Reply #26: I've always thought that movie was a stinker.... [View All]

[Jade Fox]

When I saw I as a kid I couldn't figure out why all the people in the movie
didn't seem to have jobs or anything since they were obviously, like, 30 years
old. It wasn't until much later that I realized they were supposed to teen-agers!

They also toned down some of the more hard hitting lyrics for the movie
(not uncommon when musicals were turned into movies back then), especially in
the song "America", which in the play was staged as an argument the
Puerto Rican women have among themselves about the pros and cons of their
their new life.
I hate the way the film turns it into this icky battle-the-sexes thing.
The original last line of that song is, "Nobody knows in America-
Puerto Rico's IN America!"

The one good thing about that movie is the dancing. Just turn off the sound and
watch. Its pretty phenomenal.