Saturday, September 12, 2020

West Side Story: The Jets, the Sharks, and the Making of a Classic



West Side Story
The Jets, the Sharks, and the Making of a Classic
by Richard Barrios
TCM & Running Press
Hardcover ISBN: 9780762469482
232 pages
June 2020

AmazonBarnes and NoblePowell's


When West Side Story was released in 1961, moviegoers had never seen anything quite like it. It threw out all conventions of what a musical should be, offering instead a young cast, an urban setting, on location shooting and ethnic strife. As author and musicals expert Richard Barrios writes, West Side Story was unique in "subject matter, unity of music and dance, overall presentation and seriousness of intent."

West Side Story was born out of a time when teenage culture was thriving and gang violence among youths was making headlines. Upon the success of Kiss Me Kate (1953), which gave Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew a modern twist, writer Arthur Laurents, director and choreographer Jerome Robbins and composer Leonard Bernstein came together to create the next big splash on the musicals scene. West Side Story would take Romeo and Juliet, strip it of its upper class stature and its pomp and circumstance to tell a story of lower class immigrant teens at war. The thumb biting Montagues and Capulets became the finger snapping Jets and Sharks. The musical was a hit on Broadway but when it came time to adapt it into film executives still thought the project was a gamble. What they didn't bank on was how enthusiastically audiences would embrace this vastly new and different approach. It all worked. The story, the music, the dance sequences, the urban backdrop, the colorful costumes, etc. And of course, the stars made a huge impact. There was Natalie Wood's effervescence, Richard Beymer's youthful innocence, Russ Tamblyn's spirited physicality, George Chakiris' elegant intensity and Rita Moreno's charming vivacity.


Look at that beautiful self cover!

An inside spread


Author Richard Barrios offers fans and musical enthusiasts a valuable companion to this iconic film with West Side Story: The Jets, the Sharks, and the Making of a Classic. This is a soup to nuts exploration of the Broadway play's origins, it's transformation to film, the casting, the production, the release and the story's continued legacy. Barrios has a way with words and his elegant turn of phrase along with his thoughtful and informed insights make this a thoroughly enjoyable read. Mimicking the structure of the film, the book even has a prologue, intermission and epilogue. There are plenty of behind-the-scenes photos, film stills and publicity shots in both color and black-and-white. The biggest takeaways for me were how many obstacles had to be overcome in order to make the film and how there was a natural divide during production separating the cast in two camps. There were naturally those who were playing the Jets and those who were playing the Sharks. Directors Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins kept them separate as much as they could to build up natural tension. Then there were the Broadway veterans vs. the Hollywood Stars and team Robert Wise vs. team Jerome Robbins and other divisions that happened on set. It's fascinating to read how everything came together, despite so many challenges.

This the perfect gift for the West Side Story fanatic in your life. I am not even that big of a fan of the musical and I found this an engrossing read.



This is my fifth review for my Summer Reading Challenge.


Thank you to Running Press for sending me a copy of this book to review.

Tuesday, September 8, 2020

Mary Wickes: I Know I’ve Seen That Face Before

Mary Wickes
I Know I’ve Seen That Face Before
by Steve Taravella
University Press of Mississippi
Hardcover ISBN: 9781604739053
370 pages
May 2013

AmazonBarnes and Noble Powells

“Mary was one of the most recognizable character actresses in the United States. Though the general public might not have been able to recall her name immediately, generations of moviegoers, television viewers, and theatre lovers delighted in her distinctive presence.” — Steve Taravella

I have always admired ambitious and driven people. If you work hard at your dreams and follow through on your goals, you're someone I want to know more about. Mary Wickes was just that kind of person. From the moment she realized she wanted to be an actress until the day she died, Wickes was always pursuing her dream.

"Singularly devoted to her craft, Mary was happiest when at work." — Steve Taravella



Wickes was never going to become a leading lady. She didn't have the looks that Hollywood wanted in order to do so. Instead, she focused on what she did have: a strong work ethic and a knack for comedy and playing high-strung characters. Wickes honed her skills on the stage and excelled at delivery and timing. She found work in theater as well as radio and film and was early to embrace the new medium of television. She blossomed into one of the finest character actresses of the 20th century giving us memorable performances in films such as The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942), Now, Voyager (1942), White Christmas (1954),  Dear Heart (1964), The Trouble with Angels (1966), Postcards from the Edge (1990), Sister Act (1992) and Little Women (1994). Wickes played nuns, nurses, maids, spinsters, aunts, grandmothers, society matrons, landladies, etc. And even if you couldn't quite remembered her name, you'd remember her face.




"I just happen to have been given a face which could play an age and any period, and it never bothered me not to have been the romantic leading lady. It has always been my ambition to be the best supporting actress in the business..." — Mary Wickes

Author Steve Taravella offers readers an intimate look at the life and work of the much beloved actress in Mary Wickes: I Know I've Seen That Face Before. This biography is not your typical one. Taravella's book is essentially a collection of thematic essays with each chapter unlocking an aspect of Wickes' personality or exploring an era in her life. While there isn't all too much in the form of behind-the-scenes informations about her films, we do get a lot about Mary Wickes herself, who she was as a person and as a performer. Wickes was fiercely private in real life and this book felt maybe too intimate. However, Wickes had left all of her papers to be archived at Washington University so it's safe to say that she was willing to be an open book as long as it happened after her death.

Taravella explores many aspects of Wickes' private life including her close friendship with Lucille Ball (which gets its own chapter) and her personal and professional relationships with countless others. Wickes was the epitome of propriety, something born out of the close bond she had with her mom Isabella who taught her to mind her manners. The author paints a portrait of a woman who lived to perform, who became her own advocate and was always tenacious about getting work. Her story can sometimes be very sad. It was difficult to read how Wickes' old-fashioned sensibilities held her back in many regards and how she never found romantic love. Her private struggle with breast cancer was eye-opening and heart-breaking.

Mary Wickes: I Know I've Seen That Face Before is one of the most intimate biographies I've ever read. I finished the book feeling like I had just made a new friend.



This is my fourth review for the Summer Reading Challenge.


Saturday, August 29, 2020

2020 Summer Reading Challenge: Second Round-Up


I am so incredibly impressed with not only how many books the participants have been reading but the variety of books and the quality of reviews. This is the best year yet! I encourage you to give these all a read. I guarantee that you're TBR (To Be Read) list will grow.

A big congrats to Breanna, Carl and Vanessa who have already finished the challenge! For the rest of us, we still have until September 15th to send in reviews.

Happy Reading!


Andy of AndyWolverton.com 
Robert Wise: The Motion Pictures by J.R. Jordan
Seconds (1963) by David Ely

Breanna of Bresfilms41
Dark Star: The Untold Story of the Meteoric Rise and Fall of the Legendary John Gilbert by Leatrice Gilbert Fountain
Five Came Back: A Story of Hollywood and the Second World War by Mark Harris
Girls in the Picture by Melanie Benjamin

Carl of The Movie Palace Podcast
The Age of Movies: Selected Writings of Pauline Kael edited by Sanford Schwartz
Heavenly Bodies: Film Stars and Society by Richard Dyer
Hitchcock Films: Revisited by Robin Wood
Letters from Hollywood: Inside the Private World of Classic American Moviemaking by Rocky Lang and Barbara Hall
A Long Hard Look at Psycho by Raymond Durgnat
Love, Lucy by Lucille Ball


Photo Source: Jess of Box Office Poisons

Jess of Box Office Poisons
Considering Doris Day by Tom Santopietro
Life is a Banquet by Rosalind Russell
No Bed of Roses by Joan Fontaine

Molly of Classic Mollywood
Jean Arthur: The Actress Nobody Knew by John Oller
Stormy Weather: The Life of Lena Horne by James Gavin

Pacia of Sylvia Plath, Shirley Jackson, and Dorothy Parker Walk into a Bar…
A Story Lately Told: Coming of Age in Ireland, London, and New York by Angelica Huston




Raquel of Out of the Past
Letters from Hollywood: Inside the Private World of Classic American Moviemaking by Rocky Lang and Barbara Hall
The Lives of Robert Ryan by J.R. Jones

Rich of Wide Screen World
The Dreams of the Dreamers: Adventures of a Professional Movie Goer by Hollis Alpert


Photo Source: Robby on Instagram



Robby on Instagram
Hollywood Black: The Stars, The Films, The Filmmakers by Donald Bogle

Sarah on Goodreads
Gun Crazy: The Origin of American Outlaw Cinema by Eddie Muller
The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain
Swanson on Swanson by Gloria Swanson

Shawn of The Everyday Cinephile
The Art of Film Projection: A Beginner's Guide by George Eastman Museum
Frame By Frame: A Materialist Aesthetics of Animated Cartoons by Hannah Frank
Herr Lubitsch Goes to Hollywood: German and American Film After World War I by Kristin Thompson

Steve on Goodreads
Anthony Mann by Jeanine Basinger
Horizons West: The Western from John Ford to Clint Eastwood by Jim Kitses
Hitchcock on Hitchcock: Selected Writings and Interviews by Alfred Hitchcock and edited by Sidney Gottlieb

Vanessa of Super Veebs
Bombshell: The Life and Death of Jean Harlow by David Stenn
MGM Style: Cedric Gibbons & the Art of the Golden Age of Hollywood by Howard Gutner


If I missed your review, don't worry! It'll be on the next and final round-up.

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