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| Contrary to popular belief -- and very much to the credit of the designer and crew -- most of West Side Story was filmed in Hollywood on some thirty-five sets representing alleys and backyards, bridal shop, dance hall, candy store, rooftop, and space under the highway. The two actual New York City film locations were the streets in and around what is now Lincoln Center (64th and Amsterdam) and the playground at 110th Street near Second Avenue. Two other outdoor night shots seen during the Quintet were reportedly filmed in Los Angeles. |
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| The vocals for the part of Maria were sung by Marni Nixon. The vocals for the part of Tony were sung by Jimmy Bryant. Anita's part in "A Boy Like That" was dubbed by Betty Wand. Riff's part in "Jet Song" was dubbed by Tucker Smith By Ms Nixon's own account, she was called in to patch up some of Anita's part in the "Quintet." Having already dubbed Maria's part for Natalie Wood, Marni Nixon is actually singing opposite herself for a good part of the song. |
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| Filming began on August 10, 1960, after ten weeks of rehearsals. Six months of shooting in New York and Los Angeles were followed by seven months of editing and post-production. West Side Story had its world premiere at the Rivoli Theater in New York on October 18th, 1961, aptly near the Winter Garden, home of the original Broadway production. The Hollywood opening took place three nights later at the Chinese Theater in Los Angeles. |
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| To translate the successful stage musical to film, Mirisch Pictures relied on Hollywood names like Robert Wise, Ernest Lehman and Natalie Wood to deliver the product. But their admirable efforts were made in collaboration with a number of Broadway talents, starting with the indispensible Jerome Robbins, as well as Leonard Bernstein, who provided additional music, Stephen Sondheim, whose re-written lyrics to "America" are a highlight of the film, orchestrators Sid Ramin and Irwin Kostal, costumer Irene Sharaff, dance assistant Howard Jeffrey, and as many as seventeen dancers who had appeared in productions on Broadway, London, or the National Tours. |
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| Russ Tamblyn is fond of telling the story about re-takes—or rather one re-take in particular—that brought him and the Jets back to a certain scene a full year after the first take was filmed and apparently discarded. He refers to a shot early in the film, where the Jets are rounding a corner as they walk away from the playground in the aftermath of the Prologue and the scene with the policemen. As Sue Oakes (Anybodys) speaks the line “You gotta let me in the gang” the Jets turn the corner (to face a different camera) as Ms Oakes continues, “Didn’t you just see me?” As Mr. Tamblyn recalls, the second segment had to be re-shot and, as he laughingly reports, “Just as we walked around that corner everyone’s a year older." |
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