“West Side Story” and other new flicks, a TV show, recommendations

Stars of David

By Nate Bloom, Stars of David Contributing Columnist

Editor’s Note: Persons in bold are deemed by Nate Bloom to be Jewish for the purpose of this column. Persons identified as Jewish have at least one Jewish parent and were not raised in, or identify with, a faith other than Judaism. Converts to Judaism, of course, are also identified as Jewish.

The ‘biggest” movie to open in December is a remake of “West Side Story” (opens Dec. 10). This new version of the great musical was directed by Steven Spielberg, 74, and the screenplay was written by Tony Kushner, 65. They first worked together on Spielberg’s acclaimed film “Lincoln” (2012). Kushner was Oscar-nominated for his “Lincoln” screenplay, and Spielberg earned a best director nomination. They also teamed up for “The Fabelmans,” a semi-autobiographical film about Spielberg’s “comingof-age” years that will open in 2022. Spielberg directed the film and co-wrote the original screenplay with Kushner.

Here’s “West Side Story’s” very Jewish origin story. Around 1955, choreographer Jerome Robbins “pitched” the idea of a modernized musical version of “Romeo & Juliet.” Romeo would be a young Irish Catholic guy, and Juliet would be a Jewish teenage Holocaust survivor. Everybody eventually agreed that this update didn’t work. It was too much like “Abie’s Irish Rose,” a schmaltzy hit play about a Catholic/Jewish couple. Not long after, news stories broke about fights in New York between gangs of “white kids” and recent Puerto Rican immigrants. They decided to make Juliet (Maria) Puerto Rican, and Romeo (Tony) a native-born white guy.

The Broadway creative team was “all Jewish:” Robbins directed and choreographed; Arthur Laurents penned the “book” (story, dialogue); Leonard Bernstein wrote the music; and Stephen Sondheim, now 91, penned the lyrics. The Broadway musical (1957) was a smash hit, as was the 1961 film. The new film is “still” set in the mid-’50s. It retains the original score and closely follows Laurents’ “book.”

As for Jews in the cast? Well, Corey Stoll, 45, has a supporting role as police lieutenant Schrank. And then there’s Ansel Elgort, 27, who costars as Tony. You decide whether you view him as Jewish. My sense is that he’s secular. Ansel’s mother is of non-Jewish background. His mother’s mother was sent to a Nazi concentration camp for saving Jewish children. Ansel’s father, Arthur Elgort, 81, is a well-known fashion photographer. Arthur’s father was Jewish and his mother wasn’t born Jewish. But I was recently referred to a 1982 interview in which Arthur referenced his bar mitzvah — so, clearly, he was raised Jewish. Also, I think it likely that Arthur’s mother converted to Judaism. In 1953, few rabbis would preside over a bar mitzvah if the boy’s mother wasn’t Jewish.

“Licorice Pizza” (opened Nov. 26) is a coming-of-age film directed and written by the “quirky” Paul Thomas Anderson. Anderson is a big fan of the popular band “Haim” (three real-life Jewish sisters) and he cast Alana Haim, 29, in her first acting role. She costars as a teen involved in a high school romance. The cast includes Sean Penn, 61, Skyler Gisondo, 25, Benny Safdie, 37, Maya Rudolph, 49, and Destry Allyn Spielberg, 24 (Steven’s daughter).

Opening in theaters on Dec. 17 is “Nightmare Alley,” a remake of a harrowing 1947 film about the rise and gruesome fall of a con man. Bradley Cooper stars as the con man. The supporting cast includes Ron Perlman, 71, and Tim Blake Nelson, 57.

As I write this, I know December is the premiere month of the HBO Max series, “And Just Like That” (a “reboot” of “Sex and the City”). But no start date has been announced. Sarah Jessica Parker, 55, who plays star character Carrie, is in the reboot, as is Evan Handler, 60, who plays Harry, the Jewish husband of star character Charlotte (who converted to Judaism before marrying Harry). Sad to note: Willie Garson, who played Stanford, Carrie’s gay friend, was reported to be in the reboot earlier this year. But it’s unclear if Garson filmed any episodes before he died (Sept. 17) of pancreatic cancer.

Finally, here’s two little-known flicks I recently ‘discovered’ that can counter the deluge of Xmas films. They are now streaming on Tubi, a free app (with ads) now easily available (Roku, Amazon Fire, online, etc.).

“Arranged” is a really charming and insightful 2007 film about a young Orthodox NYC public school teacher (Zoe Lister-Jones) who accepts that her marriage will be arranged but won’t settle for just anybody.

The other, “The Yankles,” is a 2015 comedy/drama about an Orthodox rabbinical seminary that decides to have its own baseball team. Not great, but not bad at all and, wow, truly unique.