always wanted to see this on 70MM.Looking forward to the movie event Nov 9th and the blu ray release a week later.

The Dilworth Theatre in Charlotte on June 21, 1962 was the only Exclusive Engagement Showing within both North and South Carolina where WEST SIDE STORY played first-run. Other cities within the Carolinas didn’t get the film until July or August of 1962(Durham, Asheville, Raleigh,Fayetteville,and Wilmington). Greensboro and Winston-Salem didn’t get WEST SIDE STORY until mid-October of 1962,while Chapel Hill didn’t get WEST SIDE STORY until early January of 1963.

I was 11 when I first saw WEST SIDE STORY. It was the opening attraction at the remodeled Florida Theatre in Tampa. Although advertised as “Exclusive Florida West Coast Engagement” there were no reserved seats so it wasn’t the true roadshow attraction. It played for 11 weeks at the Florida. I remember being excited in seeing how the newly renovated theatre looked as well as finally seeing WEST SIDE STORY which I knew very little about (other than it had won 10 Academy Awards.)

Little did I realize that first viewing was the beginning of a 50-year love affair. I’ve since seen it countless times from first-run to second-run theaters, drive-ins, network broadcasts, and video. Whenever it played locally in theatres I was there. My biggest disappointment and regret is unfortunately I’ve never seen it in 70MM.

“West Side Story” has always been one my most favourite films, since I first saw it at a cinema in Llandudno, North Wales, UK while I was on holiday in 1962.

Michael;Thanks for the terrific article, again so well researched. I have just purchased the Blu-Ray disc and it looks stunning! It was released here in the UK before the USA Blu-Ray release, which makes a change!

I first saw this great movie in December 1970 at the old Martin Cinerama which by then was operated by Walter Reade under the name “The Atlanta.” I was only an occasional moviegoer for most of the 60’s and had not even heard of this movie until the previous May when, for some unknown reason, the song “Somewhere” was chosen by some unknown person to be the class song that we sang during our high school graduation. When it appeared at the Atlanta as a two week pre Christmas filler, I stopped by to see it on my way home from class at Georgia State.

In those days, the Cinerama ribbon screen was still in use, and although 35MM, especially scope, always looked a little fuzzy with that deep curve, the size of the picture and the four track mag sound gave it an impressive presentation. However, it was the choreography, which I had never seen anything like, that impressed me the most. And Natalie Wood on the 68 X 34 foot screen of course. I enjoyed it so much I stayed for another show since it was continuous performances. I was puzzled by a movie that had no credits, but I did enjoy what I assumed was walkout music as well as the overture. (15 months later I was working at this theatre and asked the projectionist why they did not show the credits. Answer: To save carbons of course.)

Two months later WSS showed up at the Candler Road Mini Cinema, a little hole in the wall neighborhood theatre. The screen was tiny, the sound mono, and the quality of the projection poor, but I did experience something that few patrons of this movie can claim; an intermission. I do not know why this movie is never presented with an intermission since the place for it, right after the war council, is so obvious. Maybe it was there during the roadshow. Anyway, the Candler had one, though not in the correct spot. Instead, they waited one more reel, until the end of a 6000' reel thus avoiding all of that heavy work associated with an extra changeover. That reel ended right in the middle of the rumble. So, with Riff pinned against the fence, an astrodater, with sound no less, appeared and I (the only one in the house) had to wait 10 minutes for the fight to resume. In one respect, the Candler showed itself to be able to equal and even exceed the magnificent Atlanta Theatre. Not only did they kill the light at the end fadeout, they cut off the projector as well depriving me of the pleasure of the music.

In June 1971, again as a filler, WSS returned to the site of its Atlanta premiere, the Rhodes Theatre. Here I finally got to see the entire movie the way it was meant to be seen. Not only did I get to see that great credit sequence, but I found out that the overture was actually supposed to have something on the screen while it was playing. The film was only 35, but it was mag, and seeing it this way was almost like seeing it in a real theatre for the first time. When business was so good it was held over for a second week, I helped myself to another showing, this time talking the family into seeing it with me.

In the fall of 1972 WSS made its network premiere It was considered such an event that, in Atlanta at least, an ad, complete with artwork, was placed in the movie section of the paper with the TV station logo where the theatre would normally be.

When the Fox Theatre started showing a summer movie series after being saved from the wrecking ball, WSS was an occasional attraction and I was always there to see it. When it returned in 1996 I was working in the Fox booth, my only experience with this movie as projectionist. As it turned out, my love for this film, and my numerous viewings of it paid off in a big way. While not new, the print was a recent one with a Dolby soundtrack, and in pretty good shape. However, some previous “projectionist” had not only shown a lack of technique by cutting the heads and tails without leaving a frame attached, they had also shown their lack of interest by swapping the leaders and tail on two of the reels. As anyone who has worked in a booth will confirm, unless it happens with the first or last reel there is no way to catch this mistake if you do not know the movie. Since I did know it, I was able to catch it and avoid having hundreds of people cursing me.

This was not a ground breaking movie for me when it comes to being exposed to a whole new medium. As far as musicals go, that honor belongs to Sound of Music. However, coming when it did, just as I was leaving home and going to college, it caused me to take much more interest in movies. Within a year I was tearing tickets at a theatre beginning the first of my 40 or so years in this business.

Was the intermission included in the roadshow engagements? No intermissions in any of the general release showings that I saw. Looking forward to seeing this November 9th at that one night special showing. And the blu ray comes out the following week.

That should be great job Michael. Didn’t get enough sleep last night. lol

Thanks for the great write-up Stan! Very interesting to hear about presentations in various theatres even though most of them made me cringe. Evidently it was left up to the theatres to place an intermission (if they so desired) wherever they chose. The first showing I saw at the Florida Theatre in Tampa in 1962 was 35mm with a mono soundtrack. The Florida had an intermission at a very unusual spot in the film. It was right after the outdoor stairway scene on the balcony just after Tony & Maria sing “Tonight.” An Intermission card was flashed on the screen and the curtain was lowered. Up until then I had never seen a movie with an intermission within the film itself so I was stunned.

When it later played at the Ritz Theatre there was no intermission at all. I can’t recall now if there was an intermission at the countless other theatrical showings I saw. And I don’t remember an intermission at any of the drive-in showings.

The Tampa Theatre has since played the film several times since reopening in 1977. One of those early showings in the late 1970s was in 16mm. But the absolute worst print I saw was in 2001 at the Tampa although it wasn’t the fault of the projectionist but rather the print itself. It was a junk print, bady worn and battered with lines, splices, and most of the print had a soft-focus look, color was slightly fading, and the soundtrack was scratchy with an annoying background hiss. Worst of all the entire musical prologue at the beginning was missing. The film opened with a one-second flash of the tile, then jumped-cut to the overhead shot of New York. For those who had never seen the film before (lots of well-behaved teens and young people in attendance) that was not a good way to be introduced to the film.

The last time the Tampa ran “West Side Story” was in 2004. As part of the celebration of the new digital marquee they presented a free showing of the film to the sold-out theatre. It was a restored print with Dolby Digital sound. The print was a beauty with a sharp image. A flawless presention nearly all the way through. But alas something had to mar the showing during the changeover to the last reel. Tony has been shot and Maria approaches Chino and he places the gun in her hand. At that point the changeover was made and the picture begins fluttering on-screen for a few seconds and the picture goes off the screen and the soundtrack slowly grounds to a halt. Apparently the film was not threaded properly and lost it’s loop or the pressure plate in the appature wasn’t fully closed.

For this to occur anywhere else in the film would have been bad enough but at that exact scene…the climax! Well you can imagine the audience reaction! After about a minute the picture hits the screen again but with the frame line showing in the center but this was quickly corrected. The projectionist must have been sweating bullets!

Oops, Correction to the above, Stockholm is in Denmark

Regarding the comments pertaining to the “Intermission” in WSS – the 70mm roadshow presentation I saw at the Valley Theater in Cincinnati (3 times) included an intermission following the War Council meeting in Doc’s store after Tony tell’s Doc he’s in love with Maria. Act 1 ends with Tony walking through the playground with “Maria” playing softly in the background, then goes to black and “Intermission” appeared on the screen. Act 2 opened with the “I Feel Pretty” number.

In the ‘90’s. the Uptown Theater in Washington ran a “70mm Festival” including WSS with all titles shown in their original Roadshow format. The uptown included an intermission in WSS at the same point as that at the Valley in Cincinnati. Oddly, none of the video versions I’ve owned include a break at that point, other than just going dark after Tony walks off, and the picking up with Maria in the dress shop and the I Feel Pretty" number.

Stockholm IS in Sweden Ken, NOT Denmark!

Great piece. In Richmond, Virginia, WSS played at the Willow Lawn theatre as a 70mm roadshow. Sadly this theatre was gutted, multiplexed and closed. In its time it was a beauty. Sorry to report that the early word on the WEST SIDE STORY blu ray indicates a screwup with the Saul Bass designed overture sequence. See Home Theatre forum for details. It does include the intermission which cannot be be turned off (unlike the last dvd release). If you look at the liner notes to the soundtrack lp, there is a mention that the filmmakers did not want an intermission for this film.

I also might add that you all may be interested to know that I’ve purchased tickets for both special West Side Story events….well in advance and printed them out at home, so I now have them both ready at hand!

Hey, fellow cinematreasurers and West Side Story fans (if you’re out there!):

I attended the 50th-year Anniversary TCM West Side Story movie Event here in Boston with a friend, and we loved every minute of it!

I also went solo to the screening of the film West Side Story at the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline, which they showed as the final part of their annual Big Screen Classic series, and loved every minute of that, too.

When I first saw the film West Side Story 43 years ago, as a high school Senior, little did I know that this was the beginning of a 40-some-odd year love affair with a great classic movie. Since then, I’ve seen the film West Side Story more times than I’m able or willing to count, in theatres, on TV, and even on DVD and video, and I’m still keeping my ears and eyes out for the next screening of WSS!

Hi, Cimarron. Welcome to the party! The fact that you’re late doesn’t matter, so don’t worry about it. My love for West Side Story, which began with my introduction to the music back in the summer of 1962, while attending day camp out in Tucson, AZ, prior to entering the sixth grade, when a girl in the group I was with brought in a copy of the LP album soundtrack of the Broadway stage version of West Side Story, and played it for the group. It was then that my love of West Side Story instantly took off, and has continued, unabated, to this day.

I first saw the movie version of West Side Story around Christmastime of 1968, as a high school Senior, and fell in love with this great classic from the start, and I love it still. The first time I saw the film West Side Story in the theatre, it did include an intermission. I’ve admittedly seen West Side Story more times than I can count, some with the intermissions, some without. More recent showings have included the Intermission, however, and I’ve seen some digitally-restored, HD versions of this film too, including showings with live renditions of the musical score from the film by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, which added a whole new dimension to an already-fantastic classic film.

p. s. Pardon my rambling.