Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by rico (A) on August 20, 2006 at 12:24:01

Co-directors Robert Wise and Joshua Logan are the only director team to share a Best Director Oscar from the Academy. There wasa a lot of dubbing of voices for the film and also a lot of injurues due to the dancing being done on pavement and perfectionist logan's predeliction for repeated takes. To keep the tension high between the fictional rival gangs the film makers kept them largely apart and also encouraged practical jokes betwen the two factions. The stage musical was originally conceived as a romance between a Jewish boy and an Irish Catholic girl but changed over time as New York's Hispanic population grew rapidly. The original stage dialog and lyrics were changed many times for the film for censoring and anti-Puerto Rican content. Criterion has done a nice job here.