Acting Oscars for taking part in the identical character: What connects, what separates the 1961 and 2021 variations of West Side Story
Exactly 60 years earlier than Ariana DeBose bagged the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in West Side Story (2021), Rita Moreno had bagged the identical award for a similar position — that of Anita — within the 1961 model of the identical movie, which had swept the 1962 Academy Awards.
The 2021 model, directed by Steven Spielberg, had been a lot talked about within the lead-up to the Oscars. In the tip, it received just for Best Supporting Actress. But that also represented a statistical landmark.
Same position, two awards
Before Anita within the twin variations of West Side Story, solely two movie characters had received an Oscar for the actors enjoying them in two totally different movies.
The first was Vito Corleone within the first two components of The Godfather trilogy. After Marlon Brando received the Best Actor award for the enduring title position in The Godfather (1972), Robert De Niro received Best Supporting Actor for taking part in the identical character in The Godfather Part II (1974). Part I exhibits the ultimate days of Vito Corleone, Part II exhibits him in flashback in his childhood and youth, and Part III (1990) doesn’t function the character in any respect.
The report stood for 45 years between 1975, when De Niro received his award, and 2020, when it was lastly matched by Joaquin Phoenix who received Best Actor for his position in Joker (2019). The earlier actor who received an Oscar for taking part in the Joker was the late Heath Ledger, Best Supporting Actor for The Dark Knight (2008).
After Vito Corloene and the Joker introduced their actors a Best Actor and a Best Supporting Actor award for every, Anita has now change into the one character to have fetched her actors the identical award (Supporting Actress) on two events.
More trivia: Rita Moreno, who performed Anita within the 1961 model, additionally seems within the 2021 model, as a distinct, older character.
1961 vs 2021
The 1961 model of West Side Story, directed by Robert Wise (who would later make The Sound of Music, 1965) and Jerome Robbins, is taken into account a landmark in lots of respects. It is basically a musical model of Romeo and Juliet, up to date to Nineteen Fifties America, though it can’t be thought of a remake of any of the movie or stage variations of Shakespeare’s play. Like the stage authentic, the 1961 movie model of West Side Story mixed music with spectacle throughout an period when musicals have been nonetheless in vogue and when quite a lot of spectacular movies have been popping out of Hollywood. In 1997, a ballot amongst consultants carried out by the American Film Institute ranked it at 41 among the many 100 best American movies ever made.
At the 1962 Oscars, it bagged 10 awards, which stays the second highest ever received by a single movie. Until then, solely Ben-Hur (1959) had received extra, with 11 awards out of 12 nominations. West Side Story (1961) had 11 nominations, and missed solely the award for Best Adapted Screenplay.
The 2021 model had fewer nominations at 7, however was seen as among the many favourites to bag Best Picture and Best Director, which might have meant matching the 1961 model in these two classes.
Since the 1961 model’s 10 Oscars, two movies have topped that depend — Titanic (1997) and Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (2003), each of which matched Ben-Hur’s 11 awards.
West Side Story on the Oscars
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