West Side Story (1961)

Fabulously entertaining and weepy romance with singing and dancing -- Hollywood at its best. Rival gangs compete for control of the back streets, and do plenty of song and dance routines on the way, without looking too ridiculous. But it's noticeable how "respectable" the rough boys look.

A tomboyish girl, Anybodys, (Susan Oakes in her only film role) hangs out with one of the gangs, ignoring the feminine association of the other girls. At the present day she would be described as a female-to-male transsexual and given a male pronoun, but this was in 1961 (and the screenplay was faithfully based on the earlier, 1957, stage production).

The leader of the Jets, Riff, calls his followers "Buddy Boys". But Anybodys is always on the edge of the Jets, but now that a serious fight is impending, she is rejected. She pleads to take part, saying, "Riff, look, in a tight spot you're going to need every man you can get!"

Later when the meeting to plan the big fight takes place in the drug store, the Jets are already there. The Sharks arrive and the Jets' feminine girls are sent away, and nervously creeping past the menacing Puerto Rican men. Anybodys stays, hoping to be allowed to be present, but she too is sent away. She expresses her annoyance, and her male attitude, by roughly brushing past the Puerto Ricans.

The local police patrol has threatened the Jets with trouble for their bad behaviour, and the boys defend themselves becauae of their difficult childhoods. When the film was made, the psychological connection between bad treatment of children and their subsequent delinquency was a novel science, suitable for parody in the script.

After the patrol has left, the group develop the theme with a song parody. "Action" plays the role of the disturbed boy, and in a reprise of the "Officer Krupke" number, part of the song lyric goes:

My daddy beats my mommy,
My mommy clobbers me,
My grandpa's is a commie,
My grandma pushes tea,
My sister wears a mustache,
My brother wears a dress,
Goodness gracious, that's why I'm a mess!

Incidentally, there are some changes there compared with the stage play song lyric which went:

My father is a bastard,
My ma's an S.O.B.
My grandpa's always plastered,
My grandma pushes tea,
My sister wears a mustache,
My brother wears a dress,
Goodness gracious, that's why I'm a mess!

... and the clear reference to transgender was considered daring at the time (1957 on Broadway).

When Tony is been killed, Anybodys sees it happen, and goes back to tell the others. At first she is told to go away, but she persists and the importance of it is undeniable. Everyone, including her, is sent off to find the perpetrator, and as Anybodys is going off, Riff calls to her,

Hey ... you done good, Buddy Boy ...

Filled with pleasure at his use of the term for his gang members, she miles hugely and says, "Thanks ... Daddio!"

Riff may have accepted her as an honorary man, but the film makers didn't; her credit at the final titles is the first one after the caption, "The girls"

The film is full of might-have-beens; it was nearly "East Side Story" with a Catholic - Jewish conflict; and Elvis was proposed at one stage for the leader of the Sharks.

HF May 2005; thanks to Petra Henderson who drew my attention to this.

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