On Tuesday last week I went and saw West Side Story at the movies. In a cinema. Don't you just love it when new cinemas play old movies? Well our beautiful Regent Cinema here in Brisbane is closing and they are playing some old movies to see it out with a bang.
Last Tuesday it was West Side Story. I had never ever seen it before (something which I now consider a travesty) and it is just divine. It is based on Romeo and Juliet, but all singing all dancing Romeo and Juliet. It is funny and moving and fabulous and if you can find an old scratchy copy to watch, I really think you should. Here is the preview.
Natalie Wood plays the beautiful Maria and although she doesn't actually sing her bits, she is divine. Did you know that the person who dubs her in this film is the same person who dubbed Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady and Deborah Kerr in The King and I? And another interesting fact about Natalie Wood, she had a terrible fear of water due to a near drowning in her childhood and she passed away at age 43 after she drowned in a yachting accident. I find that so sad.
West Side Story is a wonderful movie and has inspired me to watch more old films, especially musicals, ESPECIALLY if Stephen Sondheim has anything to do with them. What is your favourite old film?
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