#wss 1957

[juliajacklinofficial]

west side story (1957)…save me….west side story (1957)….save me west side story (1957)

[tonymarias]

CAROL LAWRENCE & CHITA RIVERA in the original production of West Side Story (1957)

[miuarchiv]

Heydrich's Adjutants

Neumann on his work as RH's adjutant in the Feb 1948 interrogation:

"With Heydrich, my job included everything that a personal adjutant and escort officer has to do. I was responsible for the appointments, for the whole technical daily routine, for receiving visitors, preparing and carrying out the tours, supervising the fleet of cars (we still had 2 airplanes), looking after the guests (there were always a lot of foreign guests), arranging meals and other events. That was about all I had to do."

About Neumann see here

Hermann Kluckhohn mentioned a list of 5 adjutants in his 1969 testimony：

Chief adjutant Kurt Pomme 1899-1964, belonged to Schupo, as the file recorded he entered the SD and became the chief adjutant in 1938 (but had previously worked under Heydrich since 1935). No known picture of him. 1st adjutant Hans-Joachim Ploetz 1911-1944, entered the SD in 1937, became the 1st adjutant in 1940, stayed on this post until Aug 1943, entered the WSS and was killed in action in Poland in Aug 1944. 2nd adjutant Hermann Kluckhohn 1911-？, entered the SD in 1935, became the 2nd adjutant under the recommendation of Ploetz in 1940. He stayed in Prague to work as Daluege's adjutant and then went to WSS in Aug 1943. 3rd adjutant Arthur Scheidler 1911-1957, entered the SD in 1935, appointed adjutant in 1937, in charge of the Chief's personal account and foreign currency of SD. In his post-war interrogation he denied being an adjutant but merely an administrative chief of Kaltenbrunner, taking over Pomme's work after he left. Adjutant of special assignment Heinrich Werth 1913-1945, entered the SD in 1935, appointed adjutant in 1939, In charge of the archive. He became similar to 1st adjutant under Kaltenbrunner. Himmler wanted him to the frontline in Nov 1943 but Kaltenbrunner let him stay since he already had fewer adjutants than his predecessor. He may have joined a combat unit at the end of the war, and died in the 1st Reserve Hospital of Schleswig in July 1945.

[owlpuddle]

Hair's Hashish and Sodomy really putting their thumb on the scale of "what's the first broadway show to use x naughty word?"

(I think it's the first show to say fuck? Since it rather famously wasn't Sondheim with WSS and I can't think of any other fuck-worthy shows between 1957 and 1967)

[sondheims-hat]

September 26, 1957: Opening night for the original production of WSS at the Winter Garden.

[heygutlcssa]

LET DARKS TAKE ABOUT WEST SIDE STORY!

@withinycu​ ASKED:  13,15,21

13. Who is your favorite Shark?

For the 1961 its definitly Rudy Del Campo as Del Campo because this guy had balls. Allegedly he told the studio “ if you’re gonna give me a a stupid name it might as well be mine” and they said “okay” and like. I hope some variation of that story is true because its literally his name and he’s one of four Spanish ( Hispanic or Latinx) actors that was actually in the film and he got to keep his name. For the 2021 version it’s probably Julius Rubio as Quique because he is so vibrant and so much fun to watch. For not being listed on the main Sharks credit Card he’s got the most lines out of the rest of the Sharks. he’s just so much fun to watch and is so vibrant throughout the whole movie.

15. Who is your favorite Jet?

I take it I can’t pick Riff( Listen i know he’s problematic, but he has so much potential for depth) so i would have to pick from the 1957 Broadway show   Hank Brunjes as  Diesel mainly because he’s the reason the character got cut ( or so the story goes. it could have been somone else filling in for the role but *shoulder shrug*) because he was acting “too maternal” towards A-Rab and Baby John. I wish we had video proof of this.

For the 2021 film I’d have to choose Kyle Allen as Balkan. For only having dialogue during Gee, Officer Krupke and the assault scene he did a phenomenal job and does many “legolas faces” throughout the film. You can tell he jsut had so much fun with the role.

21.You can only watch one film version for the rest of you life. So 1961 or 2021?

Uh, probably the 2021 version because it was the first one I saw completely through. I fell asleep on the old one back when I saw it in high school ( mainly out of spite and also cause my brother made us start watching it late at night). also I remember having a migraine so a lot of the music was really grating and we had to watch it with the lights off. But I think its a good thing that I didn’t grow up with it. I couldn’t have appreciated it like I do now.

 WSS wasn’t a staple in my house like it was for a lot of people. My introduction to the American musical was through my grandma on my dad’s side. So we watched shows like Sound of Music, Camelot, An American in Paris, South Pacific, Till the Clouds Roll By, Oklahoma, but West Side Story was not one in her collection of Beta max or VHS tapes. Like, I knew about it. you can’t not know about West Side Story,  I had seen brief scenes or listened to the music in chorus, but I just found out recently that my grandma didn’t let my dad go to the theater back in 61 to see it because it was about gangs and she was worried about the rating. This was also the reason she didn’t let me or my brother watch it growing up. Which is ironic because Till the Clouds Roll by and South Pacific were perfectly okay by her standards despite their themes( much of which is the same as west side story).

I think the new movie is more self aware of its surroundings but that also hurts the film in the sense that i left the theater with more questions about what was going on in the world than actually caring about the story. i didn’t cry until Valentina takes Chino’s hand like I balled when I finally watched the original because it focused so heavily on the story and not the setting. But i think the new version gets it. it defines what a revival should be-- which is the chance to grow and evolve. so the new one, despite its faults, which are just as abundant as the original.

[barbossas-wench]

This came out from my mind while listening to every single version of A Boy Like That

[this-hattan-newsie]

"Dally had seen people killed on the streets of New York's West Side."

I know that WSS was taking place in 1957, is it possible that Dally had seen Riff and Bernardo death or at least knew them?

[riffheartsgraziella]

Do you think any of the jets well like skate boarding 🤔?

Hmm, I never really thought about this before, but I don’t think so. From what I’ve seen, it seems like skateboarding really became popular in California in the 1960s. Since WSS is set in NYC in 1957, I don’t think it would really be on the Jets’ radar.

[bonnettsbooks]

The classic #RomeoAndJuliet & #WestSideStory comparison. If you don't know, #Shakespeare's R&J inspired #JeromeRobbins' 1957 WSS stage musical. Now available at #BonnettsBooks! 3/9/22 Open 6-9p Mask req'r'd. No open containers, please. (at Bonnett's Book Store) https://www.instagram.com/p/Ca5WMXAPpzT/?utm_medium=tumblr

[tonymarias]

LARRY KENT & CAROL LAWRENCE as TONY & MARIA in the original production of WEST SIDE STORY (1957)

[tonymarias]

CHITA RIVERA as ANITA in the original broadway production of WEST SIDE STORY

[tonymarias]

LARRY KENT & CAROL LAWRENCE as TONY & MARIA for production images for the original production of WEST SIDE STORY (1957)

[tonymarias]

CHITA RIVERA and KEN LEROY as ANITA and BERNARDO in the original production of WEST SIDE STORY

[heygutlcssa]

I know comparing the original movie to the new movie is like comparing apples and oranges, but I really wish that the a.ss.ault scene was a little more in line with the original.

Yes, it's fine that Graziella is there. There's pros and cons to that too, especially considering that she kind of instigates it and then backpedals when it becomes not a them or us situation, but a women's situation. It's the one plane per the movie that they can relate one ( though graziella is such a missed opportunity as a character, especially since during this time period a good chunk of Italian girls were doing pretty much anything to not be considered Italian. Legit there's an internment camp that mainly housed Italian Americans during the war and continued to house Italians and other immigrants during the Red Scare up until it's closure in 1954 only like a few miles away. Ellis island was not the best of places.) That's a whole other discussion though .

I think what's hard about this scene boils down to two major issues for me. The first being that they took music from the mambo sequence instead of replaying america. The original Broadway show( it's even on the vinyl record. I'll have to double check if it's on Spotify too. The soundtrack has been messed with over the years for what tracks stayed on and in what order) had a reprise of America playing during this particular scene.

This is important because most of the action within WSS takes place within the music and the dialogue. In the new movie that isn't really there. most of the action is just that. Action. Whole most of the original is there, the new movie cuts out some pretty significant lines throughout the feature.

Anita was the driving positive force about pro-Americanism and assimilating. This whole scene not only shows violence around woc but how that American Dream was never intended for a person like her and the show puts that in the hands of the whitest jets possible. Characters that were more ethnic nonwhite ( like diesel, a-rab, and tiger, sometime it was mouthpiece in tigers stead) were not present for the assault. They were doing what they what they were supposed to be doing: looking for Tony. The remaining Jets don't bother to send someone out to let everyone else know that they found him.

And remember that in both the 1961 movie and the 1957 show Anybodys is an active participant in what happened to Anita, only backing off at the very end just as Doc comes in to stop it coming to fruition. Right as they do the symbolic backflip of Anita Anybodys breaks away. This is also another discussion for a different post.

What bothers me most about the new movie is that they not only played the mambo music instead of America's reprise ( noted this was changed in the special editions of the 61 film as well) but they cut some very important dialogue that happens right after.

Noted, most reviews and scholarly articles cut this dialogue out of their arguments too. Because if that dialogue is brought to light then they can't blame 100% of the violent behavior of the jets on the jets.

Which, in Anita's case, you totally can and still include the dialogue. This dialogue is important because it showcases what drives people to do these unthinkable things and while environmental circumstances play a factor, it more so focuses on the adults around them. On their own abuse and reaction to being abused. On how grief is handled. On acting out and being alone. It also has a lot to say on the age old argument " it's your generation's fault that everything is bad as it is. In my day we didnt act like that. In my day the world was better because my generation was better ."

No one likes to admit fault in themselves especially when unspeakable acts are involved. But no one wants to admit that they handed the capability for the unspeakable down to the generation after them. They will just be disappointed when the next generation fails to do better. Does this justify what happened to Anita? Absolutely not and it never should have happened. She was a victim.

So when she utters I'm am a Puerto Rican, you should feel this deep sorrow for her and her dreams, her hopes, and her life. I certainly didn't feel that in any viewings of the movie. I just didn't hit the way it was meant to. You can tell kuschner tried very hard though . I deeply appreciate that.

The dialogue that's missing which was replaced by Valentina's speech also, while hitting home, didn't have an effect like it was supposed to.

I didn't and still don't have a strong attachment to the 61 film, so I can't say it's my rose tinted nostalgia glasses that make me think this way. I just think the original dialogue hits harder and has a lot more to say.

DOC: When do you kids stop? You make this world lousy!

ACTION: We didn't make it, Doc

Two lines. That's all that needs put back.

[tonymarias]

Promotional picture of Larry Kert & Carol Lawrence for West Side Story (1957)

Promotional poster of Richard Beymer & Natalie Wood for West Side Story (1961)

Ansel Elgort & Rachel Zegler in West Side Story (2021)