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West Side Story
A brand new restored print of Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins's classic 1961 musical, which collected a staggering 10 Oscars including Best Picture and Best Director (the first time this particular award was shared). This expertly choreographed spin on Romeo & Juliet is set on the streets of New York City, where two rival gangs - the Jets and the Sharks - are embroiled in a bloody tug-of-war for supremacy. Tensions between the two camps ignite when Jets founder Tony (Richard Beymer) falls madly in love with pretty Puerto Rican immigrant, Maria (Natalie Wood), who is the sister of Sharks' leader Bernardo (George Chakiris). Caught between the two feuding factions, Tony and Maria attempt to overcome years of hostility to continue their romance but the sins of the past invariably return to haunt the young lovers, their friends and family. Fifty years after Beymer first gushed, "I've just kissed a girl named Maria/And suddenly I've found, how wonderful a sound can be", West Side Story still shakes and shimmies as one of the greatest movie musicals of all time. Robbins's choreography sizzles in widescreen, not least in the spectacular full cast rendition of "America".
