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October 23, 2011:

SAY IT SOFT AND IT’S ALMOST LIKE PRAYING

Bruce Kimmel Photograph bk's notes

Well, dear readers, I have finished watching the new Blu and Ray of West Side Story. Those who’ve read Kritzer Time (and those who haven’t – what in heaven’s name are you waiting for) know about my long history with the film of West Side Story and how much I loved it and how obsessed I was with it – I spend page after page talking about it in loving detail. Suffice it to say that I saw it soon after it opened in its roadshow engagement at the Grauman’s Chinese Theater, and I proceeded to see it every Saturday (and sometimes a weekday matinee) thereafter for over twenty weeks. I saw it alone, I saw it with my mother, I saw it with various and sundried friends. I played the soundtrack over and over again, I danced the dances, I bought a real switchblade knife which I carried with me to school and which I’d pull out regularly when I felt like acting Jet-ish. I took dance class from David Winters, Mr. A-Rab himself (and Baby John on Broadway). I wore black jeans and a white t-shirt and sneakers like they wore in the film. I did high kicks at the least provocation. I sang the songs at the top of my lungs. In ninth grade, my friend Paul Davis and I performed Gee, Officer Krupke for a lunchtime assembly. Those many weeks in the Chinese printed that 70mm show permanently into my brain. I remember everything about it. I remember the opening whistles coming from the back of the theater – first to the left, then to the right. I remember the gorgeous Chinese Theater curtains parting to reveal the huge Chinese screen and Saul Bass’ line drawing of Manhattan coming on, and the color changes with each new song of the overture – and that magnificent six-track stereo sound. I remember vividly at every single showing the gasp that greeted Chino’s appearance with the gun. I remember vividly at every single showing the sounds of sniffling – not just women, but men, too, and, of course, me. I remember at every single showing many numbers getting applause – not from some teenage Glee-ridden theater freaks, but from normal audiences. America was the sure-fire one – it had applause at every screening I attended. I remember at every single screening the applause that greeted every single credit during the long end credits sequence. There was no snickering from anyone at anything – not the opening dance, not the bursting into song – we believed it all and it was all magnificent.

Today, when young people watch, they view West Side Story as almost camp. They DO snicker at the opening when the Jets begin dancing. They DO snicker at the bursting into song. They’re just smarter and more with it and superior to this marvelous film. Well, no they aren’t, but they sure do think they are. Of course, those same boobs will sit and watch the most inane action movies with the most unbelievable and CGI-ridden stunts, and THAT they’ll buy. That doesn’t get snickers. I can only wish on these people that they have a favorite film they saw at a young age and that twenty years from now when they show it to youngsters that the youngsters snicker. The Blu and Ray, as I’ve already notes, is, for me anyway, a mixed bag. From all the press releases and brouhaha I was simply expecting perfection. From the get-go we don’t get it. We get front and center whistling at the beginning, we get the disastrous fade to black for no reason in the overture, we get a LOT of shimmering during the magnificent aerial shots that open the film proper – and that shimmering rears its ugly head at other points in the film. But even with those caveats, I couldn’t help but fall in love with the film all over again. Much of it is pleasing to look at, and the sound is certainly robust. It’s sharper than it’s ever been on home video but is, of course, not a patch on the butt cheeks of the 70mm prints. The color is accurate. Most people will probably be fine with it, although the botch of the overture should be reason for a recall and replacement discs.

The dance sequences in West Side Story are some of the most dynamic ever committed to celluloid. The Prologue never ceases to amaze. The Dance At The Gym is electrifying. America is one of the all-time great film musical numbers. The staging of Gee, Officer Krupke is simple and perfect. The camera is always in the right place doing the right thing. The coverage is simple and elegant and perfect. There’s no fancy editing, the kinetic quality of the dances comes from the dancers and the choreography – the camera and editing don’t need to tart it up, as they do today. It was sickening to me when I went to the opening day of the film’s general re-release in 1967, because in six short years, the snickering had begun. Six years and the audience could not accept the film. I found that nauseating then and nauseating now. The score is glorious – Sondheim, who does a song specific commentary that’s his usual rehearsed shtick, chastises himself for some of the lyrics, but you know what? Hindsight is wonderful, but the lyrics just work. Sorry, Steve, they just do. They’re wonderfully crafted and they fit beautifully with Leonard Bernstein’s brilliant music. And special attention needs to be directed to Ernest Lehman’s screenplay, which rights a few wrongs of the stage show, mostly moving Gee, Officer Krupke earlier and Cool later. Sondheim talks about that in his commentary but ultimately says that Jerry Robbins was right – it worked better the original way. I’ve seen it the original way and I think the film way is 1000% better.

Natalie Wood gets lots of criticisms from today’s folk – she’s not Puerto Rican, she’s not believable – sorry today’s folk – Miss Wood is wonderful in the film. I don’t recall Carol Lawrence being Puerto Rican either – so what? And Marni Nixon’s dubbing is somehow just a perfect match and very believable – it was back then and it is now. But that’s Miss Wood doing a masterful job of making it look like she’s doing it. Richard Beymer also comes in for a lot of knocks, but I’ve always liked him and I think he’s fine – not a great performance, but an earnest one. His dubber also captures his essence really well and for twenty years I had no idea he WAS dubbed. Russ Tamblyn and all the Jets are great. George Chakiris and all the Sharks are great, and Rita Moreno walks away with every scene she’s in. And one cannot say enough about Johnny Green’s musical direction and the work of Sid Ramin and Irwin Kostal – it’s certainly one of the best SOUNDING film musicals in history. The film is highly recommended by the likes of me, while the Blu and Ray gets mixed marks from the likes of me.

Prior to finishing the film, I’d gotten up early, done the four-mile jog, had some matzo brei and a bagel, done some errands and whatnot, picked up a couple of packages and an important envelope, done work on the computer, prepped the new release announcement, proofed both CDs of our new master, and got some little side dishes to snack on at Gelson’s. All in all, a nice, but uneventful day. And I’m cool with that, daddy-o. So, let’s cut the frabber-jabber and click on the Unseemly Button below because I need to do the Mambo section of the Dance At The Gym and then get my beauty sleep.

Today, I shall play it cool, boy, cool. I shall do the four-mile jog, I shall do a lot of writing, I shall do some errands and whatnot, I will eat something light but amusing, and I shall relax and perhaps watch a motion picture or three. I did watch one other motion picture on Blu and Ray last evening, entitled The Conspirator, a film by Robert Redford, about a rather shameful miscarriage of justice during the aftermath of the President Lincoln assassination. It was very well done, and compelling, but it never quite achieved greatness. It did not do well at the box-office last year – I have no idea what the reviews were like, I only know that I’d never heard of it. Transfer was fine.

Tomorrow, I’ll be up VERY early to announce our new release, then I’ll hopefully print out a LOT of orders, maybe go back to sleep, then I may have a meeting about the new potential cast recording release, and I have quite a few other things to do, too. The rest of the week is filled with rehearsals, auditions, meetings, meals, and lots of errands and whatnot.

Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do the four-mile jog, do lots of writing, do errands and whatnot, eat, and watch a motion picture or three. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s free-for-all day, the day in which you dear readers get to make with the topics and we all get to post about them. So, let’s have loads of lovely topics and loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, where I shall sing Maria, where, if I say it soft, it’s almost like praying.

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