Does Natalie Wood Sing In West Side Story?

Does Natalie Wood Sing In West Side Story? Hollywood legend says Natalie Wood sings the song “I Feel Pretty” for scenes that ended up on the cutting room floor.

The original lyrics to “I Feel Pretty” are as follows:

“I feel pretty, Oh so pretty, I feel pretty and witty and bright!”

A number of websites claim that Hollywood legend has it that during the production of West Side Story, director Robert Wise felt that actress Natalie Wood was not adequately conveying her character Maria’s self-loathing in the song “I Feel Too Young to Marry”. To emphasize this point, someone allegedly came up with an idea for Wood to be shown singing another verse which was cut from the final version of West Side Story. This additional verse begins as follows:

“I feel pretty and witty and bright! And I pity

Any girl who isn’t me tonight!”

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However, there is no evidence that Natalie Wood ever sang this additional verse. This is one of those myths that just won’t die because it’s too good a story to let go of. In fact, as far as can be determined, the very first person who claimed this was true was actress Debbie Reynolds in her tell-all book “Debbie”. However, not being on the West Side Story set during production doesn’t mean she wouldn’t have heard about it from someone who was there. Indeed, she didn’t claim to have seen any footage of Wood singing these alternate lyrics herself; instead, Reynolds merely claims that “…this sequence was shot and later cut out of the film.”

On his West Side Story Special Edition DVD commentary, director Robert Wise states that he never actually filmed an alternate take with Wood singing these additional lyrics. It’s possible that Reynolds simply misunderstood what Wise said during his commentary, especially considering how the actress misquotes him in her book (Reynolds gives a third-hand account by saying that “…during the production of West Side Story, someone suggested to director Robert Wise that Natalie sing another verse of ‘I Feel Pretty,’ but it wasn’t filmed”). However, there still seems to be no evidence suggesting any such filming ever took place. If there was some alternate footage done at the time, it has since been lost or destroyed. Also, listen closely to the final version of “I Feel Pretty” and you’ll notice that Wood doesn’t sing these lyrics at all. Her voice is still quite audible over all of the background singers, which suggests that they were never dubbed into the song in post-production (Wise definitely would have noticed such a major change). Moreover, during pre-production Martin Charnin, who wrote the lyrics for West Side Story, stated:

“Natalie herself thought it [the original lyric] was too easy for her… I regret we ever did it [change the lyric]. The moment has passed. It’s lovely just as it is.”

Even though there is no evidence that Wood or anyone else sang this alternate verse while the film was being made, that doesn’t stop people from continuing to pass it along as a fact, often embellishing the story with additional “facts” about the alternate verse. For example, West Side Story fan Bob Phillips claims that Wood “…was not happy with this new lyric for her solo and refused to shoot any more until she was given something else.” However, Wood’s husband at the time, Robert Wagner states:

“…the rewrite of ‘I Feel Pretty’ was Natalie’s idea… She felt those lyrics were too bland for her opening number…

The original lyrics to West Side Story’s “I Feel Pretty” is one of the most iconic songs in Hollywood history. It has been featured prominently in many films and television shows, including The Simpsons Movie (2007) and Glee (2010). Despite its popularity, there are still a lot of myths surrounding this song that continue to circulate online among fans of Wood or true believers who don’t want it debunked. One such myth is about an additional verse that was cut from the film when Natalie Wood supposedly said she didn’t like it during production.

GSR

My name is Gourav Singh, and some of my favorite hobbies include watching movies and television series, playing sports, and listening to music. For my blog posts, I prefer to write about themes that are lighthearted and fun to read and write about. To keep things light and entertaining, I'll include funny observations on life or a summary of the most recent entertainment news. Check out my blog if you're in the mood for some light entertainment.