West Side Story: 1961 Best Picture

“Judgment at Nuremberg” and “West Side Story” were the most nominated (11 each) films at the 34th Academy Awards. The former only got two wins, however. “West Side Story” swept the Oscars, winning Best Picture and 9 more Oscars.

George Chakiris and Rita Moreno won the Best Supporting Oscars, beating the favorites: Jackie Gleason (“The Hustler”) and Judy Garland (“Judgment at Nuremberg”).

The other films nominated for Best Picture were “Fanny”, “Judgment of Nuremberg”, “The Hustler” and “The Guns of Navarone”.

More notable films from 1961: “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”, “El Cid”, “Barabbas”, “The Children’s Hour”, “Flower Drum Song”, “The Great Imposter”, “A Raisin in the Sun”, “Town Without Pity”. Disney had big hits with “The Absent-Minded Professor”, “The Parent Trap” and “One Hundred and One Dalmations”.

Some Jeopardy! clues on “West Side Story”
MOVIE MUSICALS $1600: George Chakiris played Riff in the West End production of this musical, but played Bernardo in the 1961 film
THE “WEST” WING $800: “Rumble” & “Maria” are songs from this 1961 movie
MOVIES BASED ON SHAKESPEARE $400: “West Side Story”
BEST PICTURE OSCAR WINNERS $200: Riff & Bernardo lead 2 warring gangs in New York City in this 1961 musical
WOMEN IN SONG $400: In “West Side Story”, Tony’s smitten because “I’ve just met a girl named” this
AT THE MOVIES $800: One of the only 2 musicals to win 9 or more Oscars; one was in 1958 & one was in 1961

More 1961 film clues:
JOHNNY GILBERT, THIS IS YOUR LIFE $600: Johnny played a nightclub emcee in the 1961 film where this title female teenager “Goes Hawaiian”
CELEBRITIES’ FAVORITE MOVIES $1000: (Hi. I’m Jane Kaczmarek.) I sometimes need a hankie watching the love of Warren Beatty & Natalie Wood hit every kind of obstacle in this 1961 film
CLASSIC CINEMA $2000: A 1961 Gregory Peck film was shot on Rhodes, but it’s about destroying guns on this other Aegean island
“D” TALKS $600: A 1961 Disney film greatly contributed to an increase in this dog breed’s popularity
FELINE FINE AT THE MOVIES $800: Someone left the cat out in the rain in this 1961 film (P.S.–it was Audrey Hepburn)
ARTHUR MILLER $800: Arthur Miller wrote the screenplay for the 1961 film “The Misfits”, this male superstar’s last film
NOT NOMINATED FOR BEST PICTURE $600: The Academy must have been out to lunch not nominating this 1961 Audrey Hepburn film
MEXICAN MOVIE MAKERS $400: Ismael Rodriguez’ 1961 film “Animas Trujano” starring Toshiro Mifune was Oscar-nominated in this category
WAR STARS $800: In a 1961 war film, Gregory Peck & David Niven set out to destroy “The Guns of” this location
MILLER’S CROSSING $400: He wrote the script for the 1961 film “The Misfits”
MOVIE TWINS $1200: In the 1980s Hayley Mills starred in 3 TV sequels to this 1961 Disney film in which she played twins Sharon & Susan
“SUMMER” CINEMA $1600: Geraldine Page yearned for Laurence Harvey in this 1961 film based on a Tennessee Williams play
FILMED IN HAWAII $800: Part of this 1961 Elvis movie was filmed at the Hilton Hawaiian village, also the birthplace of the colorful cocktail
FILMS OF THE ’60s $1,000 (Daily Double): (Jimmy of the Clue Crew in Louisville, Kentucky) What’s now the Oak Room of the Seelbach (Hilton) Hotel was once a gentlemen’s billiards hall, seen in this classic 1961 film
“POCKET” CHANGE $2000: Ann-Margaret made her movie debut in this 1961 film starring Bette Davis as Damon Runyon’s Apple Annie
NEWMAN’S OWN “H” FILMS $400: Playing against Paul, Jackie Gleason racked up some points in this 1961 film
SEEING DOUBLE $1000: This 1961 twin film, remade in 1998, was based on a German novel
JACKIE GLEASON $300: Jackie learned his cues well & was Oscar-nominated for this 1961 pool-playing film
CLASSIC CINEMA $400: In the judgment of the academy, Maximilian Schell was 1961’s Best Actor for this film
DISNEY DOGS $300: The Internet Movie Database says someone actually counted all the black spots in this 1961 film & found 6,469,952
THE FILM VAULT $400: Sidney Poitier starred in the 1961 film version of this Lorraine Hansberry drama about a black Chicago family
DISNEY CINEMA $1000: In 1961 Hayley Mills had a Top 10 hit with “Let’s Get Together” from this Disney film
CLASSIC DISNEY FILMS $300: This 1961 film was the first to feature a magical substance called Flubber
THE MOVIES $500: He played the absent-minded professor who invented Flubber in the original 1961 film
THEIR FIRST FILMS $600: In 1961 she made her film debut in the Charles Bronson movie “X-15” & began playing Laura Petrie on TV
JOHN HUSTON FILMS $1000: Huston directed this 1961 cowboy film that Arthur Miller wrote for Marilyn Monroe
INTERNATIONAL FILM STARS $800: In 1961 she won the Best Actress Oscar for “Two Women”, becoming the first to win for a foreign language film
FILM EPICS $1000: In a 1961 film, Charlton Heston portrayed this legendary Spanish hero
MOVIE QUOTES $400: “Fat man, you shoot a great game of pool” is a line in this 1961 film
MOVIE TRIVIA $300: Of bubble gum, flubber or blubber, the one Fred MacMurray invented in a 1961 film
MOVIE MEALS $400: Henry Mancini picked up a couple of Oscars for his work on this 1961 Blake Edwards film
SOPHIA LOREN $300: Loren’s 1st Oscar came for this 1961 Italian film co-starring Jean-Paul Belmondo
ACTORS & THEIR ROLES $200: Olympic ice skater Carol Heiss played Snow White in a 1961 film starring this wacky trio
THE FAMILY JULES $600: Paul Mazursky’s 1980 film “Willie & Phil” was based in part on this classic 1961 Truffaut film
THE ACADEMY AWARDS: He was nominated for 8 Best Actor Oscars, including one for a 1961 film; his only win came for its 1986 sequel
FILMS OF THE ’60s: Parts of this 1961 rock & roll movie were filmed on location in Oahu & Kauai
THE MOVIES: The DVD of this 1961 film includes “picture-in-picture commentary on how to make the trick shots”
LEADING LADIES: The 2 blonde sex symbols who made their last films with Gable, 1 released in 1937, 1 in 1961