West Side Story

Synopsis: West Side Story is the award-winning adaptation of the classic romantic tragedy, "Romeo and Juliet". The feuding families become two warring New York City gangs- the white Jets led by Riff and the Puerto Rican Sharks, led by Bernardo. Their hatred escalates to a point where neither can coexist with any form of understanding. But when Riff's best friend (and former Jet) Tony and Bernardo's younger sister Maria meet at a dance, no one can do anything to stop their love. Maria and Tony begin meeting in secret, planning to run away. Then the Sharks and Jets plan a rumble under the highway - whoever wins gains control of the streets. Maria sends Tony to stop it, hoping it can end the violence. It goes terribly wrong, and before the lovers know what's happened, tragedy strikes and doesn't stop until the climactic and heartbreaking ending.
Genre: Crime, Drama, Musical
Production: United Artists Films
  Won 10 Oscars. Another 18 wins & 11 nominations.
 
IMDB:
7.6
Metacritic:
86
Rotten Tomatoes:
94%
NOT RATED
Year:
1961
153 min
Website
13,597 Views


Watch this shot. Whoa!

Shoot, man. Go!

Yeah!

Heh-heh!

Huh!

Gee!

Hey, chickie! Chick, chick, chick!

Jet Boy! Hey, Jet Boy!

Jet, Jet, Jet!

Beat it!

Jets, get outta here!

Hey, Snowboy! Yeah!

Hey!

Come on.

Beat it!

Chico! Chico!

Ol, chico! Ol!

OK, here we go.

Jets! Hey, Jets!

Cracko, Indio!

Let's check him, come on!

Mo, mo, mo!

Hey, Jets!

ndale, chico! ndalelele!

Jets, come on!

Hey, Jets!

Hallo!

Jets, come on! Por aqu!

Come on!

Come on, boys, huh?

Hey, come on, huh?

Jets!

Jets! Jets!

Aagh!

Break it up, you punks!

Cut it out!

Come on, break it up, I said.

Come on. Break it up!

Come on!

How often have I told you

to cut this out?

- If it ain't Lieutenant Schrank!

- Top o' the day, Lieutenant Schrank!

- And Officer Krupke.

- Top o' the day, Officer Krupke!

I'll give you the top o' the head!

Hey you! Get down.

But we're having such fun.

We enjoy the playground.

It keeps us deprived children

off the foul city streets.

- Shut up!

- Born like we was onto hot pavements!

Baby John, come here! Come here!

All right.

Which one of these Puerto Ricans

bloodied you? Huh?

Well, sir...

Which one?

Excuse me, sir.

As a matter of fact, er,

we have suspicion

that the job was done by a cop.

- Two cops.

- At the very least.

Impossible.

In America, nothing is impossible.

All right, wise guys.

You listen to me.

All of you!

You hoodlums

don't own these streets,

and I've had all the roughhouse

I'm gonna put up with here!

You wanna kill each other?

Kill each other.

But you won't do it on my beat.

- Are there any questions?

- Yes, sir.

Would you mind

translating that into Spanish?

Get your friends out of here,

Bernardo,

and stay out.

Please.

OK, Sharks.

Vmonos.

Boy, oh, boy.

As if this neighbourhood

wasn't crummy enough.

Now, look, fellas. Fellas!

Look, let's be reasonable, huh?

If I don't get some law and order here,

I get busted down to a traffic corner.

Your friend don't like traffic corners.

So that means you're gonna start

making nice with the PRs from now on.

I said nice, get it?

Cos if you don't,

and I catch any of you

brawling again in my territory,

I'm gonna beat

the living crud out of each of you

and see that you go

to the can and rot there!

Say goodbye to the nice boys, Krupke.

Goodbye, boys.

Goodbye, boys

Jail? Gee!

You hoodlums don't own the streets.

- Go play in the park.

- Keep off of the grass.

- Get out of the house.

- Keep off the block.

Keep off the world.

A gang that don't own

the street is nothin'!

We do own it!

Come on, Jets. Round up.

Not you, Anybodys. Beat it!

Riff,

you've gotta let me in the gang!

Didn't you just see me? I was smash!

I'm a killer, I wanna fight!

How else is she gonna

get a guy to touch her?

- You dirty rat!

- The road, little girl, the road!

Beat it!

Ah, beat it!

OK, come on.

OK, now, listen.

We fought hard for this turf

and we won't give it up.

The Emeralds claimed it

and we shut 'em out.

The Hawks tried

and we knocked 'em down the cellar.

- The PRs are different.

- They multiply.

They keep coming.

- They eat all the food.

- Breathe all the air!

Help, I'm drowning in tamales!

You heard Lieutenant Schrank.

We gotta make nice

with them Puerto Ricans, or else!

Are we gonna let 'em move in

and take it all away from us, or else?

You're damn right, no.

So what are we gonna do, buddy boys?

I'll tell you what we're gonna do.

We're gonna speed fast.

We're gonna move like lightning!

We're gonna clean them Sharks up

once and for all

so they ain't never gonna

set foot on our turf again.

And we're gonna do it

in one all-out fight.

- A rumble!

- Now, cool, Action Boy.

The Sharks want

a piece of this world too.

And they're real down boys.

They might ask for, er

blades, zip guns.

Zip guns?

Well, gee!

I ain't finalisin' and saying they will,

Baby John.

I'm just saying that they might.

And we've gotta be prepared.

Now, what's your mood, Jets?

I say, go, go!

- I say mix!

- I say sock 'em!

- Tear 'em!

- Yeah!

But if they say blades or guns?

I say let's forget the whole thing.

- What?

- What do you say, Riff?

I say this turf is small

but it's all we got, huh?

I want to hold it

like we always held it,

with skin!

But if they say blades,

I say blades.

If they say guns,

I say guns.

I say I want the Jets

to be the number one.

To sail!

To hold the sky!

Then rev us off! Voom va-voom!

- Cracko jacko!

- Diga diga dum

OK, cats, we rumble.

Now!

Protocolity calls for a war council

with the Sharks to set it all up.

I will personally give

the bad news to Bernardo.

- You gotta take a lieutenant.

- That's me.

- That's Tony.

- Who needs Tony?

We need Tony.

His rep is bigger

than the whole West Side.

He don't belong no more.

Now, cut it, Action!

Me and Tony started the Jets.

So where is he?

How come he takes a lousy job?

Youth Board corrupted him.

- Temporary sickness!

- Wait and see.

Them fists when we beat the Emeralds!

- He saved my ever-Iovin' neck.

- He'll do it again.

He always came through for us.

He always will.

When you're a Jet

You're a Jet all the way

From your first cigarette

to your last dying day

When you're a Jet

Let 'em do what they can

You've got brothers around

You're a family man

You're never alone

You're never disconnected

You're home with your own

When company's expected

You're well protected

Then you are set with a capital J

Which you'll never forget

till they cart you away

When you're a Jet

You stay

A Jet

I know Tony like I know me.

- You can count him in.

- Let's get cracking.

- Where will you find Bernardo?

- PR territory ain't safe.

- He'll be at the dance.

- That's neutral territory.

A-rab, I'll make nice with him.

I'll challenge him.

Great, Daddy-O!

Everybody dress up sweet and sharp.

Meet Tony and me at the dance at 10.

- And walk tall!

- We always walk tall!

- We're Jets!

- The greatest!

When you're a Jet

You're the top cat in town

You're the gold-medal kid

With the heavyweight crown

When you're a Jet

You're the swingingest thing

Little boy, you're a man

Little man, you're a king

The Jets are in gear

Our cylinders are clicking

The Sharks'll steer clear

Cos every Puerto Rican's

a lousy chicken

Here come the Jets

like a bat out of hell

Someone gets in our way

Someone don't feel so well

Here come the Jets

Little world step aside

Better go underground

Better run, better hide

We're drawing the line

So keep your noses hidden

We're hanging a sign

Says Visitors Forbidden

And we ain't kiddin'

Here come the Jets, yeah

And we're gonna beat

Every last buggin' gang

on the whole buggin' street

On the whole

Buggin'

Ever-Iovin'

Street... Yeah!

- Tony, you're not listening.

- I hear you, Riff.

Then why don't you answer?

I don't want to hurt you.

You're my best friend.

Womb to tomb?

Birth to earth!

That's why you gotta come

to the dance tonight

and stand up with me.

Come on, Tony. Just say yes.

Rate this script:2.5 / 6 votes

Ernest Lehman

Ernest Paul Lehman was an American screenwriter. He received six Academy Award nominations during his career, without a single win. more…

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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    "West Side Story" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 18 Nov. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/west_side_story_23242>.

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