Helen of Troy
SYPNOSIS:
A bitter tension between the jets, a self-styled “American” street gang, and the Sharks, a group of young Puerto Ricans opens the scene. The leader of the jets, Riff swears to drive the Sharks, led by Bernardo, from the streets. Riff determines to challenge Bernardo that night at a dance in the gym, and prevails upon his old friend and the co-founder of the Jets, Tony, to help him. Tony has been growing away from the gang, and feels the stirrings of other emotions but reluctantly agrees. Bernardo’s sister Maria, newly arrived from Puerto Rico to marry his friend Chino, attends the dance and despite the obvious hatred between the gangs meets Tony, who at once falls in love with her. Later, after the dance, while the gangs begin to assemble at Doc’s drugstore to choose a place and weapons for their rumble, Tony visits Maria on the fire escape of her apartment, and they pledge their love, promising to meet the next afternoon at the bridal shop where Maria works. As he departs, the Sharks take their girls home and go off to the drugstore, while a playful argument develops between Anita and homesick Puerto Rican girls over the relative merits of life back home in Manhattan. At the drugstore, the Jets are edgy about the approaching meeting with the Sharks, but Riff advises them to play it cool, and when the Sharks arrive, an agreement is reached, at Tony’ s insistence, to have a fair, bare-handed fight between the best two fighters in each gang. The following day, Tony visits Maria at the shop and among the clothing dummies they enact a touching wedding ceremony. Maria makes him a promise to stop the fight between his gang and his brother’s. in the quintet Tonight, Tony and Maria sing for their love, Anita makes plans for a big evening, and Bernardo and Riff and their gangs make their own plans for rumble. In a deserted area under the highway, gangs meet for the fight. As it is about to get underway, Tony hurries in, and begs them to stop, as
A bitter tension between the jets, a self-styled “American” street gang, and the Sharks, a group of young Puerto Ricans opens the scene. The leader of the jets, Riff swears to drive the Sharks, led by Bernardo, from the streets. Riff determines to challenge Bernardo that night at a dance in the gym, and prevails upon his old friend and the co-founder of the Jets, Tony, to help him. Tony has been growing away from the gang, and feels the stirrings of other emotions but reluctantly agrees. Bernardo’s sister Maria, newly arrived from Puerto Rico to marry his friend Chino, attends the dance and despite the obvious hatred between the gangs meets Tony, who at once falls in love with her. Later, after the dance, while the gangs begin to assemble at Doc’s drugstore to choose a place and weapons for their rumble, Tony visits Maria on the fire escape of her apartment, and they pledge their love, promising to meet the next afternoon at the bridal shop where Maria works. As he departs, the Sharks take their girls home and go off to the drugstore, while a playful argument develops between Anita and homesick Puerto Rican girls over the relative merits of life back home in Manhattan. At the drugstore, the Jets are edgy about the approaching meeting with the Sharks, but Riff advises them to play it cool, and when the Sharks arrive, an agreement is reached, at Tony’ s insistence, to have a fair, bare-handed fight between the best two fighters in each gang. The following day, Tony visits Maria at the shop and among the clothing dummies they enact a touching wedding ceremony. Maria makes him a promise to stop the fight between his gang and his brother’s. in the quintet Tonight, Tony and Maria sing for their love, Anita makes plans for a big evening, and Bernardo and Riff and their gangs make their own plans for rumble. In a deserted area under the highway, gangs meet for the fight. As it is about to get underway, Tony hurries in, and begs them to stop, as